26 Facts About French Guiana

The French Guiana Assembly is in charge of regional and departmental government.

Fully integrated in the French Republic since 1946, French Guiana is a part of the European Union, and its official currency is the euro.

French Guiana is the only territory on the continental mainland of either North or South America that is under the sovereignty of a European state, much less fully integrated in a European state.

French Guiana was originally inhabited by indigenous people: Kalina, Arawak, Galibi, Palikur, Teko, Wayampi and Wayana.

The French Guiana attempted to create a colony there in the 16th century in conjunction with its settlement of some Caribbean islands, such as Guadeloupe and Saint-Domingue.

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The first French Guiana establishment is recorded in 1503, but France did not establish a durable presence until colonists founded Cayenne in 1643.

French Guiana was developed as a slave society, where planters imported Africans as enslaved labourers on large sugar and other plantations in such number as to increase the population.

French Guiana officially rallied to Free France on 16 March 1943.

French Guiana is home to many different ecosystems: tropical rainforests, coastal mangroves, savannahs, inselbergs and many types of wetlands.

French Guiana has a high level of biodiversity of both flora and fauna.

The rainforests of French Guiana provide shelter for many species during dry periods and terrestrial glaciation.

French Guiana's economy did not suffer from the Global Financial Crisis of 2008: the GDP grew by an average of +3.

French Guiana was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, leading to a recession of -2.

French Guiana is heavily dependent on mainland France for subsidies, trade, and goods.

French Guiana experienced a long period of demographic stagnation during the days of the Cayenne and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni penal colonies, when, with the exception of a brief gold rush in the 1900s and 1910s, it suffered from a bad reputation due to its association with penal colonies and bad sanitary conditions .

In recent years, French Guiana has seen an increase in Syrian refugees trying to escape the Syrian Civil War.

Dominant religion of French Guiana is Roman Catholicism; the Maroons and some Amerindian peoples maintain their own religions.

Total fertility rate in French Guiana has remained high and is today considerably higher than that of metropolitan France, as well as most of the other French overseas departments.

French Guiana sends two deputies to the French National Assembly, one representing the commune of Cayenne and the commune of Macouria, and the other representing the rest of French Guiana.

Chronic issue affecting French Guiana is the influx of illegal immigrants and clandestine gold prospectors from Brazil and Suriname.

Colonel Francois Muller, the commander of French Guiana's gendarmes, believes these operations have been successful.

Transportation system in French Guiana is deficient compared to Metropolitan France, being concentrated in the coastal zone of the territory, while the inland municipalities are poorly connected and often difficult to access.

At present, 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 a penal colony, there were some railroad lines built by the prisoners themselves to connect the various baths with each other, the remains of which are still visible in some areas.

French Guiana is served by Cayenne – Felix Eboue Airport, located in Matoury.

French Guiana literature includes all works written by local authors or persons related to French Guiana.

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The French Guiana Football Team, known as Yana Doko, is a selection of the best local players under the auspices of the Guiana Football League.