Macouria is a commune of

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 and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

located midway between

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's m ...

and

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 ...

, an

overseas region 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 ...

and department 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 ar ...

located 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 souther ...

. The seat of the commune is the settlement of Tonate, and so the commune is also known unofficially as Macouria-Tonate. The

French Guiana Zoo The French Guiana Zoo (French: ''Zoo de Guyane'') is a zoo in French Guiana, France. It is located between Macouria and Montsinéry. The zoo opened in 1983 as a hummingbird centre and was called ''Fauna Flora Amazonica''. The zoo closed in 200 ...

is located in the commune.

Geography

Macouria is one of the smallest cities of

. The town is separated in the east with

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 ...

, by the Larivot Bridge, crossing the

Cayenne River Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's ...

. Its southern limit is marked by the Montsinéry River, which is a separation with the eponymous city. Westward there is

and in the north the town is the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Afr ...

Urbanization

The population is mainly located south and along the national road RN1 because of 2 km wide mangrove swamp situated in the North. * From the Larivot bridge to the town centre, on approximately 28 km, there are many villages. * From the town center to Kourou, there are few inhabitants except in the farming areas of "La Césarée" and "Matiti". The main inhabited zones are: * Maillard : a neighborhood which will host 600 houses on the long run organized around the blue lake, which is a former quarry. * Soula : located in the East of the town not far away from

. * Matiti: situated 10 km after the town centre, it is based on land given back by 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 approximat ...

History

The area was first described in 1604 by Daniel de La Touche de La Ravardière. He counted many

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 ...

settlements. Around 1716, the commune was settled with plantations. Tonat build the first house and

cotton mill A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning (textiles), spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system. Althou ...

. In the middle of the 19th century, Macouria was part of the canton of

. 1488 slaves stood for 93% of the population of the "neighborhood" led by Jean-Baptiste Tonat. They worked in a plantation called "La Béarnaise". On it, there were : * 25 ha of sugar cane * 8 ha of cofe * 60 ha of roucou *1100 ha of cotton In tribute to the leader of the neighbourhood Tonat, the zone was called "Tonate Bourg" and given to the state. In 1848, year of the abolition of slavery some free Africans and 55 Indian migrants arrived in the city. From 1864 to 1970 the population decreased, mainly because of the lack of activity on it.

Population

Sights

The

is located in Macouria on the road to Montsinéry.

References

External links

Official site
(in French) {{authority control Communes of French Guiana