{"id":5235,"date":"2020-06-10T04:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-06-10T04:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/?p=5235"},"modified":"2020-05-08T16:59:57","modified_gmt":"2020-05-08T16:59:57","slug":"french-guiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/french-guiana\/","title":{"rendered":"French Guiana"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction:<\/h2>\n

French Guiana is an overseas department and region of the French Republic on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas<\/a>. It borders Brazil<\/a> to the east and south and Suriname<\/a> to the west. French Guiana is the only territory of the mainland Americas to have full integration in a European country.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
French Guiana on the Globe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With a land area of 83,534 km2 (32,253 sq mi), French Guiana is the second-largest region of France (it is more than one-seventh the size of Metropolitan France) and the largest outermost region within the European Union. It has a very low population density, with only 3.6 inhabitants per square kilometer (9.3\/sq mi). Its population is less than \u200b1\u2044200 that of Metropolitan France. Half of its 290,691 inhabitants in 2020 lived in the metropolitan area of Cayenne<\/a>, its capital. 98.9% of the land territory of French Guiana is covered by forests, a large part of which is primeval rainforest. The Guiana Amazonian Park<\/a>, which is the largest national park in the European Union, covers 41% of French Guiana’s territory.<\/p>\n

Since December 2015 both the region and the department have been ruled by a single assembly within the framework of a new territorial collectivity, the French Guiana Territorial Collectivity. This assembly, the French Guiana Assembly, has replaced the former regional council and departmental council, which were both disbanded. The French Guiana Assembly is in charge of regional and departmental government. Its president is Rodolphe Alexandre.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Rodolphe Alexandre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

Before European contact, the territory was originally inhabited by Native Americans, most speaking the Arawak language<\/a>, of the Arawakan language family. The people identified as Lokono<\/a>. The first French establishment is recorded in 1503, but France did not establish a durable presence until colonists founded Cayenne in 1643. 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. Slavery was abolished in the colonies at the time of the French Revolution<\/a>. Guiana was designated as a French department in 1797. But, after France gave up most of its territory in North America in 1803, it developed Guiana as a penal colony, establishing a network of camps and penitentiaries along the coast where prisoners from metropolitan France were sentenced to forced labour.<\/p>\n

During World War II and the fall of France to German forces, F\u00e9lix \u00c9bou\u00e9<\/a> was one of the first to support General Charles de Gaulle<\/a> of Free France<\/a>, as early as June 18, 1940. Guiana officially rallied to Free France in 1943. It abandoned its status as a colony and once again became a French department in 1946.<\/p>\n

After de Gaulle was elected as president of France, he established the Guiana Space Centre<\/a> in 1965. It is now operated by the CNES<\/a>, Arianespace<\/a> and the European Space Agency (ESA)<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Ariane 5 Ready to Launch in French Guiana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, several hundred Hmong refugees<\/a> from Laos immigrated to French Guiana, fleeing displacement after United States involvement in the Vietnam War. In the late 1980s, more than 10,000 Surinamese refugees, mostly Maroons<\/a>, arrived in French Guiana, fleeing the Surinamese Civil War<\/a>. More recently, French Guiana has received large numbers of Brazilian and Haitian<\/a> economic migrants. Illegal and ecologically destructive gold mining by Brazilian garimpeiros is a chronic issue in the remote interior rain forest of French Guiana. 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.<\/p>\n

Fully integrated in the French central state in the 21st century, Guiana is a part of the European Union, and its official currency is the euro. The region has the highest nominal GDP per capita in South America. A large part of Guiana’s economy derives from jobs and businesses associated with the presence of the Guiana Space Centre, now the European 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 which French Guianese Creole<\/a>, a French-based creole language, is the most widely spoken.<\/p>\n

History:<\/h2>\n

French Guiana was originally inhabited by indigenous people: Kalina<\/a>, Arawak<\/a>, Emerillon<\/a>, Palikur<\/a>, Wayampi<\/a> and Wayana<\/a>. The French attempted to create a colony there in the 18th century in conjunction with its settlement of some Caribbean islands, such as Guadeloupe and Saint-Domingue.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Kali’na Children<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The first French effort to colonize Guiana, in 1763, failed utterly, 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. During operations as a penal colony beginning in the mid-19th century, France transported approximately 56,000 prisoners to Devil’s Island<\/a>. Fewer than 10% survived their sentence.<\/p>\n

\u00cele du Diable<\/a> (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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Islands of the Devil’s Island Penitentiary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition, in the late nineteenth century, France began requiring forced residencies by prisoners who survived their hard labor. A Portuguese-British naval squadron took French Guiana<\/a> for the Portuguese Empire<\/a> in 1809. It was returned to France with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1814<\/a>. Though Portugal returned the region to France, it kept a military presence until 1817.<\/p>\n

After French Guiana had been 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.<\/p>\n

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 of Counani<\/a> in the disputed territory. There was some fighting among settlers. The dispute was resolved largely in favor of Brazil by the arbitration of the Swiss government.<\/p>\n

The territory of Inini<\/a> consisted of most of the interior of French Guiana when it was created in 1930. It was abolished in 1946, the year that French Guiana as a whole was formally established as an overseas department of France. During the 1970s, following the French withdrawal from Vietnam in the 1950s and warfare conducted in the region by the United States, France helped resettle thousands of Hmong refugees from Laos<\/a> to French Guiana.<\/p>\n

In 1964, French president Charles de Gaulle decided to construct a space-travel base in French Guiana. It was intended to replace the Sahara base in Algeria<\/a> and stimulate economic growth in French Guiana. The department was considered particularly suitable for the purpose because it is near the equator and has extensive access to the ocean as a buffer zone. The Guiana Space Centre<\/a>, located a short distance along the coast from Kourou<\/a>, has grown considerably since the initial launches of the V\u00e9ronique<\/a> rockets. It is now part of the European space industry and has had commercial success with such launches as the Ariane 4<\/a> and Ariane 5<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Entrance to the Space Center<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Guianese General Council officially adopted a departmental flag in 2010. In a referendum that same year, French Guiana voted against autonomy.<\/p>\n

On March 20, 2017, French Guianese workers began going on strike and demonstrating<\/a> for more resources and infrastructure. March 28, 2017 was the day of the largest demonstration ever held in French Guiana.<\/p>\n

Geography:<\/h2>\n

French Guiana consists of two main geographical regions: a coastal strip where the majority of the people live, and dense, near-inaccessible rainforest which gradually rises to the modest peaks of the Tumuc-Humac mountains<\/a> along the Brazilian frontier. French Guiana’s highest peak is Bellevue de l’Inini<\/a> in Maripasoula<\/a> (851 m, 2,792 ft). Other mountains include Mont Machalou (782 m, 2,566 ft), Pic Coudreau (711 m, 2,333 ft), Mont St Marcel (635 m, 2,083 ft), Mont Favard (200 m, 660 ft) and Montagne du Mahury (156 m, 512 ft).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Map of French Guiana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Several small islands are found off the coast, the three Salvation’s Islands<\/a> which include Devil’s Island, and the isolated \u00celes du Conn\u00e9table<\/a> bird sanctuary further along the coast towards Brazil.<\/p>\n

The Petit-Saut Dam<\/a>, a hydroelectric dam in the north of French Guiana forms an artificial lake and provides hydroelectricity. There are many rivers in French Guiana, including the Waki River<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As of 2007, the Amazonian forest, located in the most remote part of the department, is protected as the Guiana Amazonian Park, one of the ten national parks of France. The territory of the park covers some 33,900 km2 (13,090 sq mi) upon the communes of Camopi<\/a>, Maripasoula, Papa\u00efchton<\/a>, Saint-\u00c9lie<\/a> and Sa\u00fcl<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Economy:<\/h2>\n

As a part of France, French Guiana is part of the European Union<\/a> and the Eurozone<\/a>; its currency is the euro<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2017, the GDP of French Guiana at market exchange rates was US$5.18 billion (\u20ac4.59 billion), ranking as the largest economy in the Guianas, and the 11th largest in South America.<\/p>\n

French Guiana is heavily dependent on mainland France for subsidies, trade, and goods. 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). In addition, the Guiana Space Centre has played a significant role in the local economy since it was established in Kourou 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). The Guiana Space Centre employed 1,659 people in 2012.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
An Ariane 5 Rocket Being Processed at the Guiana Space Centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is very little manufacturing. Agriculture is largely undeveloped and is mainly confined to the area near the coast and along the Maroni River<\/a>. Sugar and bananas were traditionally two of the main cash 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 between Cayenne and the second-largest town, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni<\/a>, and market gardening (fruits and vegetables) developed by the Hmong communities settled in French Guiana in the 1970s, both destined to the local market. A thriving rice production, developed on polders<\/a> near Mana<\/a> from the early 1980s to the late 2000s, has almost completely disappeared since 2011 due to marine erosion and new EU plant health rules<\/a> which forbid the use of many pesticides and fertilizers. Tourism, especially eco-tourism<\/a>, is growing. Unemployment has been persistently high in the last few decades: 20% to 25% (22.3% in 2012).<\/p>\n

Transportation:<\/h2>\n

French Guiana’s main international airport is Cayenne \u2013 F\u00e9lix Ebou\u00e9 Airport<\/a>, located in the commune of Matoury<\/a>, a southern suburb of Cayenne. There are two flights a day to Paris (Orly Airport<\/a>), served by Air France<\/a> and Air Cara\u00efbes<\/a>. The flight time from Cayenne to Paris is 8 hours and 10 minutes, and from Paris to Cayenne it is 8 hours and 30 minutes. There are also flights to Fort-de-France<\/a>, Pointe-\u00e0-Pitre<\/a>, Bel\u00e9m<\/a>, and Fortaleza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Cayenne \u2013 F\u00e9lix Ebou\u00e9 Airport<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

French Guiana’s main seaport is the port of D\u00e9grad des Cannes, located on the estuary of the Mahury River<\/a>, in the commune of Remire-Montjoly<\/a>, a south-eastern suburb of Cayenne. Almost all of French Guiana’s imports and exports pass through the port of D\u00e9grad des Cannes. Built in 1969, it replaced the old harbor of Cayenne which was congested and could not cope with modern traffic.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Degrad de Cannes<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An asphalted road from R\u00e9gina<\/a> to Saint-Georges de l’Oyapock<\/a> (a town by the Brazilian border) was opened in 2004, completing the road from Cayenne to the Brazilian border. It is now possible to drive on a fully paved road from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni on the Surinamese border to Saint-Georges de l’Oyapock on the Brazilian border.<\/p>\n

Following a treaty between France and Brazil signed in July 2005, the Oyapock River Bridge<\/a> over the Oyapock River<\/a> 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 the Maroni River marking the border with Suriname, although there is a ferry crossing to Albina<\/a>, Suriname).<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Oyapock River Bridge<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The bridge was officially opened on March 18, 2017. However, since the Brazilian government is yet to complete its border posts, only passenger vehicles will be allowed through the bridge for the time being. The inauguration makes it possible to drive uninterrupted from Cayenne to Macap\u00e1<\/a>, the capital of the state of Amap\u00e1<\/a> in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Flag of French Guiana:<\/h2>\n

The flag of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America, is the French flag.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Flag of France<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The local government use a white flag with the silhouette of the French Guiana map and four arrows that reference the Maroon people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Current Flag of French Guiana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On 29 January 2010, the general council (departmental council) of the overseas department of French Guiana unilaterally adopted a flag for the department of French Guiana.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Flag of French Guiana – Unofficial<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This was not recognized by the superior regional council. Both councils were disbanded in late 2015 and replaced by the French Guiana Assembly within the framework of the new Territorial Collectivity of French Guiana. Moreover, only the French flag is officially recognized by the French constitution as the national flag. The green and yellow flag is still used by the French Guiana national football team.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 29 January 2010, the general council (departmental council) of the overseas department of French Guiana unilaterally adopted a flag for the department of French Guiana. This was not recognized by the superior regional council. Both councils were disbanded in late 2015 and replaced by the French Guiana Assembly within the framework of the new Territorial Collectivity of French Guiana. Moreover, only the French flag is officially recognized by the French constitution as the national flag. The green and yellow flag is still used by the French Guiana national football team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[66,59,26,5,27,11,6,7,28,60],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5235"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5235"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5235\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}