French Guiana
Introduction French Guiana
--------------------------
Background: First settled by the French in 1604,
French Guiana was the site of
notorious penal settlements until
1951. The European Space Agency
launches its communication
satellites from Kourou.
Geography French Guiana
-----------------------
Location: Northern South America, bordering
the North Atlantic Ocean, between
Brazil and Suriname
Geographic coordinates: 4 00 N, 53 00 W
Map references: South America
Area: total: 91,000 sq km
water: 1,850 sq km
land: 89,150 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Indiana
Land boundaries: total: 1,183 km
border countries: Brazil 673 km,
Suriname 510 km
Coastline: 378 km
Maritime claims: exclusive economic zone: 200 NM
territorial sea: 12 NM
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; little
seasonal temperature variation
Terrain: low-lying coastal plains rising to
hills and small mountains
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Bellevue de l'Inini
851 m
Natural resources: bauxite, timber, gold (widely
scattered), cinnabar, kaolin, fish
Land use: arable land: 0.11% NEGL
permanent crops: 0.03%
other: 99.85% (90% forest, 10%
other) (1998 est.)
Irrigated land: 20 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: high frequency of heavy showers and
severe thunderstorms; flooding
Environment - current issues: NA
Geography - note: mostly an unsettled wilderness; the
only non-independent portion of the
South American continent
People French Guiana
--------------------
Population: 182,333 (July 2002 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 30.2% (male 28,140;
female 26,876)
15-64 years: 64.2% (male 63,183;
female 53,902)
65 years and over: 5.6% (male 5,192;
female 5,040) (2002 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.57% (2002 est.)
Birth rate: 21.66 births/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Death rate: 4.78 deaths/1,000 population (2002
est.)
Net migration rate: 8.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population
(2002 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.17 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.03 male(s)/
female
total population: 1.13 male(s)/
female (2002 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 13.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2002
est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 76.49 years
female: 79.99 years (2002 est.)
male: 73.16 years
Total fertility rate: 3.13 children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/ NA
AIDS:
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: French Guianese (singular and
plural)
adjective: French Guianese
Ethnic groups: black or mulatto 66%, white 12%,
East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian
12%, other 10%
Religions: Roman Catholic
Languages: French
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read
and write
total population: 83%
male: 84%
female: 82% (1982 est.)
Government French Guiana
------------------------
Country name: conventional long form: Department
of Guiana
conventional short form: French
Guiana
local short form: Guyane
local long form: none
Dependency status: overseas department of France
Government type: NA
Capital: Cayenne
Administrative divisions: none (overseas department of France)
Independence: none (overseas department of France)
National holiday: Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French
Constitution)
Legal system: French legal system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Jacques
CHIRAC of France (since 17 May
1995), represented by Prefect Henri
MASSE (since NA July 1999)
elections: French president elected
by popular vote for a five-year
term; prefect appointed by the
French president on the advice of
the French Ministry of Interior;
presidents of the General and
Regional Councils are appointed by
the members of those councils
head of government: President of the
General Council Joseph HO-TEN-YOU
(since NA March 2001); President of
the Regional Council Antoine KARAM
(since 22 March 1992)
cabinet: NA
Legislative branch: unicameral General Council or
Conseil General (19 seats; members
are elected by popular vote to serve
six-year terms) and a unicameral
Regional Council or Conseil Regional
(31 seats; members are elected by
popular vote to serve six-year
terms)
elections: General Council - last
held NA March 2000 (next to be held
NA 2006); Regional Council - last
held 15 March 1998 (next to be held
NA 2004)
election results: General Council -
percent of vote by party - NA%;
seats by party - PSG 5, various
left-wing parties 5, independents 7,
other 2; Regional Council - percent
of vote by party - PS 28.28%,
various left parties 22.56%, RPR
15.91%, independents 8.6%, Walwari
Committee 6%; seats by party - PS
11, various left parties 9, RPR 6,
independents 3, Walwari Committee 2
note: one seat was elected to the
French Senate on 27 September 1998
(next to be held NA September 2007);
results - percent of vote by party -
NA%; seats by party - NA; 2 seats
were elected to the French National
Assembly on 9 June-16 June 2002
(next to be held NA 2007); results -
percent of vote by party - NA%;
seats by party - NA
Judicial branch: Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel
(highest local court based in
Martinique with jurisdiction over
Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French
Guiana)
Political parties and leaders: Guyanese Democratic Action or ADG
[Andre LECANTE]; Guyanese Socialist
Party or PSG [Marie-Claude VERDAN];
Guyana Democratic Forces or FDG
[Georges OTHILY]; Popular National
Guyanese Party or PNPG [Jose DORCY];
Rally for the Republic or RPR
[Roland HO-WEN-SZE]; Socialist Party
or PS [Pierre RIBARDIERE]; Walwari
Committee [Christine TAUBIRA-
DELANON]
Political pressure groups and NA
leaders:
International organization FZ, WCL, WFTU
participation:
Diplomatic representation in the US: none (overseas department of France)
Diplomatic representation from the none (overseas department of France)
US:
Flag description: the flag of France is used
Economy French Guiana
---------------------
Economy - overview: The economy is tied closely to the
French economy through subsidies and
imports. Besides the French space
center at Kourou, fishing and
forestry are the most important
economic activities. Forest and
woodland cover 90% of the country.
The large reserves of tropical
hardwoods, not fully exploited,
support an expanding sawmill
industry that provides sawn logs for
export. Cultivation of crops is
limited to the coastal area, where
the population is largely
concentrated; rice and manioc are
the major crops. French Guiana is
heavily dependent on imports of food
and energy. Unemployment is a
serious problem, particularly among
younger workers.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $1 billion
(1998 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: NA%
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $6,000
(1998 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: NA%
industry: NA%
services: NA%
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by lowest 10%: NA%
percentage share: highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.5% (1992)
Labor force: 58,800 (1997)
Labor force - by occupation: services, government, and commerce
60.6%, industry 21.2%, agriculture
18.2% (1980)
Unemployment rate: 21.4% (1998)
Budget: revenues: $225 million
expenditures: $390 million,
including capital expenditures of
$105 million (1996)
Industries: construction, shrimp processing,
forestry products, rum, gold mining
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 450 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2000)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption: 418.5 million kWh (2000)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2000)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2000)
Agriculture - products: corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sugar,
cocoa, vegetables, bananas; cattle,
pigs, poultry
Exports: $155 million (f.o.b., 1997)
Exports - commodities: shrimp, timber, gold, rum, rosewood
essence, clothing
Exports - partners: France 62%, Switzerland 7%, US 2%
(1997)
Imports: $625 million (c.i.f., 1997)
Imports - commodities: food (grains, processed meat),
machinery and transport equipment,
fuels and chemicals
Imports - partners: France 52%, US 14%, Trinidad and
Tobago 6% (1997)
Debt - external: $1.2 billion (1988)
Economic aid - recipient: $NA
Currency: euro (EUR); French franc (FRF)
Currency code: EUR; FRF
Exchange rates: Euros per US dollar - 1.1324
(January 2002), 1.1175 (2001),
1.0854 (2000), 0.9386 (1999); French
francs per US dollar - 5.8995
(1998), 5.8367 (1997)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications French Guiana
----------------------------
Telephones - main lines in use: 47,000 (1997)
Telephones - mobile cellular: NA
Telephone system: general assessment: NA
domestic: fair open wire and
microwave radio relay system
international: satellite earth
station - 1 Intelsat (Atlantic
Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 14 (including 6 repeaters),
shortwave 6 (including 5 repeaters)
(1998)
Radios: 104,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 3 (plus eight low-power repeaters)
(1997)
Televisions: 30,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .gf
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 2 (2000)
Internet users: 2,000 (2000)
Transportation French Guiana
----------------------------
Railways: 0 km
Highways: total: 1,817 km
paved: 817 km
unpaved: 1,000 km (1998)
Waterways: 3,300 km navigable by native craft
note: 460 km navigable by small
oceangoing vessels and coastal and
river steamers
Ports and harbors: Cayenne, Degrad des Cannes, Saint-
Laurent du Maroni
Merchant marine: none (2002 est.)
Airports: 11 (2001)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 4
over 3,047 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 1 (2001)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 7
914 to 1,523 m: 2
under 914 m: 5 (2001)
Military French Guiana
----------------------
Military branches: no regular indigenous military
forces; French Forces, Gendarmerie
Military manpower - availability: males age 15-49: 50,504 (2002 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military males age 15-49: 32,720 (2002 est.)
service:
Military expenditures - dollar $NA
figure:
Military expenditures - percent of NA%
GDP:
Military - note: defense is the responsibility of
France
Transnational Issues French Guiana
----------------------------------
Disputes - international: Suriname claims area between Riviere
Litani and Riviere Marouini (both
headwaters of the Lawa)
Illicit drugs: small amount of marijuana grown for
local consumption; minor
transshipment point to Europe
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