FRENCH GUIANA
(overseas department of France)
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 91,000 km2; land area: 89,150 km2
Comparative area: slightly smaller than Indiana
Land boundaries: 1,183 km total; Brazil 673 km, Suriname 510 km
Coastline: 378 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: Suriname claims area between Riviere Litani and
Riviere Marouini (both headwaters of the Lawa)
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature
variation
Terrain: low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small
mountains
Natural resources: bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered),
cinnabar, kaolin, fish
Land use: arable land NEGL%; permanent crops NEGL%; meadows and
pastures NEGL%; forest and woodland 82%; other 18%
Environment: mostly an unsettled wilderness
PEOPLE
Population: 101,603 (July 1991), growth rate 3.3% (1991)
Birth rate: 28 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: 10 migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 18 deaths/1,000 live births (1991)
Life expectancy at birth: 69 years male, 76 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 3.7 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--French Guianese (sing., pl.); adjective--French
Guiana
Ethnic divisions: black or mulatto 66%; Caucasian 12%; East Indian,
Chinese, Amerindian 12%; other 10%
Religion: predominantly Roman Catholic
Language: French
Literacy: 82% (male 81%, female 83%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1982)
Labor force: 23,265; services, government, and commerce 60.6%,
industry 21.2%, agriculture 18.2% (1980)
Organized labor: 7% of labor force
GOVERNMENT
Long-form name: Department of Guiana
Type: overseas department of France
Capital: Cayenne
Administrative divisions: none (overseas department of France)
Independence: none (overseas department of France)
Constitution: 28 September 1958 (French Constitution)
Legal system: French legal system
National holiday: Taking of the Bastille, 14 July (1789)
Executive branch: French president, commissioner of the republic
Legislative branch: unicameral General Council and a unicameral
Regional Council
Judicial branch: highest local court is the Court of Appeals
based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and
French Guiana
Leaders:
Chief of State--President Francois MITTERRAND (since 21 May
1981);
Head of Government--Commissioner of the Republic Jean-Francois
DI CHIARA (since NA 1990)
Political parties and leaders:
Guianese Socialist Party (PSG), Gerard HOLDER;
Rally for the Republic (RPR), Paulin BRUNE;
Guyanese Democratic Action (ADG), Andre Lecante;
Union for French Democracy (UDF), Claude Ho A CHUCK;
National Front (FN), Guy MALON;
Popular and National Party of Guiana (PNPG), Claude ROBO;
National Anti-Colonist Guianese Party (PANGA), Michel KAPEL
Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections:
Regional Council--last held 16 March 1986 (next to be
held NA 1991);
results--PSG 43%, RPR 27.7%, ADG 12.2%, UDF 8.9%, FN 3.7%,
PNPG 1.4%, other 3.1%;
seats--(31 total) PSG 15, RPR 9, ADG 4, UDF 3;
French Senate--last held 24 September 1989 (next to be held
September 1992);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(1 total) PSG 1;
French National Assembly--last held 24 September 1989 (next to be
held September 1992);
results--percent of vote by party NA;
seats--(2 total) PSG 1, RPR 1
Communists: Communist party membership negligible
Member of: FZ, WCL, WFTU
Diplomatic representation: as an overseas department of France
the interests of French Guiana are represented in the US by France
Flag: the flag of France is used
ECONOMY
Overview: The economy is tied closely to that of France through
subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou, fishing
and forestry are the most important economic activities, with exports
of fish and fish products (mostly shrimp) accounting for more than 60%
of total revenue in 1987. The large reserves of tropical hardwoods, not
fully exploited, support an expanding sawmill industry that provides sawn
logs for export. Cultivation of crops--rice, cassava, bananas, and
sugarcane--are limited to the coastal area, where the population is
largely concentrated. French Guiana is heavily dependent on imports
of food and energy. Unemployment is a serious problem, particularly
among younger workers.
GDP: $186 million, per capita $2,240; real growth rate NA% (1985)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.1% (1987)
Unemployment rate: 15% (1987)
Budget: revenues $735 million; expenditures $735 million, including
capital expenditures of NA (1987)
COMMUNICATIONS
Highways: 680 km total; 510 km paved, 170 km improved and
unimproved earth
Inland waterways: 460 km, navigable by small oceangoing vessels and
river and coastal steamers; 3,300 km possibly navigable by native craft
Ports: Cayenne
Civil air: no major transport aircraft
Airports: 10 total, 10 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways;
none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 1 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: fair open wire and radio relay system;
18,100 telephones; stations--5 AM, 7 FM, 9 TV; 1 Atlantic Ocean
INTELSAT earth station
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: French Forces, Gendarmerie
Manpower availability: males 15-49 28,650; 18,903 fit for military
service
