French Guiana

French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west and Brazil to the east and south, French Guiana covers a total area of 84,000 km2 (32,000 sq mi) and a land area of 83,534 km2 (32,253 sq mi). As of January 2025, it is home to 292,354 people.

French Guiana is the second-largest region of France, being approximately one-seventh the size of European France, and the largest outermost region within the European Union. It has a very low population density, with only 3.6 inhabitants per square kilometre (9.3/sq mi). About half of its residents live in its capital, Cayenne. Approximately 98.9% of French Guiana is covered by forests, much of it primeval rainforest. Guiana Amazonian Park, the largest national park in the European Union, covers 41% of French Guiana's territory. Since December 2015, both the region and department have been ruled by a single assembly within the framework of a single territorial collectivity, the French Guiana Territorial Collectivity. This assembly, the French Guiana Assembly, replaced the former regional and departmental council, which were dissolved. The French Guiana Assembly is in charge of regional and departmental government. Its president is Gabriel Serville.

Fully integrated in the French Republic since 1946, French Guiana is a part of the European Union, and its official currency is the euro. A large part of French Guiana's economy depends on jobs and businesses associated with the presence of the Guiana Space Centre, now the European Space Agency's primary launch site near the equator. As elsewhere in France, the official language is standard French, but each ethnic community has its own language, of which French Guianese Creole, a French-based creole language, is the most widely spoken. French Guiana is the only territory on the continental mainland of the Americas that is still under the sovereignty of a European state. The border between French Guiana and Brazil is the longest land border that France shares with another country, as well as one of only two borders which France shares with non-European states, the other being the border with Suriname in the west.

Infobox

Sovereign state

France

Prefecture

Cayenne

Departments

1 (every overseas region consists of a department in itself)

• Prefect

Antoine Poussier

• President of the Assembly

Gabriel Serville (Guyane Kontré pour avancer)

• Legislature

Assembly of French Guiana

• Total

292,354

• Land

83,534 km2 (32,253 sq mi)

• Water

466 km2 (180 sq mi)

• Rank

2nd region and 1st department

• Density

3.4998/km2 (9.0645/sq mi)

Demonym(s)

French GuiananFrench Guianese

• Total (2022)

€4.562 billion

• Per capita

€16,600

Time zone

UTC−03:00 (GFT)

Area code

594

ISO 3166 code

mw- .inline, .inline dl, .inline ol, .inline ul, dl dl, dl ol, dl ul, ol dl, ol ol dd dd dd , dd dt , dd li , dt dd , dt dt , dt li , li dd dd dd , dd dt , dd li , dt dd , dt dt , dt li , li dd dd ol li GFFR-973

Currency

Euro (€) (EUR)

Website

Territorial Collectivity Prefecture