Terre-de-Bas Island

Terre-de-Bas Island (officially in French :Terre-de-Bas des Saintes (literally: Lowland of les Saintes)) is an island in the Îles des Saintes archipelago, in the Lesser Antilles.

It belongs to the commune (municipality) of Terre-de-Bas in the French department of Guadeloupe.

Geography

Description

Terre-de-Bas island is the most occidental island of the archipelago of les Saintes. Like its neighbour Terre-de-Haut, it derives its name from maritime speak which called the islands exposed to the wind hightland and those protected from the wind, lowlands. It is an island of 9 km² (3.5 sq mi) dominated by a mountain massif sheltering a protected forest in its center (Morne à Coq hill, Morne Paquette hill, Morne Madis hill, Morne Abymes hill) and a coast lined with cliffs and points (in French: Pointe) (Pointe à Nègre point, Gros cap cliff, Pointe à Vache point, Pointe Noire point, Pointe Sud point). The highest point of the island is Abymes hill with a height of (293 metres (961 ft)) . Terre-de-Bas is separate from Terre-de-Haut by a narrow channel of 890 m (0.55 mi). Besides Terre-de-Haut, several small islands surround Terre-de-Bas :