French Guiana

French Guiana is an overseas department and region of France on the northern coast of South America, between Suriname and Brazil. Cayenne is the capital and home to about half the people, French is the official language, and French Guianese Creole is the most widely spoken local language.

The name Guiana comes from an indigenous word for land of many waters, and the area once held five colonies of different powers, from Spanish Guiana to Portuguese Guiana. France recorded a first settlement in 1503 but only built a lasting presence when colonists founded Cayenne in 1643.

French Guiana became a French department on 19 March 1946, and since December 2015 a single assembly has replaced the old regional and departmental councils. In 1964 President Charles de Gaulle chose the territory for a space base, and the Guiana Space Centre near Kourou grew into the main launch site of the European Space Agency; Ariane rockets lifted the James Webb Space Telescope from there, and Ariane 6 flew from Kourou in 2025.

As part of France, it lies within the European Union and uses the euro, and it is the only part of mainland South America still ruled by a European state. Its border with Brazil is the longest land border of France. Forest covers about 99% of the land, much of it untouched rainforest, and the Guiana Amazonian Park, the largest national park in the European Union, protects 41% of the territory. Félix Éboué from Cayenne became the first black governor of a French colony in 1936, and the Maroni River on the border with Suriname runs through rainforest.