French Guiana (French: Guyane) is an overseas département (département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France, located on the Caribbean coast of South America.

History

Main article: History of French Guiana

First settled by the French in 1604, French Guiana was the site of notorious penal settlements (see Devil's Island) until 1951.

Politics

Main article: Politics of French Guiana

As an integral part of France, French Guiana is part of the European Union, the largest part in area outside Europe and the only part outside Europe that is not an island (other than the small Spanish towns of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa).

Geography

Main article: Geography of French Guiana

French Guiana is located on the Caribbean coast of South America. To the west is Suriname, and Brazil is to the south and east.

See also: Communes of the Guyane département

Economy

Main Article: Economy of French Guiana

The European Space Agency launches its satellites from Centre Spatial Guyanais, Kourou.

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of French Guiana

Miscellaneous

• Communications in French Guiana
• Transportation in French Guiana
• Military of French Guiana
• Foreign relations of French Guiana
• Inini

References

• The CIA World Factbook 2000
• Belbenoit, René. 1940. Hell on Trial. Translated from the Original French Manuscript by Preston Rambo. E. P Dutton & Co. Reprint by Blue Ribbon Books, New York, 1941. Reprint: Bantam Books, 1971.
• Belbenoit, René. 1938. Dry guillotine: Fifteen years among the living dead. Reprint: Berkley (1975). ISBN: 0425029506.
• Charrière, Henri. Papillon. Reprints: Hart-Davis Macgibbon Ltd. 1970. ISBN: 0246639873 (hbk); Perennial, 2001. ISBN: 0060934794 (sbk).
• French Guiana map