French Guiana

French Guiana
	Guyane; French Guiana
Flag	Region logo
; Details	; Details
	Location
Time zone	UTC-3
	Administration
Country	France
NUTS Region	FR9
Départements	none
Capital	Cayenne
President	Antoine Karam (PSG)
	Basic statistics
Area	83,534 km² (32,253 sq mi)
Population	221,500 ; (Ranked 26th)
- Density	3 /km² (7 /sq mi)
	Other information
GDP/ Nominal	€ 2.3 billion (2006)
GDP per capita	€ 11,690 (2006);
Website	cr-guyane.fr

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Not to be confused with Guyana or French Guinea.

"GUF" redirects here. For other uses, see GUF (disambiguation).

French Guiana (French: Guyane française, officially Guyane) is an overseas department and colony (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, and is an integral part of the French Republic. Like metropolitan 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.

[edit] History

Main article: History of French Guiana

French Guiana was originally inhabited by a number of indigenous American people. It was settled by the French during the 17th century. Its infamous Île du Diable (Devil's Island) 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. 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.

[edit] Economy

Ariane (rocket) launched from the Guiana Space Centre near Kourou, on 10 August 1992.

Main article: Economy of French Guiana

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),^[2] which was 48% of Metropolitan France's average GDP per capita that year.^[3]

[edit] Demographics

Main article: Demographics of French Guiana

French Guiana's population of 221,500 (January 2008 est.),^[4] 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).^[5]

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 in 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 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.^[6]

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 census	2007 estimate	2008 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	205,954	213,500	221,500
Official figures from past censuses and INSEE estimates.

[edit] 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 runaway negro slave dialects (Saramaka, Paramaccan, Boni, Djuka), as well as Hmong. Other languages spoken by relatively large groups of the population are Portuguese, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Spanish and English.

[edit] Politics

Main article: Politics of French Guiana

French Guiana, as part of France, is part of the European Union, the largest part in an 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 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. 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.

[edit] Transport

Main article: Transport in French Guiana

Cayenne

French 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, 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 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.

[edit] Notable natives and residents

Tariq Abdul-Wahad, French professional basketball player
Léon Bertrand, French politician
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
Jean-Claude Darcheville, football striker who joined Rangers from FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the summer of 2007
Félix Éboué, Black French Guianan born colonial administrator
Marc-Antoine Fortuné, football striker who joined AS Nancy in the winter of 2006 and is currently on loan at West Bromwich Albion
Bernard Lama, former French international football player
Florent Malouda, French international football player who plays for Chelsea Football Club
Malia Metella, French swimmer, SC European Championships 2004: 1st 100m free
Gaston Monnerville, French politician and lawyer
Georges Patient, French politician
Cyrille Regis, former West Bromwich Albion and England player
Hector Riviérez, French politician
Henri Salvador, famous singer, one of the inspiration sources for the Bossa nova movement
Christiane Taubira, politician of Parti Radical de Gauche (France)

[edit] See also

France portal

Geography portal

Main article: List of French Guiana-related topics

[edit] Notes

^ ^a ^b "GDP per inhabitant in 2006 ranged from 25% of the EU27 average in Nord-Est in Romania to 336% in Inner London". Eurostat. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_PRD_CAT_PREREL/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2009/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2009_MONTH_02/1-19022009-EN-AP.PDF.
^ (French) INSEE-CEROM. "Les comptes économiques de la Guyane en 2006 : premiers résultats" (PDF). http://prod-afd.afd.zeni.fr/jahia/webdav/site/cerom/users/admin_cerom/public/Pdf/CR2006_guy.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-01-14.
^ (French) INSEE. "Produits Intérieurs Bruts Régionaux en euros par habitant". http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/docs_ffc/PIB_reg.xls. Retrieved on 2008-01-13.
^ (French) INSEE, Government of France. "Population des régions au 1er janvier". http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/tableau.asp?reg_id=99&ref_id=CMRSOS02137. Retrieved on 2009-01-20.
^ (French) INSEE, Government of France. ""Migrations (caractéristiques démographiques selon le lieu de naissance)"". http://www.recensement.insee.fr/FR/ST_ANA/D9C/MIGTABMIG1DOMMIG1DOMAD9CFR.html. Retrieved on 2007-05-04.
^ Danny Palmerlee (2007). South America. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1-74104-443-X. http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN174104443X&id=zeUwp50DR9EC&pg=PA746&lpg=PA746&dq=%22French+Guiana%22+date:2000-2007&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=Gmy65FICYCisCQwh8XgOF9h0rmo.

[edit] References

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