French Guiana has some of the poorest soils in the world. The soil is low in nutrients e. Soil acidity is another cause of the poor soils, and it requires farmers to add lime to their fields. All of these soil characteristics have led to the use of slash and burn agriculture. The resulting ashes elevate soil pH i.

Sites of Terra preta anthropogenic soils have been discovered in French Guiana, particularly near the border with Brazil. Research is being actively pursued in multiple fields to determine how these enriched soils were historically created, and how this can be done in modern times.

French Guiana is heavily dependent on mainland France for subsidies, trade, and goods. There is very little manufacturing. Agriculture is largely undeveloped and is mainly confined to the area near the coast and along the Maroni River. Sugar and bananas were traditionally two of the main cash crops grown for export but have almost completely disappeared.

Today they have been replaced by livestock raising essentially beef cattle and pigs in the coastal savannas between Cayenne and the second-largest town, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni , and market gardening fruits and vegetables developed by the Hmong communities settled in French Guiana in the s, both destined to the local market. A thriving rice production, developed on polders near Mana from the early s to the late s, has almost completely disappeared since due to marine erosion and new EU plant health rules which forbid the use of many pesticides and fertilizers.

Tourism, especially eco-tourism , is growing. Unemployment has been persistently high in the last few decades: French Guiana's population of , estimate [1] , most of whom live along the coast, is very ethnically diverse. At the census, Estimates of the percentages of French Guiana ethnic composition vary, a situation compounded by the large proportion of immigrants.

Mulattoes people of mixed African and French ancestry , are the largest ethnic group, though estimates vary as to the exact percentage, depending upon whether the large Haitian community is included as well. There are also smaller groups from various Caribbean islands, mainly Martinique, Guadeloupe, Saint Lucia as well as Dominica.

The vast majority of these are of French heritage, though there are also people of Dutch , British, Spanish and Portuguese ancestry. The main groups living in the interior are the Maroons who are of African descent, and Amerindians. The Maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves, live primarily along the Maroni River. As of the late s, there was evidence of an uncontacted group of Wayampi. The dominant religion of French Guiana is Roman Catholicism ; the Maroons and some Amerindian peoples maintain their own religions.

The Hmong people are also largely Catholic owing to the influence of missionaries who helped bring them to French Guiana. The total fertility rate in French Guiana has remained high and is today considerably higher than that of metropolitan France , as well as most of the other French overseas departments. It is largely responsible for the rapid population growth of French Guiana. The official language of French Guiana is French , and it is the predominant language of the department, spoken by most residents as a first or second language.

In addition, a number of other local languages exist.

French Guiana, as part of France, forms part of the European Union — the largest landmass for an area outside of Europe since Greenland left the European Community in , with one of the longest EU external boundaries. As an integral part of France, its head of state is the President of the French Republic , and its head of government is the Prime Minister of France.

The French Government and its agencies have responsibility for a wide range of issues that are reserved to the national executive power, such as defense and external relations. The President of France appoints a prefect resident at the prefecture building in Cayenne as his representative to head the local government of French Guiana. French Guiana sends two deputies to the French National Assembly , one representing the commune municipality of Cayenne and the commune of Macouria , and the other representing the rest of French Guiana.

This latter constituency is the largest in the French Republic by land area. French Guiana also sends two senators to the French Senate. A chronic issue affecting French Guiana is the influx of illegal immigrants and clandestine gold prospectors from Brazil and Suriname. The border between the department and Suriname, the Maroni River , flows through rain forest and is difficult for the Gendarmerie and the French Foreign Legion to patrol. There have been several phases launched by the French government to combat illegal gold mining in French Guiana, beginning with Operation Anaconda beginning in , followed by Operation Harpie in , and Operation Harpie Reinforce in On 12 March a team of French soldiers and border police were attacked while returning from a successful operation, during which "the soldiers had arrested 15 miners, confiscated three boats, and seized grams of gold Garimpeiros returned to retrieve their lost loot and colleagues.

The flight time from Cayenne to Paris is 8 hours and 10 minutes, and from Paris to Cayenne it is 8 hours and 30 minutes. Built in , it replaced the old harbour of Cayenne which was congested and could not cope with modern traffic. It is now possible to drive on a fully paved road from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni on the Surinamese border to Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock on the Brazilian border. Following a treaty between France and Brazil signed in July , the Oyapock River Bridge over the Oyapock River was built and completed in , becoming the first land crossing ever between French Guiana and the rest of the world there exists no other bridge crossing the Oyapock River, and no bridge crossing the Maroni River marking the border with Suriname, although there is a ferry crossing to Albina, Suriname.

The bridge was officially opened on March 18, However, since the Brazilian government is yet to complete its border posts, only passenger vehicles will be allowed through the bridge for the time being.

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Population figures are those recorded in the census. The military there is currently 1, strong, expected to increase enrollment in — At Easter , Guianans eat a traditional dish called Awara broth. The French Guiana Honor Division is the main football club tournament. It was first published in France in , describing his escape from a penal colony there. Becoming an instant bestseller, it was translated into English from the original French by June P.

Wilson and Walter B. Michaels for a edition, and by author Patrick O'Brian. Soon afterward the book was adapted for a Hollywood film of the same name. Since its publication there has been controversy over its accuracy. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Not to be confused with Guyana or French Guinea. Overseas region and department in France.

Overseas region and department. History of French Guiana. French colonization of the Americas and Portuguese conquest of French Guiana. Geography of French Guiana. Economy of French Guiana. Demographics of French Guiana. Politics of French Guiana. Transport in French Guiana.

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The Politics of South American Boundaries. Archived from the original on 31 May Retrieved April 4, In a referendum in January , French Guiana voted firmly against autonomy. Retrieved April 3, Retrieved 15 May Retrieved 3 January Retrieved 4 March Retrieved 27 January Retrieved 22 September Archived from the original on 7 October Retrieved 7 October Welcome to the Jungle. French Guiana at Wikipedia's sister projects.

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