Information about French Guiana

Région Guyane
Flag of Guyane
(Region flag)	(Region logo)
Location
Map of France highlighting the Region of Guyane
Administration
Capital	Cayenne
Regional President	Antoine Karam (PSG) (since 1992)
Departments	Guyane
Arrondissements	2
Cantons	19
Communes	22
Statistics
Land area1	83,534 km
Population	(Ranked 26th)
- January 1, 2006 est.	202,000
- March 8, 1999 census	157,213
- Density (2006)	2.4/km
1 French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers

French Guiana (French: Guyane française, officially Guyane) is an overseas department (French: département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France, located on the northern coast of South America. Like the other DOMs, French Guiana is also an overseas region of France, one of the 26 regions of France. As a part of France, French Guiana is part of the European Union's territory, and its currency is the euro.^[1]

History

Main article: History of French Guiana

French Guiana was originally inhabited by a number of indigenous American peoples. Settled by the French during the 17th century, it was the site of penal settlements from 1852 until 1951; a border dispute with Brazil arose in the late nineteenth century over a vast area of jungle, leading to the short-lived pro-French independent state of Counani in the disputed territory and some fighting between settlers, before the dispute was resolved largely in favour of Brazil by the arbitration of the Swiss government. The 1970s saw the settlement of Hmong refugees from Laos. Its position in South America made it a suitable place for France to launch troops from should the need ever arise.

Politics

Main article: Politics of French Guiana

French Guiana, as part of France, is part of the European Union, the largest part in area outside Europe, with one of the longest EU external boundaries. Along with the Spanish enclaves in Africa of Ceuta and Melilla, it is one of only three EU territories outside Europe that is not an island. Its head of state is the President of the French Republic, who appoints a Prefect (resident at the Prefecture building in Cayenne) as his representative. There are two legislative bodies: the 19-member General Council and the 34-member Regional Council, both elected.

French Guiana sends two deputies to the French National Assembly, one representing the commune (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 one senator to the French Senate.

French Guiana has traditionally been conservative, though the socialist party has been increasingly successful in recent years. Though many would like to see more autonomy for the region, support for complete independence is very low.

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 is formed by the Maroni River, which flows through rain forest and is difficult for the Gendarmerie and the French Foreign Legion to patrol. The border line with Suriname is disputed.

Administrative divisions

French Guiana is divided into 2 departmental arrondissements, 19 cantons (not shown here), and 22 communes:

Arrondissement of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni	Arrondissement of Cayenne
Awala-Yalimapo Mana Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Apatou Grand-Santi Papaïchton Saül Maripasoula	Camopi Saint-Georges Ouanary Régina Roura Saint-Élie Iracoubo Sinnamary Kourou Macouria Montsinéry-Tonnegrande Matoury Cayenne Remire-Montjoly

See also:

• Arrondissements of Guyane (French Guiana)
• Cantons of Guyane (French Guiana)
• Communes of Guyane (Cities of French Guiana)

Geography

Main article: Geography of French Guiana

Though sharing cultural affinities with the French-speaking territories of the Caribbean, French Guiana cannot be considered to be part of that geographic region, with the Caribbean Sea actually being several hundred kilometres to the west, beyond the arc of the Lesser Antilles.

French Guiana 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 Tumac-Humac mountains along the Brazilian frontier. French Guiana's highest peak is Bellevue de l'Inini (851 m). Other mountains include Mont Machalou (782 m), Pic Coudreau (711 m) and Mont St Marcel (635 m), Mont Favard (200 m) and Montagne du Mahury (156 m). Several small islands are found off the coast, the three Iles du Salut Salvation Islands which includes Devil's Island and the isolated Ile de Connetable bird sanctuary further along the coast towards Brazil.

The Barrage de Petit-Saut hydroelectric dam in the north of French Guiana forms an artificial lake and provides hydroelectricity. There are many rivers in French Guiana.

Economy

Main article: Economy of French Guiana

French Guiana is heavily dependent on France for subsidies and goods. The main industries are fishing (accounting for three-quarters of foreign exports), gold mining and timber. In addition, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou accounts for 25% of the GDP and employs about 1700 people. There is very little manufacturing and agriculture is largely undeveloped. Tourism, especially eco-tourism, is growing. Unemployment is a major problem, running at about 20% to 30%. In 2004 the GDP per capita of French Guiana at real exchange rates, not at PPP, was 12,887 euros (US$16,030), which was 59.9% of the European Union's average GDP per capita that year.^[2]

Transportation

French Guiana's main international airport is Cayenne-Rochambeau Airport, located in the commune of Matoury, a southern suburb of Cayenne. There is one flight a day to Paris (Orly Airport), and one flight a day arriving from Paris. The flight time from Cayenne to Paris is 8 hours and 25 minutes, and from Paris to Cayenne it is 9 hours and 10 minutes. There are also flights to Fort-de-France, Pointe-à-Pitre, Port-au-Prince, Miami, Macapá, Belém, and Fortaleza.

French Guiana's main seaport is the port of Dégrad des Cannes, located on the estuary of the Mahury River, in the commune of Remire-Montjoly, a south-eastern suburb of Cayenne. Almost all of French Guiana's imports and exports pass through the port of Dégrad des Cannes. Built in 1969, it replaced the old harbor of Cayenne which was congested and couldn't cope with modern traffic.

An asphalted road from Régina to Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock (a town by the Brazilian border) was opened in 2004, completing the road from Cayenne to the Brazilian border. It is now possible to drive on a fully paved road from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni on the Surinamese border to Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock on the Brazilian border. Following an international treaty between France and Brazil signed in July 2005, a bridge over the Oyapock River (marking the border with Brazil) is currently being built and is due to open in the end of 2008. This bridge will be the first land crossing ever opened between France and Brazil, and indeed 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 - there is a ferry crossing to Albina, Suriname.). When the bridge is opened, it will be possible to drive uninterrupted from Cayenne to Macapá, the capital of the state of Amapá in Brazil.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of French Guiana

French Guiana's population of 202,000 (January 2006 est.),^[3] most of whom live along the coast, is very ethnically diverse. At the 1999 census, 54.4% of the inhabitants of French Guiana were born in French Guiana, 11.8% were born in Metropolitan France, 5.2% were born in the French Caribbean départements (Guadeloupe and Martinique), and 28.6% were born in foreign countries (most notably Brazil, Suriname, and Haiti).^[4]

French censuses do not record ethnicity, so estimates of the percentages of French Guiana ethnic composition vary, a problem compounded by the large numbers of legal and illegal immigrants (about 20,000).

Guianese Creoles (People of primarily African heritage mixed with some French ancestry) 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 at about 60% to 70% of the total population with Haitians (comprising roughly one-third of Creoles) and 30% to 50% without. Roughly 14% are Europeans, the vast majority of whom are French.

The main Asian communities are the Hmong from Laos (1.5%) and Chinese (3.2%, primarily from Hong Kong and Zhejiang province). There are also smaller groups from various Caribbean islands, mainly Saint Lucia. The main groups living in the interior are the Maroons (also called Bush Negroes) and Amerindians.

The Maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves, live primarily along the Maroni River. The main Maroon groups are the Paramacca, Aucan (both of whom also live in Suriname) and the Boni (Aluku).

The main Amerindian groups (forming about 3%-4% of the population) are the Arawak, Emerillon, Galibi (now called the Kaliña), Palikour, Wayampi (also known as Oyampi) and Wayana.

The predominant religion in this region is Roman Catholicism, though the Maroons and some Amerindian peoples still practice their own religions. The Hmong people are also mainly Catholic owing to the influence of Catholic missionaries who helped bring them to French Guiana.^[5]

Historical population

1790 estimate	1839 estimate	1857 estimate	1891 estimate	1946 census	1954 census	1961 census	1967 census	1974 census	1982 census	1990 census	1999 census	2006 estimate
14,520	20,940	25,561	33,500	25,499	27,863	33,505	44,392	55,125	73,022	114,678	157,213	202,000
Official figures from past censuses and INSEE estimates.

Notable People

• Florent Malouda, French international football player who plays for Chelsea Football Club
• Henri Charrière, an escaped French convict, imprisoned in and around French Guiana from 1933 to 1945.
• Christiane Taubira, Politician of Socialist Party
• Malia Metella, French swimmer, SC European Championships 2004: 1st 100m free.
• Bernard Lama, former French international football player.
• Cyrille Regis, former West Bromwich Albion and England player.
• Léon Damas, Francophone poet widely notated for his influence on the literary movement known as la négritude
• Henri Salvador, famous singer, one of the inspiration sources for the Bossa Nova movement.
• Jean-Claude Darcheville, football striker who joined Rangers from FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the summer of 2007.

Bibliography

• France's Overseas Frontier : Départements et territoires d'outre-mer Robert Aldrich and John Connell. Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-521-03036-6
• Dry guillotine: Fifteen years among the living dead René Belbenoit, 1938, Reprint: Berkley (1975). ISBN 0-425-02950-6
• Hell on Trial René Belbenoit, 1940, Translated from the Original French Manuscript by Preston Rambo. E. P Dutton & Co. Reprint by Blue Ribbon Books, New York, 194 p. Reprint: Bantam Books, 1971
• Papillon Henri Charrière Reprints: Hart-Davis Macgibbon Ltd. 1970. ISBN 0-246-63987-3 (hbk); Perennial, 2001. ISBN 0-06-093479-4 (sbk)
• Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana Peter Redfield. ISBN 0-520-21985-6

See also

• Flag of French Guiana

References

External links

General information

• Conseil régional de Guyane Official website (French)
• Préfecture de Guyane Official website (French)
• Gabe's French Guiana with information and many photos
• French Guiana at the Open Directory Project
• US Consular Information Sheet

Other

• Ethnologue French Guiana page
• Silvolab Guyanae - scientific interest group in French Guiana
• Article on separatism in French Guiana
• About.com French Guiana travel site
• Status of Forests in French Guiana
• French Guiana photo gallery
• French Guiana image gallery
• Photo gallery
• Map of French Guiana
• Officials reports, thesis, scientific papers about French Guiana (en|fr)
• The IRD's database AUBLET2 stores information about botanical specimens collected in the Guianas, mainly in French Guiana

•  • [ e] Overseas departments and territories of France
Overseas departments1	French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Runion
Overseas collectivities	French Polynesia Mayotte2 Saint Barthelemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Wallis and Futuna
Special status	New Caledonia
Uninhabited lands	Clipperton Island French Southern and Antarctic Lands  (Amsterdam Island • Saint-Paul Island • Crozet Islands • Kerguelen Islands • Adlie Land Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean:  Bassas da India3 • Europa Island3 • Glorioso Islands2, 3, 4 • Juan de Nova Island3 • Tromelin Island5)
1 Also known as overseas regions • 2 claimed by Comoros • 3 claimed by Madagascar • 4 claimed by Seychelles • 5 claimed by Mauritius

•  • [ e] Member states and observers of La Francophonie
Members	Albania Andorra Belgium (French Community) Benin Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada (New Brunswick Quebec) Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Cyprus1 Comoros Democratic Republic of the Congo Republic of the Congo Cte d'Ivoire Djibouti Dominica Egypt Equatorial Guinea Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia France (including French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Saint Pierre and Miquelon) Gabon Ghana1 Greece Guinea Guinea-Bissau Haiti Laos Luxembourg Lebanon Madagascar Mali Mauritania Mauritius Moldova Monaco Morocco Niger Romania Rwanda St. Lucia So Tom and Prncipe Senegal Seychelles Switzerland Togo Tunisia Vanuatu Vietnam
Observers	Armenia Austria Croatia Czech Republic Georgia Hungary Lithuania Mozambique Poland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Ukraine
1 Associate member.

•  • [ e] Countries of South America
Countries and territories also in or commonly reckoned elsewhere in the Americas shown in italics
	Sovereign states Argentina Bolivia Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Guyana Panama Paraguay Peru Suriname Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay Venezuela Dependencies Aruba (Netherlands) Falkland Islands (UK) French Guiana (France) Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands) South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK)

•  • [ e] Outlying territories of European countries
Territories under European sovereignty but closer to or on continents other than Europe (see for further information)
Denmark	Greenland
France	Clipperton Island French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Amsterdam • Saint-Paul • Crozet • Kerguelen • Adlie Land1 • Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean: Bassas da India • Europa Island • Glorioso Islands • Juan de Nova Island • Tromelin Island) Guadeloupe Martinique Mayotte New Caledonia Runion Saint Barthelemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Wallis and Futuna
Italy	Pantelleria Pelagie Islands (Lampedusa • Lampione • Linosa)
Netherlands	Aruba Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire • Curaao • Saba • Sint Maarten • Sint Eustatius)
Norway	Bouvet Island Peter I Island1 Queen Maud Land1
Portugal	Azores Islands Madeira Islands
Russia	Khabomai Ratmanov Island Shikotan
Spain	Canary Islands CeutaIsla de Alborn Isla Perejil Islas Chafarinas Melilla Pen de Alhucemas Pen de Vlez de la Gomera
United Kingdom	Anguilla Ascension Island Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Falkland Islands Montserrat Saint Helena Tristan da Cunha Turks and Caicos Islands British Antarctic Territory1 British Indian Ocean Territory Pitcairn Islands South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
1 Claims to sovereignty over territories in Antarctica are currently suspended under the Antarctic Treaty System.

•  • [ e] French overseas empire

Former  •  • [ e] Former French colonies in Africa and the Indian Ocean Mahgreb Algeria Morocco (Arguin Island) Tunisia French West Africa Cte d'Ivoire Dahomey French Sudan Guinea Mauritania Niger Senegal Upper Volta   French Togoland James Island French Equatorial Africa Chad Gabon Middle Congo Oubangui-Chari Comoros Anjouan Grande Comore Mohli   French Somaliland (Djibouti) Madagascar Ile de France Seychelles  •  • [ e] Former French colonies in the Americas New France  (Acadia • Louisiana • Canada • Terre Neuve) 1655 – 1763 Inini Berbice Saint-Domingue (Haiti) Tobago Virgin Islands France Antarctique France quinoxiale French West India Company  •  • [ e] Former French colonies in Asia and Oceania French India Chandernagor Coromandel Coast Madras Malabar Mah Pondichry Karaikal Yanaon French Indochina Cambodia-Kampuchea Laos Vietnam (Annam • Cochinchina • Tonkin) Other Asian Alaouites Alexandretta-Hatay Ceylon Kwangchowan Oceania New Hebrides (Vanuatu) French East India Company Present  •  • [ e] Overseas departments and territories of France Overseas departments1 French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Runion Overseas collectivities French Polynesia Mayotte2 Saint Barthelemy Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Wallis and Futuna Special status New Caledonia Uninhabited lands Clipperton Island French Southern and Antarctic Lands  (Amsterdam Island • Saint-Paul Island • Crozet Islands • Kerguelen Islands • Adlie Land Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean:  Bassas da India3 • Europa Island3 • Glorioso Islands2, 3, 4 • Juan de Nova Island3 • Tromelin Island5) 1 Also known as overseas regions • 2 claimed by Comoros • 3 claimed by Madagascar • 4 claimed by Seychelles • 5 claimed by Mauritius