First settled by the French in 1604, French Guiana was the site of notorious penal settlements until 1951. The European Space Agency launches its communication satellites from Kourou.

Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil and Suriname

4 00 N, 53 00 W

total: 91,000 sq km
land: 89,150 sq km
water: 1,850 sq km

total: 1,183 km
border countries: Brazil 673 km, Suriname 510 km

378 km

territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation

low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Bellevue de l'Inini 851 m

bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered), petroleum, kaolin, fish, niobium, tantalum, clay

arable land: 0.13%
permanent crops: 0.04%
other: 99.83% (90% forest, 10% other) (2005)

20 sq km (2003)

high frequency of heavy showers and severe thunderstorms; flooding

mostly an unsettled wilderness; the only non-independent portion of the South American continent

199,509 (July 2006 est.)

0-14 years: 28.9% (male 29,540/female 28,210)
15-64 years: 64.8% (male 69,302/female 59,980)
65 years and over: 6.3% (male 6,350/female 6,127) (2006 est.)

total: 28.6 years
male: 29.6 years
female: 27.4 years (2006 est.)

1.96% (2006 est.)

20.46 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

4.88 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

4.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.16 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.04 male(s)/female
total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

total: 11.76 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 12.58 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 10.89 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

total population: 77.27 years
male: 73.95 years
female: 80.75 years (2006 est.)

2.98 children born/woman (2006 est.)

noun: French Guianese (singular and plural)
adjective: French Guianese

black or mulatto 66%, white 12%, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian 12%, other 10%

Roman Catholic

French

definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83%
male: 84%
female: 82% (1982 est.)

conventional long form: Department of Guiana
conventional short form: French Guiana
local long form: none
local short form: Guyane

overseas department of France

Cayenne

none (overseas department of France)

none (overseas department of France)

Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)

4 October 1958 (French Constitution)

French legal system

18 years of age; universal

unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General Council - last held in March 2000 (next to be held March 2006); Regional Council - last held 21 and 28 March 2004 (next to be held in 2010)
election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PSG 5, various left-wing parties 5, independents 7, other 2; Regional Council - (second election results) percent of vote by party - PS 37.24%, UMP 31.58%, FDG/Walwari 31.18%; seats by party - PS 17, UMP 7, FDG/Walwari 7
note: one seat was elected to the French Senate on 27 September 1998 (next to be held September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; 2 seats were elected to the French National Assembly on 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held in 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP/RPR 1, Walwari Committee 1

Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel (highest local court based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana)

The economy is tied closely to the much larger French economy through subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou (which accounts for 25% of GDP), fishing and forestry are the most important economic activities. Forest and woodland cover 90% of the country. The large reserves of tropical hardwoods, not fully exploited, support an expanding sawmill industry that provides sawn logs for export. Cultivation of crops is limited to the coastal area, where the population is largely concentrated; rice and manioc are the major crops. French Guiana is heavily dependent on imports of food and energy. Unemployment is a serious problem, particularly among younger workers.

$1.551 billion (2003 est.)

$8,300 (2003 est.)

58,800 (1997)

agriculture: 18.2%
industry: 21.2%
services: 60.6% (1980)

22% (2001)

1.5% (2002 est.)

revenues: $225 million
expenditures: $390 million; including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996)

corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sugar, cocoa, vegetables, bananas; cattle, pigs, poultry

construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold mining

465.2 million kWh (2003)

432.6 million kWh (2003)

6,600 bbl/day (2003 est.)

$155 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)

shrimp, timber, gold, rum, rosewood essence, clothing

France 62%, Switzerland 7%, US 2% (2004)

$625 million c.i.f. (2002 est.)

food (grains, processed meat), machinery and transport equipment, fuels and chemicals

France 63%, US, Trinidad and Tobago, Italy (2004)

$1.2 billion (1988)

euro (EUR)
note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for everyday transactions within the member countries

calendar year

51,000 (2001)

138,200 (2002)

general assessment: NA
domestic: fair open-wire and microwave radio relay system
international: country code - 594; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)

AM 2, FM 14 (including 6 repeaters), shortwave 6 (including 5 repeaters) (1998)

3 (plus eight low-power repeaters) (1997)

.gf

107 (2005)

38,000 (2005)

11 (2005)

total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 1 (2005)

total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 5 (2005)

total: 817 km (1998)

3,760 km
note: 460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and river steamers, 3,300 km by native craft (2003)

Degrad des Cannes

no regular military forces; Gendarmerie

Suriname claims area between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa) in French Guiana

small amount of marijuana grown for local consumption; minor transshipment point to Europe