French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=

French Guianese Creole French Guianese Creole (Kriyòl; also called variously Guianan Creole, Guianese Creole in English and Créole guyanais or Guyanais in French) is a French-based creole language spoken in French Guiana, and to a lesser degree, in Suriname and Gu ...

, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

on the northern Atlantic coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

in the Guianas. It borders

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

to the east and south and Suriname to the west. With a land area of , French Guiana is the second-largest

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

of France (more than one-seventh the size of Metropolitan France) and the largest outermost region within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. It has a very low population density, with only . (Its population is less than that of Metropolitan France.) Half of its 294,436 inhabitants in 2022 lived in the metropolitan area of Cayenne, its capital. 98.9% of the land territory of French Guiana is covered by forests, a large part of which is primeval rainforest. The

Guiana Amazonian Park Guiana Amazonian Park (french: Parc amazonien de Guyane) is the largest national park of France, aiming at protecting part of the Amazonian forest located in French Guiana which covers 41% of the region. It is the largest park in France as wel ...

, which is the largest national park in the European Union, covers 41% of French Guiana's territory. Since December 2015, both the region and department have been ruled by a single assembly within the framework of a new

territorial collectivity A territorial collectivity (french: collectivité territoriale, previously '), or territorial authority, is a chartered subdivision of France with recognized governing authority. It is the generic name for any subdivision (subnational entity) wi ...

, the French Guiana Territorial Collectivity (french: collectivité territoriale de Guyane, links=no). This assembly, the French Guiana Assembly (french: assemblée de Guyane, links=no), replaced the former regional council and departmental council, which were disbanded. The French Guiana Assembly is in charge of regional and departmental government. Its president is

Gabriel Serville Gabriel Serville (born 27 September 1959) is a French-Guianese politician who was elected to the French National Assembly on 16 June 2012 representing French Guiana's 1st constituency. Fully integrated in the French Republic since 1946, French Guiana is a part of the European Union, and its official currency is the

euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

. A large part of French Guiana's economy depends on jobs and businesses associated with the presence of the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...

, now the European Space Agency's primary launch site near the equator. As elsewhere in France, the official language is standard French, but each ethnic community has its own language, of which

, a French-based

creole language A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time: often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. ...

, is the most widely spoken. French Guiana is the only territory on the continental mainland of either

North North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north ...

that is under the sovereignty of a European state, much less fully integrated in a European state. The border between French Guiana and Brazil is the longest land border that France shares with another country, as well as one of only two

borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

which France shares with non-European states, the other being the border with Suriname in the west.

Name

The addition of the adjective "French" in most languages other than French is rooted in colonial times, when five such colonies ( The Guianas) had been named along the coast, subject to differing powers: namely (from west to east) Spanish Guiana (now

Guayana Region The Guayana Region is an administrative region of eastern Venezuela. History In the 1970s, after the process of forming the Political-Administrative Regions through CORDIPLAN in the government of Rafael Caldera, the Region of Guyana was f ...

in Venezuela), British Guiana (now Guyana), Dutch Guiana (now Suriname), French Guiana, and Portuguese Guiana (now Amapá in Brazil). French Guiana and the two larger countries to the north and west, Guyana and Suriname, are still often collectively referred to as "the Guianas" and constitute one large landmass known as the Guiana Shield.

History

French Guiana was originally inhabited by

indigenous people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

: Kalina, Arawak,

Galibi The Kalina, also known as the Caribs or mainland Caribs and by several other names, are an indigenous people native to the northern coastal areas of South America. Today, the Kalina live largely in villages on the rivers and coasts of Venezuela, ...

, Palikur, Teko,

Wayampi The Wayampi or Wayãpi are an indigenous people located in the south-eastern border area of French Guiana at the confluence of the rivers Camopi and Oyapock, and the basins of the Amapari and Carapanatuba Rivers in the central part of the state ...

and

Wayana The Wayana (alternate names: Ajana, Uaiana, Alucuyana, Guaque, Ojana, Oyana, Orcocoyana, Pirixi, Urukuena, Waiano etc.) are a Carib-speaking people located in the southeastern part of the Guiana highlands, a region divided between Brazil, Suri ...

. The French attempted to create a colony there in the 16th century in conjunction with its settlement of some Caribbean islands, such as Guadeloupe and Saint-Domingue. Prior to European colonization, the territory was originally inhabited by Native Americans, most speaking the

Arawak language Arawak (, ), also known as Lokono (Lokono Dian, literally "people's talk" by its speakers), is an Arawakan language spoken by the Lokono (Arawak) people of South America in eastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana. It is the epony ...

, of the Arawakan language family. The people identified as Lokono. The first French establishment is recorded in 1503, but France did not establish a durable presence until colonists founded Cayenne in 1643. Guiana was developed as a slave society, where planters imported Africans as enslaved labourers on large sugar and other plantations in such number as to increase the population. The system of slavery in French Guiana continued until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, when the National Convention voted to abolish the French slave trade and slavery in France's overseas colonies in February 1794, months after enslaved Haitians had started a slave rebellion in the colony of Saint-Domingue. However, the 1794 decree was only implemented in Saint-Domingue, Guadeloupe and French Guiana, while the colonies of

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

, Réunion and Martinique and French India resisted the imposition of these laws. Bill Marshall, Professor of Comparative Cultural Studies at the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

wrote of French Guiana's origins: '' Île du Diable'' (Devil's Island) was the site of a small prison facility, part of a larger penal system by the same name, which consisted of prisons on three islands and three larger prisons on the mainland. This was operated from 1852 to 1953. In addition, in the late nineteenth century, France began requiring forced residencies by prisoners who survived their hard labour. A Portuguese-British naval squadron took French Guiana for the

Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the ...

in 1809. It was returned to France with the signing of the

Treaty of Paris Treaty of Paris may refer to one of many treaties signed in Paris, France: Treaties 1200s and 1300s * Treaty of Paris (1229), which ended the Albigensian Crusade * Treaty of Paris (1259), between Henry III of England and Louis IX of France * Trea ...

in 1814. Though Portugal returned the region to France, it kept a military presence until 1817. After French Guiana was established as a penal colony, officials sometimes used convicts to catch butterflies. The sentences of the convicts were often long, and the prospect of employment very weak, so the convicts caught butterflies to sell in the international market, both for scientific purposes as well as general collecting. A border dispute with Brazil arose in the late 19th century over a vast area of jungle, resulting in the short-lived, pro-French, independent state of Counani in the disputed territory. There was some fighting among settlers. The dispute was resolved largely in favour of Brazil by the arbitration of the Swiss government. The territory of Inini consisted of most of the interior of French Guiana when it was created in 1930. It was abolished in 1946, the year that French Guiana as a whole was formally established as an overseas department of France. In 1936, Félix Éboué from Cayenne became the first black man to serve as governor in a French colony. Straatbeeld in Frans Guyana, NG-2008-37-38

Straatbeeld in Frans Guyana, NG-2008-37-38

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and the fall of France to Nazi German forces, French Guiana became part of Vichy France. Guiana officially rallied to

Free France Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

on 16 March 1943. It abandoned its colony status and once again became a French department on 19 March 1946. Following the French withdrawal from Vietnam in the 1950s and subsequent warfare conducted in the region by the United States, France helped resettle several hundred Hmong refugees from Laos to French Guiana during the 1970s and 80s, who were fleeing displacement after the communist takeover of Laos by Pathet Lao in 1975. In the late 1980s, more than 10,000 Surinamese refugees, mostly Maroons, arrived in French Guiana, fleeing the Surinamese Civil War. More recently, French Guiana has received large numbers of Brazilian and Haitian

economic migrant An economic migrant is someone who emigrates from one region to another, including crossing international borders, seeking an improved standard of living, because the conditions or job opportunities in the migrant's own region are insufficient. Th ...

s. Illegal and ecologically destructive

gold mining Gold mining is the extraction of gold resources by mining. Historically, mining gold from alluvial deposits used manual separation processes, such as gold panning. However, with the expansion of gold mining to ores that are not on the surface, ...

by Brazilian is a chronic issue in the remote interior rain forest of French Guiana. The region still faces such problems as illegal immigration, poorer infrastructure than mainland France, higher costs of living, higher levels of crime and more common social unrest. In 1964, French president Charles de Gaulle decided to construct a space-travel base in French Guiana. It was intended to replace the Sahara base in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

and stimulate economic growth in French Guiana. The department was considered suitable for the purpose because it is near the equator and has extensive access to the ocean as a buffer zone. The

, located a short distance along the coast from

Kourou Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...

, has grown considerably since the initial launches of the Véronique rockets. It is now part of the European space industry and has had commercial success with such launches as the

Ariane 4 The Ariane 4 was a European expendable space launch system, developed by the '' Centre national d'études spatiales'' (CNES), the French space agency, for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was manufactured by ArianeGroup and marketed by Ari ...

, Ariane 5 and

Ariane flight VA256 Ariane flight VA256 was an Ariane 5 rocket flight that launched the James Webb Space Telescope into space on 25 December 2021. It was 2021's final Ariane flight, its most valuable payload to date, and the Ariane mission. The launch was describ ...

which launched the James Webb Space Telescope into space. The Guianese General Council officially adopted a

departmental ''Departmental'' is a 1980 Australian TV movie based on a play by Mervyn Rutherford. It was part of the ABC's Australian Theatre Festival.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p43 Reviews were poor ...

flag in 2010. In a

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

that same year, French Guiana voted against autonomy. On 20 March 2017, French Guianese workers began going on strike and demonstrating for more resources and infrastructure. 28 March 2017 was the day of the largest demonstration ever held in French Guiana. French Guiana has been severely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, with more than 1% of French Guianese testing positive by the end of June 2020.

Geography

French Guiana lies between latitudes 2° and 6° N, and longitudes 51° and 55° W. It consists of two main geographical regions: a coastal strip where the majority of the people live, and dense, near-inaccessible rainforest which gradually rises to the modest peaks of the

Tumuc-Humac mountains The Tumuk Humak Mountains ( nl, Toemoek-Hoemakgebergte, pt, Serra do Tumucumaque, french: Monts Tumuc Humac) are a mountain range in South America, stretching about east–west in the border area between Brazil in the south and Suriname and F ...

along the Brazilian frontier. French Guiana's highest peak is Bellevue de l'Inini in

Maripasoula Maripasoula, previously named Upper Maroni, is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. With a land area of , Maripasoula is the largest commune of France. Geography The Lawa and Maron ...

(). Other mountains include Mont Itoupé (), Cottica Mountain (), Pic Coudreau (), and Kaw Mountain (). Several small islands are found off the coast: the three Salvation's Islands which include Devil's Island, and the isolated Îles du Connétable bird sanctuary further along the coast towards Brazil. The Petit-Saut Dam, a hydroelectric dam in the north of French Guiana forms an artificial lake and provides

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

. There are many rivers in French Guiana, including the Waki River. , the Amazonian forest, located in the most remote part of the department, is protected as the

, one of the ten

national parks of France The national parks of France are a system of eleven national parks throughout metropolitan France and its overseas departments, coordinated by National Parks of France (French: ''Parcs nationaux de France'') within the French Office for Biodiver ...

. The territory of the park covers some upon the

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...

Camopi Camopi is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Camopi is mainly inhabited by Amerindians of the Wayampi and Teko tribes. History In 1738, a Jesuit mission opened on the river ...

, Papaïchton, Saint-Élie and Saül.

Climate

French Guiana has an

equatorial climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeas ...

predominant. Located within six degrees of the Equator and rising only to modest elevations, French Guiana is hot and oppressively humid all year round. During most of the year, rainfall across the country is heavy due to the presence of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and its powerful thunderstorm cells. In most parts of French Guiana, rainfall is always heavy especially from December to July – typically over can be expected each month during this period throughout the department. Between August and November, the eastern half experiences a warm dry season with rainfall below and average high temperatures above occurring in September and October, causing eastern French Guiana to be classified as a tropical monsoon climate (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Am''); Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in the west has a tropical rainforest climate (''Af'').

Environment

Parc amazonien de Guyane, une balade à Saül

French Guiana is home to many different

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...

s, coastal mangroves, savannahs,

inselberg An inselberg or monadnock () is an isolated rock hill, knob, ridge, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain. In Southern Africa a similar formation of granite is known as a koppie, a ...

s and many types of wetlands. It lies within three ecoregions: Guayanan Highlands moist forests, Guianan moist forests, and

Guianan mangroves The Guianan mangroves (NT1411) is a coastal ecoregion of southeastern Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana and Brazil. The mangroves provide an important habitat for migrating birds that winter in the area. Large areas are intact, although t ...

. French Guiana has a high level of

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

of both flora and fauna. This is due to the presence of

old-growth forests An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...

(i.e., ancient/primary forests), which are

biodiversity hotspot A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about the concept in two articles in ''The Environmentalist'' in 1988 and 1990, after which the c ...

s. The rainforests of French Guiana provide shelter for many species during dry periods and terrestrial glaciation. These forests are protected by a national park (the

), seven additional nature reserves, and 17 protected sites. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of nat ...

(IUCN) and the

(EU) have recommended special efforts to protect these areas. Following the Grenelle Environment Round Table of 2007, the Grenelle Law II was proposed in 2009, under law number 2010–788. Article 49 of the law proposed the creation of a single organization responsible for environmental conservation in French Guiana. Article 64 proposes a "departmental plan of mining orientation" for French Guiana, which would promote mining (specifically of gold) that is compatible with requirements for environmental protection. The coastal environment along the RN1 has historically experienced the most changes, but development is occurring locally along the RN2, and also in western French Guiana due to gold mining. Psophia crepitansPCCA20051227-1968B

5,500 plant species have been recorded, including more than a thousand trees, along with 700 species of birds, 177 species of mammals, over 500 species of fish including 45% of which are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

and 109 species of amphibians. French Guiana's high biodiversity is similar to that of other regions with tropical rainforests, such as the Brazilian Amazon, Borneo and Sumatra. Environmental threats include habitat fragmentation from roads, which remains very limited compared to other forests of South America; immediate and deferred impacts of EDF's Petit-Saut Dam;

; poor control of hunting and

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

, facilitated by the creation of many tracks; and the introduction of all-terrain vehicles. Logging remains moderate due to the lack of roads, difficult climate, and difficult terrain. The Forest Code of French Guiana was modified by ordinance on 28 July 2005. Logging concessions or free transfers are sometimes granted by local authorities to persons traditionally deriving their livelihood from the forest. The beaches of the Amana Nature Reserve are an exceptional marine turtle nesting site. This is one of the largest worldwide for the leatherback turtle.

Agriculture

French Guiana has some of the poorest soils in the world. The soil is low in nutrients (e.g.,

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

, potassium) and organic matter. Soil acidity is another cause of the poor soils, and it requires farmers to add lime to their fields. The soil characteristics have led to the use of slash and burn agriculture. The resulting ashes elevate soil pH (i.e., lower soil acidity), and contribute

minerals In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid chemical compound with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed ...

and other nutrients to the soil. Sites of Terra preta ( anthropogenic soils) have been discovered in French Guiana, particularly near the border with Brazil. Research is being actively pursued in multiple fields to determine how these enriched soils were historically created, and how this can be done in modern times.

Economy

As a part of France, French Guiana is part of the

and the Eurozone; its currency is the

. The country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for French Guiana is

.gf .gf is the country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region ...

, but

.fr .fr is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) in the Domain Name System of the Internet for France. It is administered by AFNIC. The domain includes all individuals and organizations registered at the Association française pour le ...

is generally used instead. In 2019, the GDP of French Guiana at market exchange rates was US$4.93 billion (€4.41 billion), ranking as the 2nd largest economy in the Guianas after Guyana (which discovered large oil fields in 2015 and 2018), and the 12th largest in South America. From the 1960s to the 2000s, French Guiana experienced strong economic growth, fueled by the development of France's

(established in French Guiana in 1964 as the independence of

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in 1962 led to the closure of France's space center in the Algerian Sahara) and by high population growth which stimulated domestic consumption. French Guiana's economy did not suffer from the Global Financial Crisis of 2008: the GDP grew by an average of +3.4% per year in

real terms In economics, nominal value is measured in terms of money, whereas real value is measured against goods or services. A real value is one which has been adjusted for inflation, enabling comparison of quantities as if the prices of goods had not c ...

from 2002 to 2012, slightly faster than the rapidly growing population, which allowed French Guiana to catch up somewhat with the rest of France in terms of standards of living. The GDP per capita rose from 48.0% of metropolitan France's level in 2000 to 48.5% of metropolitan France in 2012. Since 2013, however, French Guiana's economic growth has been uneven, and more subdued. From 2013 to 2019, the economy grew by an average of only +1.2% in real terms. French Guiana experienced a recession of -0.8% in 2014, and social unrest in 2017 led to almost no economic growth that year. Economic growth recovered at +3.0% in 2018, but was again almost null (+0.2%) in 2019. As a result, the GDP per capita has remained stagnant in nominal terms since 2013, and has declined relative to metropolitan France's. In 2019, the GDP per capita of French Guiana at market exchange rates, not at PPP, was US$17,375 (€15,521), only 42.3% of metropolitan France's average GDP per capita that year, and 50.3% of the metropolitan French regions outside the Paris Region. French Guiana was affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

in 2020, leading to a recession of -2.7% that year according to provisional estimates, moderate compared to the

COVID-19 recession The COVID-19 recession, also referred to as the Great Lockdown, is a global economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The recession began in most countries in February 2020. After a year of global economic slowdown that saw stagnati ...

in metropolitan France (-7.9% in 2020). French Guiana is heavily dependent on mainland France for subsidies, trade, and goods. The main traditional industries are fishing (accounting for 5% of exports in 2012), gold mining (accounting for 32% of exports in 2012) and timber (accounting for 1% of exports in 2012). In addition, the

has played a significant role in the local economy since it was established in

in 1964: it accounted directly and indirectly for 16% of French Guiana's GDP in 2002 (down from 26% in 1994, as the French Guianese economy is becoming increasingly diversified). The Guiana Space Centre employed 1,659 people in 2012. There is very little manufacturing. Agriculture is largely undeveloped and is mainly confined to the area near the coast and along the Maroni River. Sugar and bananas were traditionally two of the main cash crops grown for export but have almost completely disappeared. Today they have been replaced by livestock raising (essentially beef cattle and pigs) in the coastal savannas between Cayenne and the second-largest town, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, and

market gardening A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to som ...

(fruits and vegetables) developed by the

Hmong Hmong may refer to: * Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand * Hmong cuisine * Hmong customs and culture ** Hmong music ** Hmong textile art * Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...

communities settled in French Guiana in the 1970s, both destined to the local market. A thriving rice production, developed on polders near

Mana According to Melanesian and Polynesian mythology, ''mana'' is a supernatural force that permeates the universe. Anyone or anything can have ''mana''. They believed it to be a cultivation or possession of energy and power, rather than being ...

from the early 1980s to the late 2000s, has almost completely disappeared since 2011 due to marine erosion and new EU plant health rules which forbid the use of many pesticides and fertilizers. Tourism, especially eco-tourism, is growing. Unemployment has been persistently high in the last few decades, standing between 17% and 24%. In recent years, the unemployment rate has declined from a peak of 23.0% in 2016 to 19.3% in 2019.

Demographics

Historical population

French Guiana experienced a long period of demographic stagnation during the days of the Cayenne and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni penal colonies (19th century and first half of the 20th century), when, with the exception of a brief

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...

in the 1900s and 1910s, it suffered from a bad reputation due to its association with penal colonies and bad sanitary conditions (

yellow fever Yellow fever is a viral disease of typically short duration. In most cases, symptoms include fever, chills, loss of appetite, nausea, muscle pains – particularly in the back – and headaches. Symptoms typically improve within five days. ...

and

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

in particular). Population started to grow tremendously from the 1950s onwards with the improvement of sanitary conditions (yellow fever and malaria eradication campaigns started in 1949) and the establishment of the

in 1964. Population growth has been fueled both by high birth rates and large arrivals of immigrants (from metropolitan France, to man the public administrations and the space center, as well as from neighboring countries, in particular Suriname and

). Arrivals of Surinamese refugees reached record levels in the 1980s during the Surinamese Interior War, resulting in the highest population growth rate in French Guiana's history, recorded between the 1982 and 1990 censuses (+5.8% per year). In the 21st century, the birth rate has remained high, and new arrivals of migrants seeking asylum (in particular from Haiti) have kept population growth above 2% per year in the 2010s. French Guiana's population reached 294,436 in 2022 (Jan. estimate), more than 10 times the population it had in 1954.

Major urban areas

The most populous urban unit (agglomeration) is Cayenne, which covers 3 communes (Cayenne,

Matoury Matoury is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Matoury is a southern suburb of Cayenne, the ''préfecture'' and largest city of French Guiana. Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, th ...

and

Remire-Montjoly Remire-Montjoly (often unofficially spelled Rémire-Montjoly) is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located on the northeast coast of South America. Remire-Montjoly is a suburb of Cayenne, the capital ''pr� ...

). The three largest urban units are:

Ethnic groups

French Guiana's population, most of whom live along the coast, is substantially ethnically diverse. At the 2018 census, 56.6% of the inhabitants of French Guiana were born in French Guiana, 8.9% were born in Metropolitan France, 2.8% were born in the French Caribbean departments and collectivities ( Guadeloupe and Martinique etc.), and 31.5% were born in foreign countries (primarily Suriname, Brazil, and Haiti). Estimates of the percentages of French Guiana ethnic composition are difficult to produce due to the presence of a large proportion of immigrants. People of African descent are the largest ethnic group, though estimates vary as to the exact percentage, depending upon whether the large Haitian community is included as well. Generally, the Creole population is judged to be about 60–70% of the total population if Haitians (comprising roughly one-third of Creoles) are included, and 30–50% otherwise. There are also smaller groups from various Caribbean islands, mainly Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Saint Lucia. Approximately 41,000 people or 14% of the population is of European ancestry. The vast majority of these are of French ancestry, though there are also people of Spanish and

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

ancestry. The main Asian communities are the Chinese (about 3–4%, primarily from

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

and

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

) and

from Laos (1–2%). Other groups from Asia include East Indians, Lebanese and

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

. The main groups living in the interior are the Maroons who are of African descent, and

Amerindians The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

. The Maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves, live primarily along the Maroni River. The main Maroon groups are the Saramaca, Aucan (both of whom also live in Suriname), and Boni ( Aluku). The main Amerindian groups (forming about 3–4% of the population) are the Arawak, Carib, Emerillon (now called the Teko),

(now called the Kaliña), Palikur,

and

. As of the late 1990s, there was evidence of an uncontacted group of Wayampi.

Immigration

In recent years, French Guiana has seen an increase in Syrian refugees trying to escape the Syrian Civil War. For them and other groups of migrants, the majority arriving from Latin American and Middle Eastern countries (especially

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...

, and Palestine), its status as French territory makes it a "gateway" to Europe. Many live in crowded

refugee camps A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peop ...

with poor conditions and little protection from the elements. Neither local authorities nor the French government have made significant efforts to help the situation.

Religion

The dominant religion of French Guiana is Roman Catholicism; the Maroons and some Amerindian peoples maintain their own religions. The Hmong people are also largely Catholic owing to the influence of missionaries who helped bring them to French Guiana. Guianan Catholics are part of the Diocese of Cayenne.

Fertility

The total fertility rate in French Guiana has remained high and is today considerably higher than that of metropolitan France, as well as most of the other

French overseas departments The overseas departments and regions of France (french: départements et régions d'outre-mer, ; ''DROM'') are departments of France that are outside metropolitan France, the European part of France. They have exactly the same status as mainlan ...

. It is largely responsible for the rapid population growth of French Guiana.

Languages

The official language of French Guiana is French, and it is the predominant language of the department, spoken by most residents as a first or second language. In addition, a number of other local languages exist. Regional languages include

(not to be confused with

Guyanese Creole Guyanese English Creole (''Creolese'' by its speakers or simply Guyanese) is an English-based creole language spoken by the Guyanese people. Linguistically, it is similar to other English dialects of the Caribbean region, based on 19th-century ...

), six

Amerindian languages Over a thousand indigenous languages are spoken by the Indigenous peoples of the Americas. These languages cannot all be demonstrated to be related to each other and are classified into a hundred or so language families (including a large numbe ...

( Arawak, Palijur, Kali'na,

, Emerillon), four Maroon creole languages ( Saramaka, Paramaccan, Aluku, Ndyuka), as well as Hmong Njua. Other languages spoken include

, Mandarin, Haitian Creole and Spanish.

Politics

French Guiana, as part of France, forms part of the

– the largest landmass for an area outside of Europe (since

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

left the European Community in 1985), with one of the longest EU external boundaries. It is one of only three European Union territories outside Europe that is not an island (the others being the Spanish Autonomous Cities in Africa, Ceuta and Melilla). As an integral part of France, its

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

is the

president of the French Republic The president of France, officially the president of the French Republic (french: Président de la République française), is the executive head of state of France, and the commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. As the presidency is ...

, and its head of government is the prime minister of France. The French government and its agencies have responsibility for a wide range of issues that are reserved to the national executive power, such as defense and external relations. Cayenne hôtel de ville 2013

The president of France appoints a prefect (resident at the prefecture building in Cayenne) as his representative to head the local government of French Guiana. There is one elected, local executive body, the Assemblée de Guyane. French Guiana sends two deputies to the French National Assembly, one representing the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

(municipality) of Cayenne and the commune of Macouria, and the other representing the rest of French Guiana. This latter constituency is the largest in the French Republic by land area. French Guiana also sends two senators to the

French Senate The Senate (french: Sénat, ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. The French Senate is made up of 348 senators (''sénateurs'' a ...

. The first woman to be elected to the Senate was Marie-Laure Phinéra-Horth in 2020. The

Guianese Socialist Party The Guianese Socialist Party (french: Parti socialiste guyanais, PSG) is a political party in the French '' overseas région'' of French Guiana, in South America. History It was founded in 1956 by Justin Catayée, beforehand the founder of the G ...

dominated politics in French Guiana until 2010. A chronic issue affecting French Guiana is the influx of illegal immigrants and clandestine gold prospectors from Brazil and Suriname. The border between the department and Suriname, the Maroni River, flows through rain forest and is difficult for the Gendarmerie and the

French Foreign Legion The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, Armoured Cavalry Arm, cavalry, Military engineering, engineers, Airborne forces, airborne troops. It was created ...

to patrol. There have been several phases launched by the French government to combat illegal gold mining in French Guiana, beginning with Operation Anaconda beginning in 2003, followed by Operation Harpie in 2008 and 2009 and Operation Harpie Reinforce in 2010. Colonel François Müller, the commander of French Guiana's gendarmes, believes these operations have been successful. However, after each operation ends, Brazilian miners, , return. Soon after Operation Harpie Reinforce began, an altercation took place between French authorities and Brazilian miners. On 12 March 2010 a team of French soldiers and border police were attacked while returning from a successful operation, during which "the soldiers had arrested 15 miners, confiscated three boats, and seized 617 grams of gold... currently worth about $22,317". Garimpeiros returned to retrieve their lost loot and colleagues. The soldiers fired warning shots and rubber "flash balls", but the miners managed to retake one of their boats and about 500 grams of gold. "The violent reaction by the garimpeiros can be explained by the exceptional take of 617 grams of gold, about 20 percent of the quantity seized in 2009 during the battle against illegal mining", said Phillipe Duporge, the director of French Guiana's border police, at a press conference the next day.

Administrative divisions

French Guiana is divided into 3 arrondissements and 22

Transport

The transportation system in French Guiana is deficient compared to Metropolitan France, being concentrated in the coastal zone of the territory, while the inland municipalities are poorly connected and often difficult to access.

Road system

French Guiana has about 2,200 km of

roads A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation. There are many types of ...

, which are divided into: * National roads (440 km), divided into RN1, RN2, RN3 and RN4 (the last two downgraded to departmental roads during Raffarin's tenure), which connect the main coastal towns, forming a corridor that crosses the coastal strip from the border with Suriname to that of Brazil: RN1, completed in the 1990s, links Cayenne to Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, crossing the municipalities of Macouria,

, Sinnamary (the stretch of road between Kourou and Sinnamary is locally called Route de l'espace, "space road") and Iracoubo, while RN2 runs from Cayenne to Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock, where it continues on BR-156 across the bridge over the Oyapock. Today, all rivers are crossed by road bridges, some of them quite long (e.g. the bridge over the Cayenne River is 1225 m long), whereas until 2004 (the year of completion and inauguration of the Approuague bridge) some rivers were still crossed by barges. Transport on national roads is restricted during the rainy season (from 48 to a maximum of 32 tons), while the maximum speed (monitored by the National Gendarmerie posts at Régina and Iracoubo, which are also in charge of controlling the possible flow of illegal traffic and irregular immigrants) is 90 km/h; * Departmental roads (408 km), subdivided into urban and rural departmental roads (rural roads), which serve the coastal Villages, 90% of which have no street lighting; * Communal roads or forest tracks (1. 311 km), most of which are closed to ordinary traffic and reserved for authorized personnel (employees of authorized mining or logging companies, forest rangers): the longest tracks are the Bélizon track in the commune of Saül (Guiana) (150 km), the Saint-Élie-diga track in Petit-Saut (26 km), the Coralie track (the oldest in the department, created to reach the Boulanger mine) and the Maripasoula-Papaïchton track. The communal roads are not usually paved and often go into the forest from the departmental roads; Despite the existence of numerous projects to upgrade and asphalt roads (such as the Bélizon road or the Apatou-Maripasoula-Saül axis), which are often opposed by environmental movements because of environmental fragmentation and problems for Amerindian and Maroon communities, several French Guiana municipalities (Ouanary, Camopi, Saül, Saint-Élie, Grand-Santi, Papaïchton, Maripasoula, Apatou) still do not have road access. Following a treaty between France and Brazil signed in July 2005, the

Oyapock River Bridge The Franco-Brazilian Binational Bridge spans the Oyapock River, linking the cities of Oiapoque in Amapá, Brazil and Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock in French Guiana, France. The bridge is cable-stayed bridge, cable-stayed, with two towers rising to a ...

over the

Oyapock River The Oyapock or Oiapoque (; ; ) is a long river in South America that forms most of the border between the French overseas department of French Guiana and the Brazilian state of Amapá. Course The Oyapock runs through the Guianan moist fores ...

was built and completed in 2011, becoming the first land crossing ever between French Guiana and the rest of the world (there exists no other bridge crossing the Oyapock River, and no bridge crossing the Maroni River marking the border with Suriname, although there is a ferry crossing to Albina, Suriname). The bridge was officially opened on 18 March 2017, however the border post construction on the Brazilian side caused additional delays. As of 2020, it possible to drive uninterrupted from Cayenne to

Macapá Macapá () is a city in Brazil with a population of 512,902 (2020 estimation). It is the capital of Amapá state in the country's North Region. It is located on the northern channel of the Amazon River near its mouth on the Atlantic Ocean. The c ...

(on the Amazon River), the capital of the state of Amapá in Brazil.

Railway system

At present, French Guiana does not have a railway system, with the exception of a small section in the Centre Spatial Guyanais used for the transport of components: when the territory was a

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer to ...

, there were some railroad lines built by the

prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

s themselves to connect the various baths with each other, the remains of which (now disused and mostly engulfed by the jungle) are still visible in some areas. These lines include the section from Montsinéry-Tonnegrande to the so-called bagne des Annamites, the section from Saint-Élie to the Saut du Tigre labor camp (now submerged by the artificial lake created by the Petit-Saut dam) and the section from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni-Mana-Saint-Jean-du-Maroni.

Ports

Transportation by boat is quite widespread in French Guiana: among the most important Ports are the port of Dégrad-Des-Cannes, located at the mouth of the Mahury River, in the commune of Rémire-Montjoly, through which most of the imported or exported goods of the territory pass and where the local detachment of the ''

Marine nationale The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in th ...

'' is housed, and the port of Larivot, located in Matoury, where the Guyanese

fishing fleet A fishing fleet is an aggregate of commercial fishing vessels. The term may be used of all vessels operating out of a particular port, all vessels engaged in a particular type of fishing (as in the "tuna fishing fleet"), or all fishing vessels of ...

is concentrated. The port of Dégrad-Des-Cannes, built in 1969 to cope with the impossibility of the former port of Cayenne to decongest the growing maritime traffic, has a rather limited draft, and larger ships often prefer to dock at Ile du Salut to unload people and goods (which are then transported to the

mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...

by smaller ships) to avoid running aground. The port of Pariacabo in Kourou is home to the Colibri and Toucan ships, which carry components for Ariane missiles. The inland rivers are heavily traversed by canoes and other small boats, linking the villages on the Marowijne, Oyapock and Approuague Rivers, which often cannot be reached in any other way; the lake created by the Petit-Saut dam is also frequently crossed, although it is officially forbidden to cross the body of water. In the department, 460 km of aquatic environment are considered navigable.

Airports

French Guiana is served by Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, located in Matoury. There are also several airstrips in the department, located in Camopi, Maripasoula, Ouanary, Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and Saül, for a total of eleven hubs (four paved and seven unpaved). From the main airport, there are two daily direct flights to Paris (Paris Orly airport, with an average flight time of about 8 hours and 25 minutes from French Guiana to the capital and 9 hours and 10 minutes vice-versa), offered by Air France and Air Caraïbes, as well as other flights to Fort-de-France, Pointe-à-Pitre, Port-au-Prince, Miami and Belém. The regional carrier Air Guyane Express also offers daily flights to Maripasoula and Saül, as well as more sporadic flights (mainly related to postal deliveries) to Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock and Camopi.

Public transportation

There is a public bus service that currently only covers the municipality of Cayenne and is run by the SMTC (Syndicat Mixte de Transport en Commun, now changed to Régie Communautaire des Transports – RCT) and consists of seven lines. For connections between the coastal towns (except Montsinéry-Tonnegrande), the "collective cab" (Taxis Co) method is quite widespread, which are minibuses with a capacity of about ten people that leave as soon as there is a certain number of users on board. In 2010, the general council reached an agreement with some of the operators of this service to make it at least partially public under the name of TIG (Transporte Interurbano de la Guiana), with fixed departure times and predefined stops. On the main rivers (Marowijne and Oyapock), there are pirogue services (called pirogues cabs), which go both to inland centers and across the border (such as Albina in Suriname or Oiapoque in Brazil).

Military, police and security forces

French Armed Forces

French military forces in Guiana number around 2,000 personnelJournal of Guyana RFO TV 18 August 2009 and include the following: Caserne Loubère (15477021260)

* The 9th Marine Infantry Regiment (9^e RIMa) in Cayenne, the Madeleine. * The

3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (french: 3e Régiment étranger d'infanterie, 3e REI) is an infantry regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment is stationed in French Guiana. Its mission includes the protection of the Ce ...

(3^e REI) in

. * The RSMAG Regiment (Adapted Military Service) of French Guiana, located in Saint-Jean-du-Maroni, with a detachment in Cayenne. * Various detachments: ** 68 Air Transport Squadron which includes: five Puma helicopters, four Fennec helicopters and three Casa CN235 aircraft ** A platoon of the

French Navy The French Navy (french: Marine nationale, lit=National Navy), informally , is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the five military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in t ...

, based at the naval base of Dégrad des Cannes and operating two s: ''La Confiance'' and ''La Résolue''. One ''Engins de Débarquement Amphibie – Standards'' (EDA-S) landing craft is also to be delivered to naval forces based in French Guiana by 2025. The landing craft is to better support coastal and riverine operations in the territory. ** A detachment of the

Paris Fire Brigade The Paris Fire Brigade (french: Brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris, BSPP) is a French Army unit which serves as the primary fire and rescue service for Paris, the city's inner suburbs and certain sites of national strategic importance. The ...

in Kourou, ensuring the protection of the

Gendarmerie and National Police

* Elements of the

National Gendarmerie The National Gendarmerie (french: Gendarmerie nationale, ) is one of two national law enforcement forces of France, along with the National Police. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the jurisdiction of the Mini ...

(some 840 personnel) and the national police are deployed in French Guiana and are divided into 16 "brigades". These serve Cayenne,

, Cacao, Régina, Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock,

, Macouria,

Sinnamary Sinnamary is a town and commune on the coast of French Guiana, between Kourou and Iracoubo. Sinnamary was the second France, French settlement founded in French Guiana: the town was founded in 1664. Sinnamary lies on the Sinnamary River and is ...

, Iracoubo,

, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, Apatou, Grand-Santi, Papaïchton,

and

. The National Gendarmerie include five mobile gendarmerie squadrons. ** The Maritime Gendarmerie operates the patrol boats ''Charente'' and ''Organabo'' in the territory, ''Charente'' having been deployed to the territory in 2022 to replace the previous boat ''Mahury'' which was no longer deemed serviceable.

Culture

Architecture

The local architecture is characterized by its Creole,

Amerindian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...

and Bushinenge influences. The main towns contain predominantly Creole-style architecture, with some Western-style buildings and forts. In the communes with the black maroon populations one can see houses of bushinengue styles. And the Amerindian communes are recognized for their pre-colonial type carbets. Most of these buildings were designed with local materials, such as wood from the Amazonian forests and bricks made on site. These local architectures blend with contemporary style buildings.

Festivities

Cayenne place de l'Esplanade durant le carnaval

The Carnival is one of the major events in French Guiana. Considered the longest in the world, it takes place on afternoon of Sunday, between Epiphany at the beginning of January and Ash Wednesday in February or (month). Groups disguised according to the theme of the year parade around decorated floats to the rhythm of percussion and brass. The preparation of the groups starts months before the carnival. The groups parade in front of thousands of spectators who gather on the

sidewalks A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English), footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a street, highway, terminals. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick, stone ...

and bleachers arranged for the occasion. Brazilian groups identical to those in the Rio carnival are also appreciated for their rhythms and their alluring costumes. The Chinese community of Cayenne also participates in the parades, bringing its characteristic touch, dragons. At the start of the evening, the Touloulous, typical characters of the Guianan carnival, go to the dancings to participate in the famous paré-masked balls.

Cuisine

Plat typique de Guyane française, l'Atipa

Guianan cuisine is rich in the different cultures that mix in French Guiana. Creole restaurants rub shoulders with Chinese restaurants in large cities such as Cayenne,

and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. The local culinary art originally brought together Guianan Creole,

Bushinengue Surinamese Maroons (Marrons or Businenge, meaning ''black people of the forest'') are the descendants of enslaved Africans that escaped from the plantations and settled in the inland of Suriname (Dutch Guiana) and French Guiana. The Surinamese ...

and Native American cuisines. All of these cuisines have several ingredients in common: * Manioc; * Smoked meats and fish This southern Caribbean territory has many typical dishes, such as Awara broth, Creole galette, Dizé milé, Countess, Cramanioc pudding, Kalawanng, Couac gratin and salad, Fricasse of iguana or its famous Pimentade (fish or chicken

court-bouillon Court-bouillon or court bouillon (in Louisiana, pronounced ''coo-bee-yon'') is a quickly-cooked broth used for poaching other foods, most commonly fish or seafood. It is also sometimes used for poaching vegetables, eggs, sweetbreads, cockscombs ...

). Atipas are local fishes beloved by the French Guianese often prepared with coconut milk. At Easter, Guianan people eat a traditional dish called Awara broth. For weddings, locals traditionally eat Colombo, which is a type of curry that has become a staple of the French Guianese cuisine.

Literature

French Guiana literature includes all works written by local authors or persons related to French Guiana. It is expressed both in French and in Guianan Creole. Local literature is a literature closely related to that of the French West Indies: especially the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe. For some, it is an Antillean- Guyanese literature in relation to the themes addressed, which are mainly related to slavery and other social problems. Thus, this literature takes several forms. First, orality, because it is a characteristic element of Guianan literature, as in many countries of Black America. In this connection, we can consider tales,

Legend A legend is a genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human values, and possess ...

s, fables and, in another form, Novels. Nineteenth century French Guiana is marked by a weak presence of writers. At that time, writers only published a few scattered poems in local newspapers. Today, however, it is difficult to trace the writings of some French Guianan poets: Ho-A-Sim-Elosem, Munian, R. Octaville, etc. Two Guianan poets are the exception. According to Ndagano (1996), Ismaÿl Urbain and Fabien Flavien would be considered the first French Guianan poets. However, Alfred Parépou is a writer who marked his era with his work Atipa (1885). The period from 1900 to 1950 constitutes an important stage in local literature insofar as it gave birth to numerous writers who had a considerable impact, such as those of Negritude (Négritude). The Guianan of the 1950s and 1960s is notable for writing about the black cause. Serge Patient and Elie Stephenson did address this issue in their writings. Since 1970 different generations of writers have become aware of the black cause or

slavery Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

. Whether through their writings or their political activities, they take into account this painful period that had serious consequences on the local society and on the black world in general. For this

generation A generation refers to all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively. It can also be described as, "the average period, generally considered to be about 20–⁠30 years, during which children are born and gr ...

, Christiane Taubira remains the figurehead. Other writers are interested in other types of themes, such as regional nature, etc.

Sport

Sport in French Guiana dates back to long before the colonial period. Popularized since the 19th century, the first sports competition organized to commemorate 14 July was held in 1890. At that time, there were already physical activities favorable to the inhabitants of this Amazonian territory, but also sports coming from Europe, which favored the colonizers. There were foot races, donkey races, canoe races, bicycle races, tricycle races, nautical regattas in the ports, and traditional popular games. The most popular sport in French Guiana today is football, followed by basketball, cycling, swimming and handball, although there are some canoeing, judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, aikido, karate, fencing, horseback riding, rowing and volleyball clubs in the department. As a French Overseas department, Guiana is not a member of the Pan American Sports Organization; rather, athletes compete within the

French National Olympic and Sports Committee The French National Olympic and Sports Committee (french: Comité national olympique et sportif français, CNOSF) is the National Olympic Committee of France. It is responsible for France's participation in the Olympic Games, as well as for all ...

and are governed by the Ligue d'Athlétisme de la Guyane, a sub-unit of the Fédération française d'athlétisme. Starting in 1960, the Tour of Guiana, an annual multiple-stage bicycle race, is held.

Football

The territory has its own local team, the French Guiana football team. A regional football league, the French Guiana Football League, was established in October 1962. It is currently not affiliated to FIFA, but has been affiliated to the FFF since 27 April 1963 and has been an associate member of CONCACAF (North, Central American and Caribbean League) since 1978. In April 2013, the LFG became a full member of CONCACAF. The French Guiana Football Team, also known as Yana Dòkò, is a selection of the best local players under the auspices of the Guiana Football League. It is not recognized by FIFA, but participates in CONCACAF competitions. It played its first match against Dutch Guiana (now Suriname) in 1936, losing 1 to 3. It had its biggest victory on 26 September 2012 against St. Pierre and Miquelon (11 to 1) and its biggest defeat was also against Dutch Guiana, losing 9 to 0 on 2 March 1947. The team has participated in events such as the CONCACAF Nations Cup / Gold Cup,

Caribbean Nations Cup The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...

(between 1978 and 2017), CONCACAF Nations League, Overseas Cup (Coupe de l'Outre-Mer, 2008–2012) and the Tournament of 4 (Tournoi des 4). Baduel Stadium (15476357808)

Tour

The Tour of Guiana (locally: Tour de Guyane), formerly known as "Le Tour du Littoral" (the Littoral Tour) or more rarely as "La Grande Boucle Guayanaise", is a cycling stage race that takes place mainly in French Guiana each year, although it occasionally crosses neighbouring countries. It takes place in nine stages, with a route linking the main towns of the department: Cayenne,

, and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. It was created in 1950 and is organised by the Comité Régional de Cyclisme de la Guyane (French Guiana Cycling Committee). The tour has been international since 1978. Over the years it has gained in importance and popularity and its duration has increased. The participation has grown from a mostly French Guianan group in the first editions to editions with more than 10 different nationalities. The 2020 edition of the Tour could not take place due to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

pandemic. This is also the case for the Tour in 2021. Kevin Seraphin Wizards

In popular culture

The novel '' Papillon'', by the French convict Henri Charrière, is set in French Guiana. It was first published in France in 1969, describing his escape from a penal colony there. Becoming an instant bestseller, it was translated into English from the original French by June P. Wilson and Walter B. Michaels for a 1970 edition, and by author

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and cent ...

. Soon afterward the book was adapted for a Hollywood film of the same name. Charrière stated that all events in the book are truthful and accurate, allowing for minor lapses in memory. Since its publication there has been controversy over its accuracy.Randall, Colin (27 June 2005
Ex-convict aged 104 claims to be Papillon
Telegraph.co.uk

References

External links

*
Prefecture website

Collectivité territoriale de Guyane website

Tourism committee of French Guiana
{{Authority control The Guianas Overseas departments of France Former colonies in South America Former French colonies French colonization of the Americas Departments of France Regions of France Outermost regions of the European Union Guiana Guiana French-speaking countries and territories States and territories established in 1946 1946 establishments in the French Union 1946 establishments in South America Dependent territories in South America Enclaves and exclaves