Camopi (; ) is a commune of

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, an

overseas region The overseas departments and regions of France (, ; DROM) are the five departments and regions of the French Republic which are located outside European France (also known as " metropolitan France"). These overseas entities have exactly the s ...

and department of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

located in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. Camopi is mainly inhabited by

Amerindian In the Americas, Indigenous peoples comprise the two continents' pre-Columbian inhabitants, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with them in the 15th century, as well as the ethnic groups that identify with the pre-Columbian population of ...

s of the Wayampi and Teko tribes.

History

In 1738, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

mission opened on the river Oyapock near the current town of Camopi. The missionaries brought European diseases and caused a depopulation. In 1763, the Jesuits left and most of the population dispersed. During the 18th and 19th century, the Teko had moved into the area which had been home to the Wayampi, and by the 1830s, their territories overlap, however the tribes remained isolated. In 1930s,

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

renewed their interest in the area, and wanted to establish borders. Medical facilities were established in the mid-1950s followed by a school. In the 1960s attempts were made to group the population into bigger villages with limited success. A granman (paramount chief) was installed according to the

Maroon Maroon ( , ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word , meaning chestnut. ''Marron'' is also one of the French translations for "brown". Terms describing interchangeable shades, with overlapping RGB ranges, inc ...

hierarchy, but failed to catch on. In 1969, the town of Camopi was established. Parts of the tribes rejected the modernisations, and in 1970 access to the commune had been restricted. In 1987,

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

had established Zones of Collective Use Rights (ZDUC). ZDUC means that the villages have communal land for hunting, fishing, agriculture and gathering. In the late 1980s, gold had been discovered around the river Camopi. Illegal gold miners have moved into area, and villages of Vila Brasil and Ilha Bela had been established opposite the town of Camopi on the other side of the river Oyapock. The

3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment () 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 Guiana Space Centre, a European Space Agency (ESA) f ...

has set up a camp to protect the border. Even though Vila Brasil had been built illegally in a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

, Brazil designated Vila Brasil as a district of the municipality in 2011. In 2013, the access to the village of Camopi was no longer restricted, and the town had slowly opened for tourism. The southern village cluster of Trois Sauts still requires a special permit from the

Prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

. In the early 21st century, the Amerindians started to build hamlets with subsistence farms several kilometres from the town of Camopi. By 2010, there were 45 hamlets, and most had left the main town.

Geography

With a land area of , it is the third-largest commune of France. The village of Camopi, seat of the commune, lies on the border with

at the confluence of the rivers Camopi and Oyapock. The commune can only be reached by boat or via the air. It is served by Camopi Airport. Mont Itoupé, the second highest mountain of French Guiana, is located within the commune.

Climate

Camopi has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Am''). The average annual temperature in Camopi is . The average annual rainfall is with May as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in October, at around , and lowest in February, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Camopi was on 30 October 2018; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 14 September 1978.

Villages

* Alikoto Tapele * Trois Sauts

References

Bibliography

External links

{{authority control Communes of French Guiana Indigenous villages in French Guiana