French Guiana is the second-largestregion of France, being approximately one-seventh the size ofEuropean France, and the largestoutermost region within theEuropean Union. It has a very low population density, with only 3.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (9.3/sq mi). About half of its residents live in its capital,Cayenne. Approximately 98.9% of French Guiana is covered by forests,[7] much of itprimevalrainforest.Guiana Amazonian Park, the largestnational park in the European Union[8], covers 41% of French Guiana's territory.
Since December 2015, both the region and department have been ruled by a single assembly within the framework of asingle territorial collectivity, the French Guiana Territorial Collectivity.[b] This assembly, theFrench Guiana Assembly,[c] replaced the formerregional anddepartmental council, which were dissolved. The French Guiana Assembly is in charge of regional and departmental government. Its president isGabriel Serville.
Fully integrated in the French Republic since 1946, French Guiana is a part of the European Union, and its official currency is theeuro. A large part of French Guiana's economy depends on jobs and businesses associated with the presence of theGuiana Space Centre, now theEuropean Space Agency's primary launch site near the equator. As elsewhere in France, the official language is standard French, but each ethnic community has its own language, of whichFrench Guianese Creole, a French-basedcreole language, is the most widely spoken. French Guiana is the only territory on the continental mainland of theAmericas that is still under the sovereignty of aEuropean state.
Map of northern South America showing the extent ofthe Guyanas region
According to theOxford English Dictionary, the name "Guyana" is an indigenous term meaning "land of many waters".[9] The addition of the adjective "French" in most languages other than French is rooted in colonial times, when five such colonies (The Guianas) had been named along the coast, subject to differing powers: namely (from west to east) Spanish Guiana (nowGuayana Region in Venezuela),British Guiana (nowGuyana),Dutch Guiana (nowSuriname), French Guiana, andPortuguese Guiana (nowAmapá in Brazil). French Guiana and the two larger countries to the north and west, Guyana and Suriname, are still often collectively referred to as "the Guianas" and constitute one large landmass known as theGuiana Shield.
Prior toEuropean colonization, the territory was originally inhabited byNative South Americans, most speaking theArawak language, of theArawakan language family. The people identified asLokono. The first French establishment is recorded in 1503, but France did not establish a durable presence until colonists founded Cayenne in 1643.
Bill Marshall, Professor of Comparative Cultural Studies at theUniversity of Stirling,[11] wrote of French Guiana's origins:
The first French effort to colonize Guiana, in 1763, utterly failed, as settlers were subject to high mortality given the numerous tropical diseases and harsh climate: all but 2,000 of the initial 12,000 settlers died.
After Franceceded Louisiana to the United States in 1804, it developed Guiana as apenal colony, establishing a network of camps and penitentiaries along the coast where prisoners from metropolitan France were sentenced toforced labour.[not verified in body]
During operations as apenal colony beginning in the mid-19th century, the French government transported approximately 56,000 prisoners toDevil's Island. Fewer than 10% survived their sentence.[12]
Île du Diable (Devil's Island) was the site of a small prison facility, part of a larger penal system by the same name, which consisted of prisons on three islands and three larger prisons on the mainland. This was operated from 1852 to 1953.
In addition, in the late nineteenth century, France began requiring forced residencies by prisoners who survived their hard labour.[13] A Portuguese-British naval squadrontook French Guiana for thePortuguese Empire in 1809. It was returned to France with the signing of theTreaty of Paris in 1814. Though Portugal returned the region to France, it kept a military presence until 1817.
After French Guiana was established as a penal colony, officials sometimes used convicts to catch butterflies. The sentences of the convicts were often long, and the prospect of employment very weak, so the convicts caught butterflies to sell in the international market, both for scientific purposes as well as general collecting.[14]
A border dispute with Brazil arose in the late 19th century over a vast area of jungle, resulting in the short-lived, pro-French, independent state ofCounani in the disputed territory. There was some fighting among settlers. The dispute was resolved largely in favour of Brazil by thearbitration of the Swiss government.[15]
The territory ofInini consisted of most of the interior of French Guiana when it was created in 1930.[16] In 1936,Félix Éboué from Cayenne became the first black man to serve as governor in a French colony.[17][18]
DuringWorld War II and the fall of France to German forces, French Guiana became part ofVichy France. Guiana officially rallied toFree France on 16 March 1943.[19] It abandoned its colony status and once again became a Frenchdepartment on 19 March 1946.[20]
1942 Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni issued French Guiana travel document, South America.
Following the French withdrawal from Vietnam in the 1950s and subsequent war between the Viet Cong and the United States, France helped resettle several hundredHmong refugees from Laos to French Guiana during the 1970s and 80s, who were fleeing displacement after thecommunist takeover of Laos byPathet Lao in 1975.[21][22]
More recently, French Guiana has received large numbers of Brazilian and Haitianeconomic migrants.[21] Illegal and ecologically destructivegold mining by Braziliangarimpeiros is a chronic issue in the remote interior rain forest of French Guiana.[23][24] The region still faces such problems as illegal immigration, poorer infrastructure than mainland France, higher costs of living, higher levels of crime and more common social unrest.[25]
In 1964, French presidentCharles de Gaulle decided to construct a space-travel base in French Guiana. It was intended to replace the Sahara base inAlgeria and stimulate economic growth in French Guiana. The department was considered suitable for the purpose because it is near theequator and has extensive access to the ocean as a buffer zone. TheGuiana Space Centre, located a short distance along the coast fromKourou, has grown considerably since the initial launches of theVéronique rockets. It is now part of the European space industry and has had commercial success with such launches as theAriane 4,Ariane 5 andAriane flight VA256 which launched theJames Webb Space Telescope into space.
The Guianese General Council officially adopted adepartmental flag in 2010.[26] In areferendum that same year, almost 70% French Guiana voters voted against becoming an autonomousoverseas collectivity.[27][28] In a secondreferendum, transition to a "single territorial collectivity" under Article 73 of the Constitution was approved. Discussions continue concerning greater autonomy called "sui generis", similar to that of Corsica, within France.[29][30]
On 20 March 2017, French Guianese workers begangoing on strike and demonstrating for more resources and infrastructure.[31] 28 March 2017 was the day of the largest demonstration ever held in French Guiana.[32] Riots broke out in 2023 following the death ofNahel M in a Paris suburb which resulted in the death of a government worker from mosquito control office who was on his balcony.[33] President Macron visited the region in 2024 to commemorate French special forces major Arnaud Blanc who died during an operation against illegal gold mining in Maripasoula.[30][34] Macron also announced funding for joint efforts with Brazil to protect the Amazon and recognized Brazilian Indigenous leaderRaoni Metuktire with theLegion of Honor medal for efforts at conserving the rainforest.[35] Macron also visited the Guiana Space Centre and met with mayors, parliamentarians and the president of Guyana before continuing to Brazil to discuss joint efforts to reduce illegal mining.[30][34]
Geographic map of French Guiana in 2009. Note: this map does not show the internationalOyapock River Bridge which connectsSaint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock (France) andOiapoque (Brazil) and has been open to car traffic since March 2017. The new asphalted road betweenSaint-Laurent-du-Maroni andApatou, which was completed in 2010, does not appear on the map either.
French Guiana lies between latitudes2° and6° N, and longitudes51° and55° W. It consists of two main geographical regions: a coastal strip where the majority of the people live, and dense, near-inaccessiblerainforest which gradually rises to the modest peaks of theTumuc-Humac mountains along the Brazilian frontier. French Guiana's highest peak isBellevue de l'Inini inMaripasoula (851 m, 2,792 ft). Other mountains includeMont Itoupé (826 m, 2,710 ft),Cottica Mountain (744 m, 2,441 ft),Pic Coudreau (711 m, 2,333 ft), andKaw Mountain (337 m, 1,106 ft).
French Guiana has anequatorial climate predominant.[39] Located within six degrees of theEquator and rising only to modest elevations, French Guiana is hot and oppressively humid all year round. During most of the year, rainfall across the country is heavy due to the presence of theIntertropical Convergence Zone and its powerful thunderstorm cells. In most parts of French Guiana, rainfall is always heavy especially from December to July – typically over 330 millimetres or 13 inches can be expected each month during this period throughout the department. Between August and November, the eastern half experiences a warmdry season with rainfall below 100 millimetres or 3.94 inches and average high temperatures above 30 °C (86 °F) occurring in September and October, causing eastern French Guiana to be classified as atropical monsoon climate (KöppenAm); Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni in the west has atropical rainforest climate (Af).
Following theGrenelle Environment Round Table of 2007, the Grenelle Law II was proposed in 2009, under law number 2010–788. Article 49 of the law proposed the creation of a single organization responsible for environmental conservation in French Guiana. Article 64 proposes a "departmental plan of mining orientation" for French Guiana, which would promote mining (specifically of gold) that is compatible with requirements for environmental protection.[45] The coastal environment along theRN1 has historically experienced the most changes, but development is occurring locally along theRN2, and also in western French Guiana due to gold mining.[citation needed]
5,500 plant species have been recorded, including more than a thousand trees, along with 700 species of birds, 177 species of mammals, over 500 species of fish including 45% of which areendemic and 109 species ofamphibians. French Guiana's high biodiversity is similar to that of other regions with tropical rainforests, such as the Brazilian Amazon,Borneo andSumatra.[citation needed]
Environmental threats includehabitat fragmentation from roads, which remains very limited compared to other forests of South America; immediate and deferred impacts ofEDF'sPetit-Saut Dam;gold mining; poor control of hunting andpoaching, facilitated by the creation of many tracks; and the introduction ofall-terrain vehicles. Logging remains moderate due to the lack of roads, difficult climate, and difficult terrain. The Forest Code of French Guiana was modified by ordinance on 28 July 2005. Logging concessions or free transfers are sometimes granted by local authorities to persons traditionally deriving their livelihood from the forest.[citation needed]
French Guiana has some of the poorest soils in the world. The soil is low in nutrients (e.g.,nitrogen,potassium) andorganic matter.Soil acidity is another cause of the poor soils, and it requires farmers toadd lime to their fields. The soil characteristics have led to the use ofslash and burn agriculture. The resulting ashes elevate soilpH (i.e., lower soil acidity), and contributeminerals and other nutrients to the soil. Sites ofTerra preta (anthropogenic soils) have been discovered in French Guiana, particularly near the border with Brazil. Research is being actively pursued in multiple fields to determine how these enriched soils were historically created, and how this can be done in modern times.[citation needed]
Map of the European Union in the world with overseas countries and territories and outermost regions, as of 2019
French Guiana, as part of France, forms part of theEuropean Union – the largest landmass for an area outside of Europe (sinceGreenland left the European Community in 1985), with one of the longest EU external boundaries. It is one of only threeEuropean Union territories outside Europe that is not an island (the others being the Spanish Autonomous Cities in Africa,Ceuta andMelilla). As an integral part of France, itshead of state is thepresident of the French Republic, and its head of government is theprime minister of France. The French government and its agencies have responsibility for a wide range of issues that are reserved to the national executive power, such as defense and external relations.
Cayenne City Hall
The president of France appoints aprefect (resident at theprefecture building in Cayenne) as his representative to head the local government of French Guiana. There is one elected, local executive body, the Assemblée de Guyane.[48]
A chronic issue affecting French Guiana is the influx of illegal immigrants and clandestinegold prospectors from Brazil andSuriname. The border between the department and Suriname, theMaroni River, flows through rain forest and is difficult for theGendarmerie and theFrench Foreign Legion to patrol. There have been several phases launched by the French government to combat illegal gold mining in French Guiana, beginning with Operation Anaconda beginning in 2003, followed by Operation Harpie in 2008 and 2009 and Operation Harpie Reinforce in 2010. Colonel François Müller, the commander of French Guiana's gendarmes, believes these operations have been successful. However, after each operation ends, Brazilian miners,garimpeiros [fr], return.[51] Soon after Operation Harpie Reinforce began, an altercation took place between French authorities and Brazilian miners. On 12 March 2010 a team of French soldiers and border police were attacked while returning from a successful operation, during which "the soldiers had arrested 15 miners, confiscated three boats, and seized 617 grams of gold... currently worth about $22,317". Garimpeiros returned to retrieve their lost loot and colleagues. The soldiers fired warning shots and rubber "flash balls", but the miners managed to retake one of their boats and about 500 grams of gold. "The violent reaction by the garimpeiros can be explained by the exceptional take of 617 grams of gold, about 20 percent of the quantity seized in 2009 during the battle againstillegal mining", said Phillipe Duporge, the director of French Guiana's border police, at a press conference the next day.[52]
About a tenth of the Maripasoula commune is claimed by Suriname. A bilateral commission has been set up to resolve the dispute. Suriname contends that the boundary follows the Marowini River to the east, while France asserts that the border follows the Litani River and Coulé-Coulé Creek to the west.[53]
A platoon of theFrench Navy, based at the naval base ofDégrad des Cannes and operating twoConfiance-class patrol vessels:La Confiance andLa Résolue, as well as oneNet Retrieval Boat (ERF –La Caouanne).[58][59] One EDA-S landing craft (Anne-Marie II) is also deployed in the territory. The landing craft supports coastal and riverine operations in the territory.[60][61]
The Maritime Gendarmerie operates the patrol boatsCharente andOrganabo in the territory,Charente having been deployed to the territory in 2022 to replace the previous boatMahury which was no longer deemed serviceable.[63][64]
AnAriane 5 rocket being processed at theGuiana Space Centre; the launch site is estimated to account for as much as 16% of French Guiana's GDP
As a part of France, French Guiana is part of theEuropean Union and theEurozone; its currency is theeuro. The country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for French Guiana is.gf, but.fr is generally used instead.[65]
In 2019, the GDP of French Guiana at market exchange rates was US$4.93 billion (€4.41 billion),[66] ranking as the 2nd largest economy in theGuianas afterGuyana (which discovered large oil fields in 2015 and 2018), and the 12th largest in South America.[67]
From the 1960s to the 2000s, French Guiana experienced strong economic growth, fueled by the development of France'sGuiana Space Centre (established in French Guiana in 1964 as the independence ofAlgeria in 1962 led to the closure of France'sspace center in the Algerian Sahara) and by high population growth which stimulated domestic consumption. French Guiana's economy did not suffer from the2008 financial crisis: the GDP grew by an average of +3.4% per year inreal terms from 2002 to 2012, slightly faster than the rapidly growing population, which allowed French Guiana to catch up marginally with the rest of France in terms of standards of living.[66] The GDP per capita rose from 48.0% ofmetropolitan France's level in 2000 to 48.5% of metropolitan France in 2012.[66]
Since 2013, however, French Guiana's economic growth has been uneven, and more subdued. From 2013 to 2019, the economy grew by an average of only +1.2% per year in real terms.[66] French Guiana experienced arecession of −0.8% in 2014, andsocial unrest in 2017 led to almost no economic growth that year. Economic growth recovered at +3.0% in 2018, but was again almost null (+0.2%) in 2019.[66] As a result, the GDP per capita has remained stagnant in nominal terms since 2013, and has declined relative to metropolitan France's. In 2019, theGDP per capita of French Guiana at market exchange rates, not atPPP, was US$17,375 (€15,521),[66] only 42.3% ofmetropolitan France's average GDP per capita that year, and 50.3% of the metropolitan French regions outside theParis Region.[66]
French Guiana was affected by theCOVID-19 pandemic in 2020, leading to a recession of −2.7% that year according to provisional estimates, moderate compared to theCOVID-19 recession in metropolitan France (−7.9% in 2020).[66]
Regional GDP of French Guiana (in euros, current prices)
French Guiana is heavily dependent on mainland France for subsidies, trade, and goods.[citation needed] The main traditional industries are fishing (accounting for 5% of exports in 2012), gold mining (accounting for 32% of exports in 2012) and timber (accounting for 1% of exports in 2012).[68] In addition, theGuiana Space Centre has played a significant role in the local economy since it was established inKourou in 1964: it accounted directly and indirectly for 16% of French Guiana's GDP in 2002 (down from 26% in 1994, as the French Guianese economy is becoming increasingly diversified).[69] The Guiana Space Centre employed 1,659 people in 2012.[70]
There is very little manufacturing. Agriculture is largely undeveloped and is mainly confined to the area near the coast and along theMaroni River. Sugar and bananas were traditionally two of the maincash crops grown for export but have almost completely disappeared. Today they have been replaced by livestock raising (essentially beef cattle and pigs) in the coastal savannas betweenCayenne and the second-largest town,Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, andmarket gardening (fruits and vegetables) developed by theHmong communities settled in French Guiana in the 1970s, both destined to the local market. A thriving rice production, developed onpolders nearMana from the early 1980s to the late 2000s, has almost completely disappeared since 2011 due to marine erosion and newEU plant health rules which forbid the use of many pesticides and fertilizers. Tourism, especiallyeco-tourism, is growing.[citation needed]
Unemployment has been persistently high in the last few decades, standing between 17% and 24%.[71] In recent years, the unemployment rate has declined from a peak of 23.0% in 2016 to 19.3% in 2019.[72]
The transportation system in French Guiana is deficient compared toMetropolitan France, being concentrated in the coastal zone of the territory, while the inland municipalities are poorly connected and often difficult to access.
French Guiana has about 2,200 km ofroads,[73] which are divided into:
National roads (440 km), divided into RN1, RN2, RN3 and RN4 (the last two downgraded to departmental roads during Raffarin's tenure), which connect the main coastal towns, forming a corridor that crosses the coastal strip from the border with Suriname to that of Brazil: RN1, completed in the 1990s, linksCayenne toSaint-Laurent-du-Maroni, crossing the municipalities of Macouria,Kourou, Sinnamary (the stretch of road between Kourou and Sinnamary is locally called Route de l'espace, "space road") and Iracoubo, while RN2 runs from Cayenne to Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock, where it continues on BR-156 across the bridge over the Oyapock. Today, all rivers are crossed by roadbridges, some of them quite long (e.g. the bridge over the Cayenne River is 1225 m long), whereas until 2004 (the year of completion and inauguration of the Approuague bridge) some rivers were still crossed by barges. Transport on national roads is restricted during the rainy season (from 48 to a maximum of 32 tons), while the maximum speed (monitored by the National Gendarmerie posts at Régina and Iracoubo, which are also in charge of controlling the possible flow of illegal traffic and irregular immigrants) is 90 km/h;
Departmental roads (408 km), subdivided into urban and rural departmental roads (rural roads), which serve the coastal Villages, 90% of which have no street lighting;
Communal roads or forest tracks (1311 km), most of which are closed to ordinary traffic and reserved for authorized personnel (employees of authorized mining or logging companies, forest rangers): the longest tracks are the Bélizon track in the commune of Saül (Guiana) (150 km), the Saint-Élie-diga track in Petit-Saut (26 km), the Coralie track (the oldest in the department, created to reach the Boulanger mine) and the Maripasoula-Papaïchton track. The communal roads are not usually paved and often go into the forest from the departmental roads.
Despite the existence of numerous projects to upgrade and asphalt roads (such as the Bélizon road or the Apatou-Maripasoula-Saül axis), which are often opposed by environmental movements because of environmental fragmentation and problems for Amerindian and Maroon communities, several French Guiana municipalities (Ouanary, Camopi, Saül, Saint-Élie, Grand-Santi, Papaïchton, Maripasoula, Apatou) still do not have road access.
Following a treaty between France and Brazil signed in July 2005, theOyapock River Bridge over theOyapock River was built and completed in 2011, becoming the first land crossing ever between French Guiana and the rest of the world (there exists no other bridge crossing the Oyapock River, and no bridge crossing theMaroni River marking the border with Suriname, although there is a ferry crossing toAlbina, Suriname). The bridge was officially opened on 18 March 2017, however the border post construction on the Brazilian side caused additional delays.[74] As of 2020, it possible to drive uninterrupted from Cayenne toMacapá (on theAmazon River), the capital of the state ofAmapá in Brazil.[75]
The railway section of the Tiger Camp. Saint-Laurent to Saint-Jean-du-Maroni Railway (Prison Administrationc. 1905).
French Guiana does not have a railway system, with the exception of a small section in the Centre Spatial Guyanais used for the transport of components: when the territory was apenal colony, there were some railroad lines built by theprisoners themselves to connect the various baths with each other, the remains of which (now disused and mostly engulfed by thejungle) are still visible in some areas. These lines include the section from Montsinéry-Tonnegrande to the so-called bagne des Annamites, the section from Saint-Élie to the Saut du Tigrelabor camp (now submerged by the artificial lake created by the Petit-Saut dam) and the section from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni-Mana-Saint-Jean-du-Maroni.
Transportation by boat is quite widespread in French Guiana: among the most important Ports are the port of Dégrad-Des-Cannes, located at the mouth of the Mahury River, in the commune of Rémire-Montjoly, through which most of the imported or exported goods of the territory pass and where the local detachment of theMarine nationale is housed, and the port of Larivot, located in Matoury, where the Guyanesefishing fleet is concentrated.
The port of Dégrad-Des-Cannes, built in 1969 to cope with the impossibility of the former port of Cayenne to decongest the growing maritime traffic, has a rather limited draft, and larger ships often prefer to dock at Ile du Salut to unload people and goods (which are then transported to themainland by smaller ships) to avoid running aground. The port of Pariacabo in Kourou is home to the Colibri and Toucan ships, which carry components for Ariane missiles.
The inland rivers are heavily traversed by canoes and other small boats, linking the villages on the Marowijne, Oyapock and Approuague Rivers, which often cannot be reached in any other way; the lake created by the Petit-Saut dam is also frequently crossed, although it is officially forbidden to cross the body of water.
In the department, 460 km of aquatic environment are considered navigable.
French Guiana is served byCayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, located in Matoury. There are also severalairstrips in the department, located in Camopi, Maripasoula, Ouanary, Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and Saül, for a total of eleven hubs (four paved and seven unpaved).
From the main airport, there are two daily direct flights to Paris offered byAir France andAir Caraïbes, as well as other flights toFort-de-France,Pointe-à-Pitre,Port-au-Prince, Miami and Belém. The regional carrierAir Guyane Express also offers daily flights to Maripasoula and Saül, as well as more sporadic flights (mainly related to postal deliveries) to Saint-Georges-de-l'Oyapock and Camopi.
An Agglo bus, public transport, in the city of Cayenne, French Guiana
The public bus service consisting of seven lines covers the municipality ofCayenne and is run by the RCT (Régie Communautaire des Transports), formerly known as SMTC (Syndicat Mixte de Transport en Commun).
For connections between the coastal towns (except Montsinéry-Tonnegrande), the "collective cab" (Taxis Co) method is quite widespread, which are minibuses with a capacity of about ten people that leave as soon as there is a certain number of users on board. In 2010, the general council reached an agreement with some of the operators of this service to make it at least partially public under the name of TIG (Transporte Interurbano de la Guiana), with fixed departure times and predefined stops.
On the main rivers (Marowijne and Oyapock), there are pirogue services (called pirogues cabs), which go both to inland centers and across the border (such as Albina in Suriname or Oiapoque in Brazil).
French Guiana experienced a long period of demographic stagnation during the days of theCayenne andSaint-Laurent-du-Maronipenal colonies (19th century and first half of the 20th century), when, with the exception of a briefgold rush in the 1900s and 1910s, it suffered from a bad reputation due to its association with penal colonies and bad sanitary conditions (yellow fever andmalaria in particular).
Population started to grow tremendously from the 1950s onwards with the improvement of sanitary conditions (yellow fever and malaria eradication campaigns started in 1949)[76] and the establishment of theGuiana Space Centre in 1964. Population growth has been fueled both by high birth rates and large arrivals of immigrants (frommetropolitan France, to man the public administrations and the space center, as well as from neighboring countries, in particularSuriname andBrazil). Arrivals of Surinamese refugees reached record levels in the 1980s during theSurinamese Interior War,[21] resulting in the highest population growth rate in French Guiana's history, recorded between the 1982 and 1990 censuses (+5.8% per year).
In the 21st century, the birth rate has remained high, and new arrivals of migrants seeking asylum (in particular fromHaiti, and more recently fromSyria andAfghanistan) kept population growth above 2% per year until the middle of the 2010s. Since the middle of the 2010s, however, population growth has slowed markedly, due to lower economic growth and social unrest, in particular thesocial unrest in 2017 which led to arecession in 2018, and then the effects of theCOVID-19 recession, which have all pushed many young people to leave toMetropolitan France. In Jan. 2025,INSEE estimate French Guiana's population reached 292,354,[5] more than 10 times the population in 1954, but far short of the population forecasts that were published in the 2010s.
Half of French Guiana's 300,000 residents are under the age of 25, a result of both a high birth rate and significant emigration.[30] A 2021 report by the French statistics agencyInsee found that 37% of individuals aged 21 to 29 leave the region to pursue education or employment opportunities abroad.[30][77] At the same time, around one-third of young people between 15 and 29 are not working or in school, especially in remote areas with poor road access.[30]
The population of French Guiana, currently around 300,000 people, is projected to grow quickly due to a combination of the highest fertility rate in Latin America (27.3 births per 1,000 people and an average of 3.63 children per woman in 2019) and steady immigration, which offsets emigration.[78]
Beyond these three metropolitan areas, the most populatedcommunes (municipalities), which are not populated enough to form a metropolitan area, were the following at the 2021 census:[86]
French Guiana's population, most of whom live along the coast, is substantially ethnically diverse. At the 2019 census, 56.5% of the inhabitants of French Guiana were born in French Guiana, 8.9% were born inMetropolitan France, 2.8% were born in the FrenchCaribbeandepartments andcollectivities (Guadeloupe andMartinique etc.), and 31.5% were born in foreign countries (primarilySuriname, Brazil, andHaiti).[87]
Estimates of the percentages of French Guiana ethnic composition are difficult to produce due to the presence of a large proportion of immigrants. People of African descent are the largest ethnic group, though estimates vary as to the exact percentage, depending upon whether the largeHaitian community is included as well. Generally, the Creole population is judged to be about 60–70% of the total population if Haitians (comprising roughly one-third of Creoles) are included, and 30–50% otherwise. There are also smaller groups from variousCaribbean islands, mainly Martinique, Guadeloupe, andSaint Lucia.
Approximately 41,000 people or 14% of the population is of European ancestry. The vast majority of these are of French ancestry, though there are also people of Spanish andPortuguese ancestry.
The main groups living in the interior are theMaroons, who are of African andindigenous descent. The Maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves, live primarily along theMaroni River. The main Maroon groups are theSaramaca,Aukan (both of which also live inSuriname), and Boni (Aluku).
Born in foreign countries with French citizenship at birth¹
Immigrants²
2019
56.5%
8.9%
2.8%
0.3%
1.0%
30.5%
2013
57.0%
9.4%
2.9%
0.3%
1.2%
29.2%
2008
55.4%
9.6%
3.0%
0.2%
1.3%
30.5%
1999
54.4%
11.8%
4.9%
0.3%
2.0%
26.6%
1990
50.5%
11.7%
5.2%
0.3%
1.9%
30.4%
¹Persons born abroad of French parents, such asPieds-Noirs and children of Frenchexpatriates. ²An immigrant is by French definition a person born in a foreign country and who did not have French citizenship at birth. Note that an immigrant may have acquired French citizenship since moving to France, but is still listed as an immigrant in French statistics. On the other hand, persons born in France with foreign citizenship (the children of immigrants) are not listed as immigrants.
More than one third of the population and nearly half adults are of foreign origin.[78] Seven of ten people born in French Guiana were within one or two generations descendants of immigrants.[78] About 12% of French Guiana’s population are French nationals from mainland France. Foreign nationals make up 37% of the population, half of whom are adults, well above national averages. Surinamese are the largest foreign group (1 in 8 people), followed by Haitians (9.3%) and Brazilians (9.2%).[78] Other immigrant groups include people from Guyana (6%), Saint Lucia (3%), China (3%), and Laos (2%). A significant portion of these communities are undocumented: 52% of Brazilians, 49% of Surinamese, and 23% of Haitians, with 15–18% of the total population lacking legal status.[78]
Immigration has shaped French Guiana since 1634, with the slave trade, penal colony, and gold rush drawing people from the Caribbean, China, and Lebanon.[78] The 1902 Montagne Pelée eruption brought migrants from Martinique. The creation of the Guiana Space Center in Kourou further accelerated immigration, especially from Brazil. Surinamese migration surged during the 1982–1990 civil war, while Haitian arrivals grew during the Duvalier regime and increased through family reunification in the 1990s. In 1977, Hmong refugees from Laos arrived to support agricultural development.[78]
Until the mid-2000s, most immigrants were from Suriname, Brazil, and Haiti. Today, origins are more diverse, including Spanish-speaking countries (e.g., Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic) and the Middle East (notably Syrians and Palestinians). This shift has led to rising numbers of undocumented immigrants eligible for state medical aid (AME), which rose from 17,000 in 2015 to over 33,000 in 2019.[78]
Between 2005 and 2014, 7,934 asylum seekers (excluding minors) were recorded. Applications surged after, reaching 2,765 in 2020, mostly from Haitians (63.6%), followed by Syrians/Palestinians (16.9%), Cubans (9.9%), and Dominicans (3.8%). However, over 95% of these requests, primarily from Haitians, were rejected.[78] For some, French Guiana's status as French territory makes it a "gateway" to Europe.[89] Many live in crowdedrefugee camps with poor conditions and little protection from the elements. Neither local authorities nor the French government have made significant efforts to help the situation.[90][91][92]
Guianese Creole (Kreol Gwiyanè), a French-based creole is spoken by about 50,000 people in French Guiana in 2006 and 3,000 in Brazil, where it is known as Patwua, Crioulo, or Caripuna.[95] It serves as a lingua franca for diverse communities, including Amerindians, Maroons, Chinese, Brazilians, and Haitians, especially in coastal and Lower Oyapock regions. Dialects vary slightly between the western (Saint-Laurent) and eastern areas. However, in western French Guiana, Maroon languages like Sranan Tongo have become more dominant.[95]
Maroon languages are spoken mainly along theFrench Guiana–Suriname border. On the coast, there are about 29,800 Maroon language speakers, with 7,400 more inland.[95]
Aluku (Boni): 5,900 speakers, mainly along the Middle Maroni River and in cities like Cayenne and Kourou.[95]
Paramaccan (Pamaka): 2,800 speakers in both French Guiana and Suriname, living near the Maroni River.[95]
Ndyuka (Aukan, Okanisi): 14,000 speakers in French Guiana, 32,000 in Suriname; spoken by multiple Maroon groups.[95]
Saramaccan (Samaka): The most distinct Maroon language, with strong Portuguese influence; 14,500 speakers in French Guiana and 32,000 in Suriname.[95]
Cariban family: 30 Apalai, 2,700 Kali'na, and 800 Wayana speakers
Tupi-Guarani family: 400 Emerillon (Teko) and 1,270 Wayampi speakers, mostly in Trois Sauts and Camopi.[95]
A significant portion of French Guiana’s population speaks French-based Creole languages.[95] In 2006, around 7,000 Antillean Creole speakers, originally from Guadeloupe and Martinique, reside in coastal regions near major cities.[95] This Creole variety boasts a rich literary tradition, with works in both Guadeloupean and Martinican Creole. Additionally, approximately 30,000 Haitians in 2006, primarily living in Cayenne’s neighborhoods, speak Haitian Creole.[95]
In 2006, Portuguese was spoken by around 15,000 Brazilians in French Guiana, though estimates suggest the number of speakers could be as high as 30,000.[95] Since 2002, Spanish has become more common due to a growing population of South American immigrants, particularly from Peru and the Dominican Republic. Among Asian languages, in 2006 numbers, Chinese is spoken by approximately 3,000 people in French Guiana and 6,000 in Suriname.[95] This community, originally from southeastern and eastern China, settled in both urban and rural areas during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[95] Lao is spoken by about 150 to 200 individuals, mainly in the commune of Roura and in Kourou.[95] The Hmong community, originally from Laos, also uses the Lao language. Other Asian languages spoken in the region include Javanese and Vietnamese.[95]
The dominant religion of French Guiana isCatholicism; the Maroons and some Amerindian peoples maintain their own religions. The Hmong people are also largely Catholic owing to the influence of missionaries who helped bring them to French Guiana.[96]French Guianan Catholics are part of theDiocese of Cayenne.
French Guiana, as an overseas territory of France, benefits from a comprehensive and modernuniversal healthcare system, with the highest per capita health spending in Latin America (double that of Chile) despite having a much younger median age of 22.[78]
Remote interior villages, largely home to Maroon and Amerindian communities and only reachable by air or river, also host around 10,000 to 15,000 undocumented Brazilian gold miners working under harsh conditions.[78] Healthcare in these areas is free and accessible to everyone, including undocumented migrants, through a network of 17 centers staffed by professionals trained in mainland France. The region reflects a complex interplay of migration, inequality, and public services, where both chronic and infectious diseases remain major health challenges.[78]
TheAgence Française de Développement (AFD) and the Hospital Center of Western Guiana (HCWG) have partnered to enhance cross-border healthcare between French Guiana and Suriname.[103] This collaboration includes the opening of two new hospitals, one in Saint-Laurent du Maroni and another in Albina.[103] The agreement is aimed at providing essential medical services for residents on both sides of the border, permitting cross-border patient transfers and enabling Surinamese residents to receive treatments like dialysis and chemotherapy closer to home, thereby reducing the need for long journeys to Paramaribo.[103] Additionally, a dedicated team, including coordinators, a social worker, and an interpreter, has been established to facilitate these cross-border healthcare services.[103]
Source: INSEE[104] A Data for the four overseas departments of French Guiana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Réunion, not including the new overseas department of Mayotte.
Horses of air and light at the Big Parade of the Litoral, inKourou
TheCarnival is one of the major events in French Guiana. Considered the longest in the world, it takes place on afternoon of Sunday, betweenEpiphany at the beginning of January andAsh Wednesday in February or (month). Groups disguised according to the theme of the year parade around decorated floats to the rhythm of percussion and brass. The preparation of the groups starts months before the carnival. The groups parade in front of thousands of spectators who gather on thesidewalks andbleachers arranged for the occasion.
Brazilian groups identical to those in theRio carnival are also appreciated for their rhythms and their alluring costumes. The Chinese community of Cayenne also participates in theparades, bringing its characteristic touch,dragons.
At the start of the evening, theTouloulous, typical characters of the French Guianan carnival, go to thedancings to participate in the famousparé-masked balls.
The local architecture is characterized by itsCreole,Amerindian and Bushinenge influences. The main towns contain predominantly Creole-style architecture, with some Western-style buildings and forts. In the communes with the black maroon populations one can see houses of bushinengue styles. And the Amerindian communes are recognized for their pre-colonial type carbets. Most of these buildings were designed with local materials, such as wood from the Amazonian forests and bricks made on site. These local architectures blend with contemporary style buildings.
French Guianan literature includes all works written by local authors or persons related to French Guiana. It is expressed both in French and inFrench Guianan Creole.
Local literature is a literature closely related to that of theFrench West Indies: especially theCaribbean islands ofMartinique andGuadeloupe. For some, it is anAntillean-Guianan literature in relation to the themes addressed, which are mainly related to slavery and other social problems. Thus, this literature takes several forms. First, orality, because it is a characteristic element of French Guianan literature, as in many countries of Black America. In this connection, we can consider tales,Legends, fables and, in another form, Novels.[105]
Nineteenth century French Guiana is marked by a weak presence of writers. At that time, writers only published a few scattered poems in local newspapers. Today, however, it is difficult to trace the writings of some French Guianan poets: Ho-A-Sim-Elosem, Munian, R. Octaville, etc. Two French Guianan poets are the exception. According to Ndagano (1996), Ismaÿl Urbain[106] and Fabien Flavien would be considered the first French Guianan poets.[107] However, Alfred Parépou is a writer who marked his era with his work Atipa (1885).
The period from 1900 to 1950 constitutes an important stage in local literature insofar as it gave birth to numerous writers who had a considerable impact, such as those ofNegritude (Négritude). The French Guianan of the 1950s and 1960s is notable for writing about the black cause. Serge Patient and Elie Stephenson did address this issue in their writings.
Since 1970 different generations of writers have become aware of the black cause orslavery. Whether through their writings or their political activities, they take into account this painful period that had serious consequences on the local society and on the black world in general. For thisgeneration,Christiane Taubira remains the figurehead. Other writers are interested in other types of themes, such as regional nature, etc.
Sport in French Guiana dates back to long before the colonial period. Popularized since the 19th century, the first sports competition organized to commemorate 14 July was held in 1890. At that time, there were already physical activities favorable to the inhabitants of thisAmazonian territory, but also sports coming from Europe, which favored thecolonizers. There were foot races, donkey races, canoe races, bicycle races, tricycle races, nautical regattas in the ports, and traditional popular games.
The most popular sport in French Guiana today is football, followed by basketball, cycling, swimming and handball, although there are some canoeing, judo, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, aikido, karate, fencing, horseback riding, rowing and volleyball clubs in the department.
The territory has its own local team, theFrench Guiana football team. A regional football league, theLFG (Ligue de Football de la Guyane), was established in October 1962. It is currently not affiliated toFIFA, but has been affiliated to theFFF (French Football Federation) since 27 April 1963 and has been an associate member ofCONCACAF (North, Central American and Caribbean League) since 1978. In April 2013, the LFG became a full member of CONCACAF.
The French Guiana Football Team, also known as Yana Dòkò, is a selection of the best local players under the auspices of the LFG. It is not recognized by FIFA, but participates in CONCACAF competitions. It played its first match againstDutch Guiana (nowSuriname) in 1936, losing 1 to 3.[109] It had its biggest victory on 26 September 2012 againstSt. Pierre and Miquelon (11 to 1) and its biggest defeat was also against Dutch Guiana, losing 9 to 0 on 2 March 1947.
The team has participated in events such as the CONCACAF Nations Cup /Gold Cup,Caribbean Nations Cup (between 1978 and 2017), CONCACAF Nations League, Overseas Cup (Coupe de l'Outre-Mer, 2008–2012) and the Tournament of 4 (Tournoi des 4).
TheTour of Guiana (locally: Tour de Guyane), formerly known as "Le Tour du Littoral" (the Littoral Tour) or more rarely as "La Grande Boucle Guayanaise", is acycling stage race that takes place mainly in French Guiana each year, although it occasionally crosses neighbouring countries.
It takes place in nine stages, with a route linking the main towns of the department: Cayenne,Kourou, and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. It was created in 1950 and is organised by the Comité Régional de Cyclisme de la Guyane (French Guiana Cycling Committee).
The tour has been international since 1978. Over the years it has gained in importance and popularity and its duration has increased. The participation has grown from a mostly French Guianan group in the first editions to editions with more than 10 different nationalities. The 2020 edition of the Tour could not take place due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. This is also the case for the Tour in 2021.[110]
^"CAYENNE–MATOURY (973)"(PDF).Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1981–2010 et records (in French). Meteo France.Archived(PDF) from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved7 August 2019.
^abComité français de l’Union Internationale pour la Conservation de la Nature (French Committee of the International Union for Conservation of Nature) (2003)."Guyane (Guyana)"(PDF).Biodiversité et conservation en outre-mer (Biodiversity and conservation overseas). Comité français de l’UICN (French Committee of the IUCN). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 11 May 2011. Retrieved3 January 2010.
^"Tourism en Guyane"(PDF).Guyane Amazonie (in French).Archived(PDF) from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved24 March 2021.
^Fossette, Sabrina; Kelle, Laurent; Girondot, Marc; Goverse, Edo; Hilterman, Maartje L.; Verhage, Bas; de Thoisy, Benoît; Georges, Jean-Yves (March 2008). "The world's largest leatherback rookeries: A review of conservation-oriented research in French Guiana/Suriname and Gabon".Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology.356 (1–2):69–82.Bibcode:2008JEMBE.356...69F.doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2007.12.024.
^"Forces armées en Guyane" [Armed Forces in Guyana] (in French). Ministère des Armėes. 14 February 2022.Archived from the original on 5 January 2023. Retrieved24 December 2022.
^"Aéroport" (in French). Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie de la Guyane. Archived fromthe original on 31 July 2012.
^Serge Mam-Lam-Fouck (1987)."Chapitre 2 : Le système esclavagiste".Histoire de la société guyanaise : les années cruciales, 1848–1946. Éditions Caribéennes. p. 32.
Spieler, Miranda Frances (2011).Empire and underworld: captivity in French Guiana. Cambridge, Mass:Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0-674-05754-8. Studies slaves, criminals, indentured workers, and other marginalized people from 1789 to 1870.
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