The mission of the Archives is to collect, preserve, communicate and promote the archival holdings produced by the administrations that have succeeded one another since the beginning of colonisation. Through their inventories and files, in the form of originals, microfilms or digital images, they offer access to the most abundant primary sources for historians and genealogy enthusiasts. For many years, with the help of enlightened amateurs, the Archives have enriched their collections with documents of private origin that have been donated or acquired. For example, the collections of the former sugar factories, numerous documents on slavery or on the French Revolution in the colonies.