French Guiana

I

Introduction

French Guiana, overseas administrative district (département) of France, situated on the north-eastern coast of South America. It is bounded on the north by the Atlantic Ocean, on the east and south by Brazil, and on the west by Suriname. Among other offshore islands it includes the Îles du Salut, or Safety Islands, of which Devil's Island is the best known. French Guiana is the oldest of the overseas possessions of France, the only French territory on the mainland of the Americas, and the last remaining colony in South America. It has an area of 91,000 sq km (35,135 sq mi). The capital, chief town, and main port is Cayenne, which has a population of 53,000 (2001 estimate).

II

Land and Population

French Guiana lies in the equatorial forest zone of South America. It is separated from Brazil by the Tumuc-Humac mountain range on the south and by the Oyapock River on the east. The Maroni, Litani (Itany), and Lawa rivers mark its—partially disputed—boundary with Suriname on the west. The land rises from the low marshy coastal areas in the north, called the terres basses, through the broad central plateau, covered by dense tropical forest, to the terres hautes, or highlands, which ascend from foothills to the Eureupoucigne and Oroye ranges in the extreme south. The territory is well watered by numerous rivers that rise in the mountains and flow northwards to the Atlantic. The climate of French Guiana is tropical, with a mean annual temperature of 26.7° C (80° F). Cool, onshore breezes in the coastal zone fail to mitigate the effects of the high humidity. The dry season from June to November is succeeded by torrential rains achieving maximum intensity in April and May. The average annual rainfall at Cayenne is about 3,200 mm (126 in).

French Guiana has a population of 203,321 (2007 estimate); giving an average density (2007) of 2.3 people per sq km (6 people per sq mi). Life expectancy at birth (2007 estimate) is 74.1 years for men and 80.9 years for women. Most of the residents are Creoles: people of mixed white, Native American, and black African descent. Native Americans, descended from the aboriginal Arawak, Carib and Tupí-Guaraní groups, inhabit the remote interior of French Guiana. Virtually untouched by Western civilization, they have preserved their traditional customs. Along the rivers are the settlements of the Saramancas, Boeschs, and Bonis, whose forebears were fugitive black slaves. French is the official language, but Creole is also spoken.

III

Economy and Government

The extensive forests of French Guiana, covering more than four-fifths of the entire land surface, are rich in timber of commercial importance. Less than 1 per cent of the land is devoted to agriculture. The principal food crops are maize, rice, cassava, pineapples, yams, and bananas. Sugar cane is the only significant cash crop. Fishing is of growing importance; the catch is largely shrimp, which is exported. Alluvial mining for gold is undertaken, and commercial reserves of bauxite, clay, and cinnabar also exist. Industrial enterprises are small and include sawmills, rum distilleries, potteries, and brick and dye works. The European Space Agency operates a satellite base, from which the Ariane rocket was first launched in 1983, at Kourou. French Guiana's chief imports are foodstuffs, refined petroleum, cement, metals, and machinery. Exports include commercial timbers, rosewood essence, gold, shrimp, rice, bananas, cacao, rum, and mounted butterflies. Until the end of 2001, the unit of currency was the French franc. On January 1, 2002, French Guiana, together with several other French territories, adopted the Euro; as at early 2007, 0.77 Euros equalled US$1.

French Guiana is administered by a prefect, who is assisted by a 19-member general council and a 31-member regional council, each elected by universal adult suffrage. The department is represented in both houses of the French National Assembly.

IV

History

The first French settlement on the Guiana coast was established early in the 17th century. Captured by the Portuguese and the British in 1809, the colony was restored to France between 1814 and 1817. In 1852 it was made the site of a penal colony. Because of the unsavoury reputation French Guiana thus acquired, attempts at colonization were generally unsuccessful. In 1938 penal servitude in French Guiana was abolished. After the fall of France in World War II (June 1940), the local administration of the territory, despite strong popular sentiment in favour of the Free French movement under General Charles de Gaulle, proclaimed its allegiance to the pro-German Vichy regime of Marshal Henri Pétain. On March 18, 1943, however, the Vichy-oriented authorities in French Guiana were expelled by a pro-Allied committee that had the support of the colony's French military forces and the majority of its population. Vichy decrees aimed at the suppression of democratic rights were revoked, political prisoners were liberated, and minor pro-Vichy officials were removed from the administration. The Allied blockade of French Guiana was lifted, and trade was resumed with the United States, Brazil, and the British and Dutch possessions in America. The area became an overseas department of France on March 19, 1946. The establishment in 1968 of the European Space Agency's satellite launching facility has helped to lift the area's economy. In the late 1970s the Plan Vert, or Green Plan, was implemented to improve production of agricultural and forestry products. A campaign for greater autonomy in the late 1970s and early 1980s led to limited decentralization of power to a regional council. The issue of autonomy has continued to be important as economic problems and social instability increased during the 1980s and early 1990s.