French Guiana

French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an <a href="/facts/Overseas_departments_and_regions_of_France/SosQ94H2">overseas department and region of France</a> located on the northern coast of <a href="/facts/South_America/PhrFEMk7">South America</a> in <a href="/facts/The_Guianas/E9UGUFgx">the Guianas</a> and the <a href="/facts/West_Indies/PpnoN692">West Indies</a>. Bordered by <a href="/facts/Suriname/zjwRFBPL">Suriname</a> to the west and <a href="/facts/Brazil/QHkG46GL">Brazil</a> to the east and south, French Guiana covers a total area of 84,000 km2 (32,000 sq mi) and a <a href="/facts/Land_area/XQWaBfYo">land area</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Regions_of_France/ovVDJLnK">region in France</a>, being approximately one-seventh the size of <a href="/facts/Metropolitan_France/azPuzr4V">European France</a>, and the largest <a href="/facts/Special_member_state_territories_and_the_European_Union/IBtLk2a9">outermost region</a> within the <a href="/facts/European_Union/6GYcR8qM">European Union</a>. 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, <a href="/facts/Cayenne/h7BAXNuk">Cayenne</a>. Approximately 98.9% of French Guiana is covered by forests, much of it <a href="/facts/Old-growth_forest/kffLtWkA">primeval</a> <a href="/facts/Tropical_rainforest/jTGAqqk5">rainforest</a>. <a href="/facts/Guiana_Amazonian_Park/Hy2r2I8y">Guiana Amazonian Park</a>, the largest <a href="/facts/National_park/otRgEoQ3">national park</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Single_territorial_collectivity/IVzvaNcR">single territorial collectivity</a>, the French Guiana Territorial Collectivity. This assembly, the <a href="/facts/French_Guiana_Assembly/p53Rk7C2">French Guiana Assembly</a>, replaced the former <a href="/facts/Regional_Council_of_French_Guiana/yS83ANMg">regional</a> and <a href="/facts/General_Council_of_French_Guiana/KNhD6bWC">departmental council</a>, which were dissolved. The French Guiana Assembly is in charge of regional and departmental government. Its president is <a href="/facts/Gabriel_Serville/nlkmvKN9">Gabriel Serville</a>.

<a href="/facts/Fully_integrated_in_the_French_Republic/zg85UpNk">Fully integrated in the French Republic</a> since 1946, French Guiana is a part of the European Union, and its official currency is the <a href="/facts/Euro/NWG2nlCx">euro</a>. A large part of French Guiana's economy depends on jobs and businesses associated with the presence of the <a href="/facts/Guiana_Space_Centre/hp6TSJ6W">Guiana Space Centre</a>, now the <a href="/facts/European_Space_Agency/L8YRNV0C">European Space Agency</a>'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 <a href="/facts/French_Guianese_Creole/z0jEp5mo">French Guianese Creole</a>, a French-based <a href="/facts/Creole_language/vrnq31TV">creole language</a>, is the most widely spoken. French Guiana is the only territory on the continental mainland of the <a href="/facts/Americas/hEuUTL4K">Americas</a> that is still under the sovereignty of a <a href="/facts/Europe/DTAtrKfh">European</a> state.
The <a href="/facts/Brazil%25E2%2580%2593France_border/reLFMQN7">border between French Guiana and Brazil</a> is the longest land border that France shares with another country, as well as one of only two <a href="/facts/Borders_of_France/qQWjHbIH">borders</a> which France shares with non-European states, the other being the <a href="/facts/Borders_of_Suriname/2XpzK757">border with Suriname</a> in the west.

French Guiana open-in-new

French Guiana