French Guiana
French Guiana (/ɡiˈɑːnə/ or /ɡiˈænə/; French: Guyane, [ɡɥijan] ⓘ; French Guianese Creole: Lagwiyann or Gwiyann, [la.ɡwi.jãn]) is an overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west and Brazil to the east and south, French Guiana covers a total area of 84,000 km2 (32,000 sq mi)[2][3][7] and a land area of 83,534 km2 (32,253 sq mi),[3] and is inhabited by 295,385 people.
Not to be confused with Guyana, The Guianas, French Guinea, or Guyenne.
French Guiana
1 (every overseas region consists of a department in itself)
Gabriel Serville (Guyane Kontré pour avancer)
84,000 km2 (32,433 sq mi)
83,534 km2 (32,253 sq mi)
466 km2 (180 sq mi)
2nd region and 1st department
295,385
3.5/km2 (9.1/sq mi)
(French) Guianan
(French) Guianese
€4.58 billion
€16,600
French Guiana is the second-largest region of France (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 kilometre (9.3/sq mi). Half of its 295,385 inhabitants in 2024 lived in the metropolitan area of Cayenne, its capital. 98.9% of the land territory of French Guiana is covered by forests,[8] a large part of which is primeval rainforest. The Guiana Amazonian Park, which is the largest national park in the European Union,[9] 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 a single territorial collectivity, the French Guiana Territorial Collectivity (French: collectivité territoriale de Guyane). This assembly, the French Guiana Assembly (French: assemblée de Guyane), replaced the former regional council and departmental council, which were disbanded. The French Guiana Assembly is in charge of regional and departmental government. Its president is Gabriel Serville.
Fully integrated in the French Republic since 1946, French Guiana is a part of the European Union, and its official currency is the euro. A large part of French Guiana's economy depends on 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 French-based creole language, is the most widely spoken. French Guiana is the only territory on the continental mainland of the Americas that is still under the sovereignty of a European state.
The border between French Guiana and Brazil is the longest land border that France shares with another country, as well as one of only two borders which France shares with non-European states, the other being the border with Suriname in the west.
Languages[edit]
The official language of French Guiana is French, and it is the predominant language of the department, spoken by most residents as a first or second language. In addition, a number of other local languages exist. Regional languages include French Guianese Creole (not to be confused with Guyanese Creole), six Amerindian languages (Arawak, Palijur, Kali'na, Wayana, Wayampi, Emerillon), four Maroon creole languages (Saramaka, Paramaccan, Aluku, Ndyuka), as well as Hmong Njua.[64] Other languages spoken include Portuguese, Mandarin, Haitian Creole and Spanish.
