French Guiana

French overseas département from 1946, and administrative region from 1974, on the north coast of South America, bounded west by Suriname and east and south by Brazil; area 83,500 sq km/32,230 sq mi; population (1999 est) 157,200. The main towns are Cayenne and St Laurent. The main economic activity is fishing (especially for shrimp, a major export); other resources include bauxite, tropical hardwood timber (most of the country is forested), gold, cinnabar, and kaolin. Agricultural products include rice, maize, cocoa, bananas, and sugar, though the area used for agriculture is relatively small and the country depends largely on imported food. The second-largest town, Kourou, is the site of a European Space Agency (ESA) launch site.

First settled by France in 1604, the territory became a French possession in 1817; penal colonies, including Devil's Island in the Îles du Salut, were established from 1852. By 1945 the transport of convicts from France had ceased. French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was imprisoned on Devil's Island.

The main language is Creole (90%); other languages spoken are French, English, and East Indian.