French Guiana

Kourou Beach, French Guiana
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kourou_beach_pagaie_canoe_race.jpg
Author: Arria Belli


French Guiana is an overseas region of France, in other words, it is regarded as part of France. Located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America, French Guiana covers 83,534 sq km (32,252.7 sq mi). It shares a border with Suriname to the west and Brazil to the south and east.

French Guiana is three hours behind Coordinated Universal Time (UTC-3). It has a population of 217,000 (2011 estimate). Being an overseas region of France, it uses the euro as its official currency. Its nominal GDP for 2008 stood at €3.2 billion, equivalent to a per capita GDP of €14,204 ($20,904).

Montjoly wetlands, French Guiana
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salinesmontjoly.jpg
Author: Didwin973


French Guiana was settled by the French since the 17th century. After diseases fell the initial group of 12,000 settlers that were sent to populate the land, France sent 56,000 prisoners to the penal settlement of Île du Diable (Devil's Island) between 1852 and 1951.

French Guiana became an overseas department of France in 1946. In the 1970's, groups of Hmong refugees from Laos were also resettled there. French Guiana experiences a tropical climate. The temperature is fairly uniform throughout the year, ranging from between 22°C (72°F) and 30°C (86°F)

Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur de Cayenne, French Guiana
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cath%C3%A9dralestsauveur.jpg
Author: Didwin

Planning your visit to French Guiana

The Cayenne-Rochambeau Airport (CAY) is the gateway to French Guiana. It has flight connections with Brazil, Dominican Republic, France, Martinique, Panama, Suriname, and the city of Miami in the United States.

Major Cities in French Guiana

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

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