French Guiana

§1. French Guiana Introduction

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.

§2. French Guiana Geography

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 km²
  land: 89,150 km²
  water: 1,850 km²

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:
  territorial sea: 12 nm
  exclusive economic zone: 200 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), petroleum, kaolin, fish, niobium,
  tantalum, clay

Land use:
  arable land: 0.13%
  permanent crops: 0.04%
  other: 99.83% (90% forest, 10% other) (2005)

Irrigated land:
  20 km² (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

§3. French Guiana People

Population:
  199,509 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
  0-14 years: 28.9% (male 29,540/female 28,210)
  15-64 years: 64.8% (male 69,302/female 59,980)
  65 years and over: 6.3% (male 6,350/female 6,127) (2006 est.)

Median age:
  total: 28.6 years
  male: 29.6 years
  female: 27.4 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
  1.96% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
  20.46 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
  4.88 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
  4.01 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio:
  at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
  under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
  15-64 years: 1.16 male(s)/female
  65 years and over: 1.04 male(s)/female
  total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
  total: 11.76 deaths/1,000 live births
  male: 12.58 deaths/1,000 live births
  female: 10.89 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
  total population: 77.27 years
  male: 73.95 years
  female: 80.75 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate:
  2.98 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
  NA

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
  NA

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.)

§4. French Guiana Government

Country name:
  conventional long form: Department of Guiana
  conventional short form: French Guiana
  local long form: none
  local short form: Guyane

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:
  4 October 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 Ange MANCINI (since 31 July 2002)
  head of government: President of the General Council Pierre DESERT (since
    26 March 2004); President of the Regional Council Antoine KARAM (since 22
    March 1992)
  cabinet: NA
  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

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 in March 2000 (next to be held March
    2006); Regional Council - last held 21 and 28 March 2004 (next to be held
    in 2010)
  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 - (second election results) percent of vote by party -
    PS 37.24%, UMP 31.58%, FDG/Walwari 31.18%; seats by party - PS 17, UMP 7,
    FDG/Walwari 7
  note: one seat was elected to the French Senate on 27 September 1998 (next
    to be held 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 in 2007); results - percent of
    vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP/RPR 1, Walwari Committee 1

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:
  Guyana Democratic Forces or FDG [Georges OTHILY]; Guyanese Democratic
  Action or ADG [Andre LECANTE]; Guyanese Socialist Party or PSG
  [Marie-Claude VERDAN]; Popular National Guyanese Party or PNPG [Jose
  DORCY]; Socialist Party or PS [Alix LABBE]; Union for French Democracy or
  UDF [Georges HABRAN-MERY]; Union for a Popular Movement or UMP (includes
  RPR) [Remi Louis DUBOC]; Walwari Committee (aligned with the PRG in France)
  [Christine TAUBIRA-DELANON]

Political pressure groups and leaders:
  NA

International organization participation:
  UPU, WCL, WFTU

Diplomatic representation in the US:
  none (overseas department of France)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
  none (overseas department of France)

Flag description:
  the flag of France is used

§5. French Guiana Economy

Economy - overview:
  The economy is tied closely to the much larger French economy through
  subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou (which
  accounts for 25% of GDP), 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):
  $1.551 billion (2003 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
  NA

GDP - real growth rate:
  NA%

GDP - per capita (PPP):
  $8,300 (2003 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
  agriculture: NA%
  industry: NA%
  services: NA%

Labor force:
  58,800 (1997)

Labor force - by occupation:
  agriculture 18.2%, industry 21.2%, services, government, and commerce 60.6%
  (1980)

Unemployment rate:
  22% (2001)

Population below poverty line:
  NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
  lowest 10%: NA%
  highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices):
  1.5% (2002 est.)

Budget:
  revenues: $225 million
  expenditures: $390 million; including capital expenditures of $105 million
    (1996)

Agriculture - products:
  corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sugar, cocoa, vegetables, bananas; cattle,
  pigs, poultry

Industries:
  construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold mining

Industrial production growth rate:
  NA%

Electricity - production:
  465.2 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - consumption:
  432.6 million kWh (2003)

Electricity - exports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Electricity - imports:
  0 kWh (2003)

Oil - production:
  0 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - consumption:
  6,600 bbl/day (2003 est.)

Oil - exports:
  NA bbl/day

Oil - imports:
  NA bbl/day

Natural gas - production:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Natural gas - consumption:
  0 m³ (2003 est.)

Exports:
  $155 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)

Exports - commodities:
  shrimp, timber, gold, rum, rosewood essence, clothing

Exports - partners:
  France 62%, Switzerland 7%, US 2% (2004)

Imports:
  $625 million c.i.f. (2002 est.)

Imports - commodities:
  food (grains, processed meat), machinery and transport equipment, fuels and
  chemicals

Imports - partners:
  France 63%, US, Trinidad and Tobago, Italy (2004)

Debt - external:
  $1.2 billion (1988)

Economic aid - recipient:
  $NA

Currency (code):
  euro (EUR)
  note: on 1 January 1999, the European Monetary Union introduced the euro as
    a common currency to be used by financial institutions of member
    countries; on 1 January 2002, the euro became the sole currency for
    everyday transactions within the member countries

Exchange rates:
  euros per US dollar - 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626
  (2002), 1.1175 (2001)

Fiscal year:
  calendar year

§6. French Guiana Communications

Telephones - main lines in use:
  51,000 (2001)

Telephones - mobile cellular:
  138,200 (2002)

Telephone system:
  general assessment: NA
  domestic: fair open-wire and microwave radio relay system
  international: country code - 594; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat
    (Atlantic Ocean)

Radio broadcast stations:
  AM 2, FM 14 (including 6 repeaters), shortwave 6 (including 5 repeaters)
  (1998)

Television broadcast stations:
  3 (plus eight low-power repeaters) (1997)

Internet country code:
  .gf

Internet hosts:
  107 (2005)

Internet users:
  38,000 (2005)

§7. French Guiana Transportation

Airports:
  11 (2005)

Airports - with paved runways:
  total: 4
  over 3,047 m: 1
  914 to 1,523 m: 2
  under 914 m: 1 (2005)

Airports - with unpaved runways:
  total: 7
  914 to 1,523 m: 2
  under 914 m: 5 (2005)

Roadways:
  total: 817 km (1998)

Waterways:
  3,760 km
  note: 460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and river
    steamers, 3,300 km by native craft (2003)

Ports and terminals:
  Degrad des Cannes

§8. French Guiana Military

Military branches:
  no regular military forces; Gendarmerie

Manpower available for military service:
  males age 18-49: 47,809 (2005 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:
  males age 18-49: 38,676 (2005 est.)

Military expenditures - dollar figure:
  NA

Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
  NA

Military - note:
  defense is the responsibility of France

§9. French Guiana Transnational Issues

Disputes - international:
  Suriname claims area between Riviere Litani and Riviere Marouini (both
  headwaters of the Lawa) in French Guiana

Illicit drugs:
  small amount of marijuana grown for local consumption; minor transshipment
  point to Europe


<Factbook 2006>
