Basse-Terre is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the prefecture of Guadeloupe. The city of Basse-Terre is located on Basse-Terre Island, the western half of Guadeloupe. Although it is the administrative capital, Basse-Terre is only the second-largest city in Guadeloupe, behind Pointe-à-Pitre. Together with its urban area, it had 44,864 inhabitants in 2012.