The Republic of Independent Guiana (french: République de la Guyane indépendante) commonly referred to by the name of the capital Counani (rendered "Cunani" in Portuguese by the Brazilians), was a short-lived unrecognized state in

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 sou ...

Republic (1886–1891)

The borders between

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

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 ...

were not clear. Attempts at negotiations failed, and in 1862 it was decided that the area between the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek mythology * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon (company), an American multinational technolog ...

and the Oyapock was a neutral territory. Paul Quartier who had previously visited the territory in 1883, returned in 1885 and had a meeting with the village chiefs of Counani and Carsewenne (nowadays: Calçoene) who were hostile to the Brazilians. The gentlemen signed a treaty on 23 July 1886 creating the country of ''Counani'' in the disputed area. A government was set up in Counani lead by

Jules Gros Jules Marcel Gros (2 February 1890 – 25 December 1992) was a Breton linguist specializing in the Breton language. He was born in Paris. Gros' studies began very early in the twentieth century, from his grandmother and other people in his v ...

as President, Guigues as Minister of State and Quartier as Quartermaster. They set about recruiting settlers, and according to ''Le Gaulois'' received over 3,000 requests. Both France and Brazil did not like what was happening and released a joint statement on 11 September 1887 stating that the Republic of Counani is not recognized. Gros was later deposed by his officials, and the death of Gros in 1891 resulted in the end of the short lived first Republic. In 1894 gold was discovered in the Calçoene River, which resulted in a declaration of another autonomous state under Brazilian protection by general Francisco Cabral. In May 1895, Cabral arrested the village chief of Calçoene who had changed sides to the French. Camille Charvein, the Governor of French Guiana, sent troops to Mapá (nowadays: Amapá), and forced Cabral to retreat. Six French, and 30 Brazilian soldiers and civilians were killed during the battle, with an additional 60 French casualties. In 1897, France and Brazil asked Switzerland to settle the dispute, and most of the territory of the former state of Counani was given to Brazil in what is nowadays the state of Amapá.

Free State of Counani (1901–1904)

Flag of the Free State of Counani (1904-1912)

In 1901 a Frenchman named

Adolphe Brezet Adolphe Brezet was a French military officer who proclaimed himself as the President of the Free State of Counani in South America from 1904 to 1912. Brezet was a mysterious figure who fought against the British in the Boer Wars of South Africa ...

proclaimed himself "Président de l'État libre de Counani". According to newspaper articles based on Brezet's statements, he was elected democratically in 1901. This "special" State had a constitution, a flag and issued some stamps. It was never recognized by Brazil or France, but the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring coun ...

n Boer Republics opened diplomatic relations with Brezet (who had fought for them previously) during the Boer wars. In 1904, Japan and Russia asked for vessels which Brezet didn't have, and thus exposed himself to France and Brazil. Nevertheless he claimed to be a president until 1911 when he was exiled to London. In 1913, he claimed support of the British navy in a plan to recapture Counani.

Claimants of Head of State

(1809–1891) – a French journalist who laid claim as head of state from 1887 to 1891; he was Secretary of the Société de géographie in 1883 * Francisco Xavier da Veiga Cabral - a Brazilian general (1894-1895) *

- a French military officer (1901–1904)

References

Citations

Sources

*
"Annales d'hygiène et de médecine coloniale, Tome quatrième"
(1901), about the sanitary situation in Counani, pp. 121 to 128
p. 121p. 122p. 123p. 124p. 125p. 126p. 127p. 128
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Guyana, Republic of Independent First Brazilian Republic Former countries in South America Former unrecognized countries Former republics French colonization of the Americas

Republic of Independent Guyana The Republic of Independent Guiana (french: République de la Guyane indépendante) commonly referred to by the name of the capital Counani (rendered "Cunani" in Portuguese by the Brazilians), was a short-lived unrecognized state in South Americ ...

States and territories established in 1886 States and territories disestablished in 1891 Amapá