French Guiana (, officially ) is an
overseas department (French:
département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of
France, located on the northern coast of
South America. It has borders with two nations,
Brazil and
Suriname. Like the other
DOMs, French Guiana is also an
overseas region of France, one of the 26
regions of France. Its currency is the
euro. The
prefecture is
Cayenne.
The addition of the adjective "French" comes from colonial times when three such colonies existed:
British Guiana (now
Guyana), Dutch Guiana (now
Suriname) and French Guiana. The three are still often collectively referred to as
the Guianas.
History
French Guiana was originally inhabited by a number of indigenous American people. It was settled by the French during the 17th century. After the
Treaty of Paris in 1763,
Louis XV sent 12,000 settlers to French Guiana to colonise the region. One and a half years later only a few hundred survived. Its infamous
Île du Diable (
Devil's Island) was the site of
penal settlements from 1852 until 1951. More than 70,000 French convicts were deported to French Guiana between 1852 and 1939.
In 1809 a Portuguese-British naval squadron
took French Guiana for the
Portuguese Empire. With the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1814 the region was handed back to the French, though a Portuguese presence remained until 1817.
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.
In 1946, French Guiana became an
overseas department of France. The 1970s saw the settlement of
Hmong refugees from
Laos. A movement for increased autonomy from France gained some momentum in the 1970s and 1980s.
Subdivisions
French Guiana is divided into two
arrondissements, 22
communes, and 19
cantons.
Economy
thumb|right|110px|[[Ariane (rocket)|Ariane launched from the
Guiana Space Centre near
Kourou, on 10 August 1992.]]
French Guiana is heavily dependent on
France for subsidies, trade, 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. Agriculture is largely undeveloped and is mainly confined to the area near the coast — sugar and bananas are two of the main
cash crops grown. Tourism, especially
eco-tourism, is growing. Unemployment is a major problem, running at about 20% to 30%.
In 2006 the
GDP per capita of French Guiana at market exchange rates, not at
PPP, was €13,800 (US$17,380), which was 48% of
Metropolitan France's average GDP per capita that year.
Demographics
French Guiana's population of 221,500 (January 2008 est.), 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 (primarily
Brazil,
Suriname, and
Haiti).
Estimates of the percentages of French Guiana ethnic composition vary, a situation compounded by the large numbers of immigrants (about 20,000).
Creoles (people of mixed African and 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 to be about 60% to 70% of the total population if Haitians (comprising roughly one-third of Creoles) are included, and 30% to 50% without.
Roughly 14% of the population is of European ancestry. The vast majority of these are of
French heritage, though there are also people of
Dutch,
British,
Spanish and
Portuguese ancestry .
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 as well as
Dominica. Other Asian groups include
East Indians,
Lebanese and
Vietnamese.
The main groups living in the interior are the
Maroons (formerly called "Bush Negroes") are racially black African, and
Amerindians.
The
Maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves, live primarily along the
Maroni River. The main Maroon groups are the
Saramaca,
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,
Carib,
Emerillon,
Galibi (now called the
Kaliña),
Palikour,
Wayampi and
Wayana. As of late 1990s there was evidence of an
uncontacted group of Wayampi.
The dominant religion of French Guiana is
Roman Catholicism; the Maroons and some Amerindian people maintain their own religions. The Hmong people are also mainly Catholic owing to the influence of Catholic missionaries who helped bring them to French Guiana.
Languages
The official language of French Guiana is
French but a number of other local languages exist. The official regional languages are
French Guiana creole, 6
Amerindian languages (
Arawak,
Palikur,
Kali'na,
Wayana,
Wayampi,
Emerillon), 4
Maroon dialects (
Saramaka,
Paramaccan,
Boni,
Djuka), as well as
Hmong Njua. Other languages spoken by relatively large groups of the population are
Portuguese,
Hakka,
Haitian Creole,
Spanish and English.
Politics
French Guiana, as part of France, is part of the
European Union, the largest landmass for an area outside of
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
European Union territories outside Europe that is not an island. As an integral part of France, its
head of state is the
President of the French Republic, and its head of Government is the
Prime Minister of France. The French Government and its agencies have responsibility for a wide range of issues that are reserved to the National Executive, such as defense and external relations.
The President of France appoints a
Prefect (resident at the
Prefecture building in Cayenne) as his representative to head the local government of French Guiana. 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.
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.
Transport
thumb|left|280px|CayenneFrench Guiana's main international airport is
Cayenne-Rochambeau Airport, located in the
commune of
Matoury, a southern suburb of
Cayenne. There are three flights a day to
Paris (
Orly Airport), served by
Air France,
Air Caraïbes and
CorsairFly. 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 and
Belém.
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 harbour 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 2010. 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.
Notable natives and residents
- Henri Charrière, escaped French convict, imprisoned in and around French Guiana from 1933 to 1941
- Léon Damas, Francophone poet widely notated for his influence on the literary movement known as la négritude
- Félix Éboué, Black French Guianan born colonial administrator
- Malia Metella, French swimmer, SC European Championships 2004: 1st 100m free
See also
