Roura () 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 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 ...

. The city of Roura is bordered by

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 Air ...

and Montsinéry-Tonnegrande in the North, Kourou and Saint-Elie in the North West and West, and finally by

Régina Régina (; ) is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. With a land area of , it is the second-largest commune of France. The town is named after the first merchant who settled in the a ...

in the South and East.

History

The town of Roura was founded in 1675 by

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 ...

s. In 1786,

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

attempted an early

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...

of the slaves by allowing small scale agriculture on the savanna ''Gabriel'' near Roury. The experiment failed, and was abandoned in 1796. Between 1809 and 1817, Roura was captured by the Portuguese and part of

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 ...

. In 1848, slavery was abolished. Cacao is a village of Hmong farmers. The population were refugees from

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

who were resettled in French Guiana in 1977 The reasoning was that living, and working conditions were similar to their native land.

Population

Roads

The city of Roura is home to 2 main roads. * The RD6 road leads to the landing stage of Kaw. This road follows a

thalweg In geography, hydrography, and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg () is the line or curve of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse. Normally only the horizontal position of the curve is considered (as viewed on a map); the c ...

through the primal forest. * The RN2 road leads to towns of

and Saint-Georges.

Nature

In 1998, the Kaw-Roura Marshland Nature Reserve was established, and covers an area of 94,700 hectares between Roura and Régina, and is sometimes nicknamed "the Everglades of Guyana". The Trésor Regional Nature Reserve is a 2,464 hectares

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 ...

situated on the flank of the Kaw Mountain. It became a

protected area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood ...

in 2010.

Villages

* Bélizon * Cacao

References

External links

Official website of the commune
(in French) {{authority control Communes of French Guiana