In Guadeloupe (in the national language Gwada), which belongs to the territory of France as the Caribbean overseas department (Département d’Outre Mer or DOM), payments are made there in euros.
An exchange of money is therefore not necessary. The neighboring islands of Martinique and Saint-Berthélemy are also part of France.
Only those who want to travel to other islands in the area have to use US dollars or British pounds in some cases. An exchange to Guadeloupe is possible, however.
History of the currency in Guadeloupe
After a checkered colonial history, which began in 1493 with the discovery of the islands by Christopher Columbus, Guadeloupe has not been treated as a French colony since 1946, but as a full-fledged French department (comparable to the German federal states).
The French franc had already been the de facto currency in Guadeloupe before, but in 1946 it also became the official national currency. In contrast to other overseas departments, the so-called CFP franc was never used in Guadeloupe, a special currency linked to the franc.
From 1945 onwards, France was part of the so-called Bretton Woods Agreement, with which, after the Second World War, numerous industrialized nations pegged their currencies largely fixed to the US dollar in order to ensure stable exchange rates.
As in most of the Bretton Woods participating countries, the result was severe inflation and increasingly frequent devaluations of the franc. In 1958 the so-called New Franc was introduced, but in 1969 it had to be devalued again.
During the economic crisis of the following years, several European countries (including France and Germany) agreed to do everything possible to keep the exchange rates between the currencies fluctuating little.
As a result of this increased cooperation, the French President Mitterand tied his approval of German reunification in 1990 to the fact that Germany would give up the D-Mark in favor of a common European currency.
This new currency, the euro, replaced the franc in 1999 (book money) and 2002 (cash) not only in France but also in Guadeloupe.
The euro has remained relatively stable against the US dollar since its creation, but has already fluctuated between rates of € 0.83 and € 1.60.
It has not been possible to exchange old franc notes and coins for euros since 2012.