the city of basseterre is on a bay on the southwestern shore of st. kitts, basseterre bay. the city is in the large basseterre valley, almost completely surrounded by lush green hills and mountains. it is mostly low-lying, which is one explanation for the name which the french gave it, basseterre . however, the name basseterre is also due to the fact that the island is on the lee of winds of the island, and is thus a safe anchorage. the name capesterre, given to the region to the north, was dubbed so as it was facing the wind. basseterre is surrounded by the olivees mountains to the north and the conaree-morne peaks to the east. the city is drained by the college river and the westbourne river, which are locally known as "ghauts" and are dry most of the year. they even form streets in downtown basseterre. this engineering folly has proven quite disastrous though, as college river has been the scene of many disastrous in basseterre history. port zante, in the centre of the bay, is on of land reclaimed from the sea in 1995.