Les Saintes, due to their location in the heart of the Lesser Antilles, were frequented first by Indian tribes coming from Caribbean and Central America.

The archaeological remains of war axes and pottery dug up on the site of Anse Rodrigue's Beach and stored at "Fort Napoléon" museum testify the visits of these populations.

On 18 October 1648, a French expedition led by Sir du Mé, annexed les Saintes, already under English influence, at the request of the governor of Guadeloupe, Charles Houël.

However, the inhospitable ground and the aridity of "Terre-de-Haut" halted this activity, though it persisted for a while on Terre-de-Bas, which was wetter and more fertile, under the orders of Sir Hazier du Buisson from 1652.

In the name of the King of France, les Saintes were acquired in the royal domain by Jean-Baptiste Colbert when the French West India Company was dissolved in 1664.

[2] Three young people from les Saintes, Mr. Jean Calo, Mr. Cointre and Mr. Solitaire, succeeded in guiding three French vessels (D'Hautpoul, Courageux, and Félicité) commanded by the infantry division of Admiral Troude which were caught unawares inside the bay and helped them to escape back to France through the North Passage called "La baleine".

However, the French only came back to les Saintes on 5 December, when the General Leith, commander in chief of forces in the West Indies and governor of the Leeward Isles accepted it.

She committed suicide down from the artillery battery of Morel Hill which bears her name today, thinking her beloved man dead at Saint-Christopher, not seeing him come back from campaign.

[10][11][12] In June 1940, answering the appeal of General de Gaulle, the French Antilles entered into a Resistance movement against Vichy regime and Nazi collaboration.

Cut from any relationship (in particular the import of fuels and foodstuffs) with France, Constant Sorin set up a policy of rationing and self-sufficiency, by diversifying and increasing the local production.

On 27 October 1940, the General council was dissolved and the Mayors of Guadeloupe and its dependencies were relieved of their duties and replaced by prominent citizens appointed by the Vichy government.

In 1957, in the country's municipal elections, the mysterious death of the mayor of Terre-de-Haut, Théodore Samson, while he was in the office of the National Gendarmerie provoked an uprising of the population against the institution which was attacked with conches and stones.

The revolt lasted two days before being quelled by the military and police reinforcements from Guadeloupe whom dissipated the crowd, looked for and arrested the insurgents (mainly of the "Pineau" family, Théodore Samson's political support).

The concussions of the main shock and the numerous aftershocks were powerful, reaching an intensity of VIII (important structural damage) on the MSK scale.

The maritime transport companies tried hard to find some Gasoil to assure most of the connections, and the Guadeloupean tourism was partially transferred to les Saintes.

Several study groups were created, one of which looked into the local governance, brought to conceive an institutional modification project or a new status of Guadeloupe with or without emancipation of its last dependencies.

The conferences of the "southern islands" (name of the last dependencies of Guadeloupe: Marie Galante, les Saintes and la Désirade) were opened in parallel.

On 12 May 2009, the French overseas Minister, Yves Jégo, at the end of these conferences, made an official visit to les Saintes for the seminary of the southern islands of Guadeloupe.

He took into account the identical reality and the political hopes of these islands, to improve the territorial continuity, to reduce the effects of the double-insularity, the abolition of the dependence to Guadeloupe, national representation, the development of the attractiveness of the labour pool in the zone, the fight against the depopulation, the tax system and the expensive life.

For the moment he announced the signature of a contract baptised COLIBRI ("hummingbird"; Contract for the Employment and the Local Initiatives in the Regional Pond of the Southern Islands of Guadeloupe), a convention of the Grouping of Public Interest for Arrangement and Development (GIPAD) and a proposition of statutory evolution in final, like the study group of governance, the collective of the southern islands of Guadeloupe and the elected representatives asked it, on the basis of the article 74 of the French constitution.

An uninhabited island across from the Pompierre Beach, characterized by high rocks abrupt which the erosion dug impressive fractures by which the sea rushes.

The common kestrel is visible and audible during rides into the dry forest, like the zenaida dove, an endemic species of West Indies protected inside the archipelago.

[35] But in the context of global warming and invasive foreign species implanted by the humans (e.g. red lionfish), the environment and the biodiversity of these islands are considered to be very vulnerable and to be protected.

Indeed, les Saintes is the preserve of seven varieties of sea turtle,[36] among which three (those in bold type) lay their eggs on the beaches of the island: The flora is typical of the xerophile forests of the volcanic Antilles islands: The aridity allowed the establishment of colonies of very diversified cacti and succulents, which the most remarkable are: The dry ground of the hills is strewn with herbaceous plants, sometimes composed by urticant lianas (Acalypha arvensis), cat's claw (Uncaria tomentosa), Croton balsamifer, philodendron and fabaceaes (trees with toxic or edible seeds), pigeon peas (Cajanus cajan), sword beans (Canavalia gladiata), Senna alexandrina, margosa or bitter melon (Momordica charantia), Caesalpinia ciliatea, Caesalpinia bonduc (from which children make balls), rosary pea (Abrus precatorius), castor oil plant (Ricinus communis - used in the local small business sector).

At the request of the municipality and the Departmental Council, the bays of Pompierre and Pain de Sucre were classified by a French law of 2 May 1930 (relative to the protection of the natural monuments and the sites of artistic, historic, scientific, legendary or picturesque character).

The Conservatoire du littoral agency has acquired several areas, in particular Grand Ilet and Chameau hill, under the framework of the national program of protection of natural spaces.

Some feast days have peculiarities: Crafts are still very prominent on the archipelago, which still produce typical objects: Like on all the islands of the Lesser Antilles, music livens up life of the people from les Saintes.

The musicians who, in the past, occupied squares to play West Indian and French tunes with their accordions, violins and harmonicas are now replaced by small bands which provide rhythm to the parties and carnivals of the islands.

Zouk, Salsa, Merengue, Dancehall, French and international varieties of music are popular with young people who dance to these rhythms in bars and clubs.

These include fish Court-bouillon, Colombo (a creole dish of meat spiced with curry, curcuma, saffron and cumin), black pudding, and accras de Morue (saltfish).