Awala-Yalimapo | |
|---|---|
 Settlement of Yalimapo as seen from the beach of Plage des Hattes | |
 Location of the commune (in red) within French Guiana | |
 Location of Awala-Yalimapo | |
| Coordinates:5°44′28″N53°55′40″W / 5.7411°N 53.9278°W /5.7411; -53.9278 | |
| Country | France |
| Overseas region and department | French Guiana |
| Arrondissement | Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni |
| Intercommunality | CC Ouest Guyanais |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Jean-Paul Féreira[1] |
Area 1 | 187.4 km2 (72.4 sq mi) |
| Population (2023)[2] | 1,577 |
| • Density | 8.415/km2 (21.80/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC−03:00 |
| INSEE/Postal code | 97361 /97319 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Awala-Yalimapo (French pronunciation:[awalajalimapo]) is acommune on the north coast ofFrench Guiana, close to the border withSuriname. The seat of the commune is the settlement of Awala where the town hall is located. Other settlements in the commune are: Yalimapo, Ayawande, and Piliwa. The majority of the inhabitants areKaliñaAmerindian people.[3]
The Kalina people have been living along theMaroni River since before the European colonization. In 1596,Lawrence Kemys noted that Iaremappo, a big village, was located near the mouth of the river. European diseases reduced the number of Kalinas in the area to several hundred in the mid 19th century. In 1858, the Hattespenal colony was established in the region and operated until 1950.[4]
In the late 1940s, Amerindians fromPointe Isère founded the village of Awala. In 1950, families from Ayawande andGalibi in Suriname founded the village of Yalimapo.[4]
The commune of Awala-Yalimapo was created on 31 December 1988 by detaching its territory from the commune ofMana. The commune is a protected area for its ecology, flora, and fauna (ZNIEFF).[3]
In 1987,Jacques Chirac asPrime Minister established Zones of Collective Use Rights (ZDUC).[5] Since 1998, the commune has 1,593 hectares ofcommunal land located in Point Isère to be used for fishing, hunting andsubsistence farming.[6]
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Awala and Yalimapo are French Guiana's northernmost settlements, located just to the south of therégion's northernmost point, the beach of Plage des Hattes, the world's largestleatherback turtle nesting site.[7] TheAmana Nature Reserve has been established in 1998 to protect the turtles. The reserve covers 14,800 hectares.[8]
