The Petite Terre Islands are two small uninhabited islands about 10 kilometers southeast of Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles, administratively attached to the commune of La Désirade. The pair, Terre de Bas and Terre de Haut, together cover 1.68 square kilometers and take their names from local wind patterns, with Terre de Bas meaning low or downwind land and Terre de Haut meaning upper land, the first to meet the northeast trade winds. Since September 1998 the islands and 842 hectares of surrounding sea have formed a nature reserve protecting some 9,500 Lesser Antillean iguanas, migratory birds, sea turtles, and stands of guaiac trees and agave, with a brick lighthouse built in 1840 and automated in 1974 standing atop the islands.
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