French Guiana is part of France on the northeast coast of South America. Its administrative capital is Cayenne, and the Guiana Space Centre is near Kourou.
South America and its surrounding regions. The dot marks Cayenne; the mapped territory is highlighted in gold.
Natural Earth · locator mapFrench Guiana lies on the Atlantic coast of northeastern South America. A low coastal belt rises toward a hilly, heavily forested interior. Rivers form important routes through terrain where roads are limited.
The Maroni marks much of the western boundary with Suriname. Coastal mudflats and mangroves differ sharply from inland tropical forest and rocky river rapids. Most settlement is concentrated near the coast rather than evenly distributed across the territory.
Heavy tropical rainfall supports dense forest and major river flows. Sediment and tides shape the low coast, while upland streams pass through older rocky terrain. Forest catchments and coastal ecosystems are closely connected.
The French tricolor has three vertical bands of blue, white and red. It is the national flag used in French Guiana; this page follows the national flag shown in the card set.
Sources: INSEE · population estimates · Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane · history · French Government · institutional history · ESA · Guiana Space Centre
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Dense forest covers much of French Guiana’s interior.
Photo: Bernard DUPONT from FRANCE · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Sunrise lights the river along the boundary with Suriname.
Photo: Patrick Wilhelm · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
French is the official language, used in administration and formal education.
French Guianese Creole, Maroon languages such as Ndyuka and Saramaccan, and Indigenous languages including Kali’na, Wayana and Palikur are also spoken. Portuguese, Haitian Creole and other migrant-community languages add to a particularly diverse linguistic landscape.
Sources: French Ministry of Culture · Regional languages · French Ministry of Culture · Guiana’s cultural practices
French Guiana has a long Indigenous history followed by European colonisation, plantation slavery and the development of Maroon communities. Slavery was abolished in 1848. It became an overseas department of France in 1946, rather than an independent state. The Guiana Space Centre began operating in 1968. In 2016, a single territorial authority combined the former regional and departmental responsibilities.
Sources: INSEE · population estimates · Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane · history · French Government · institutional history · ESA · Guiana Space Centre
Public services, construction, commerce and the space industry are important to the economy. The Guiana Space Centre near Kourou supports launch operations, technical work and related services. Gold extraction, fishing, forestry and agriculture also contribute. The territory faces high import dependence and substantial differences in access to jobs, transport and public services.
Space-launch operations and support, construction, gold extraction, fishing, forestry and food production.
Sources: INSEE · population estimates · Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane · history · French Government · institutional history · ESA · Guiana Space Centre
298,554 · 1 January 2026 · INSEE · provisional estimate
Sources: INSEE · population estimates · Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane · history · French Government · institutional history · ESA · Guiana Space Centre
A single territorial authority within France, combining departmental and regional responsibilities. An elected Assembly of French Guiana and its President govern locally. A Prefect represents the French state, and residents elect representatives to the French Parliament. French Guiana is also an outermost region of the European Union.
Sources: INSEE · population estimates · Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane · history · French Government · institutional history · ESA · Guiana Space Centre
Three questions about French Guiana.
Sources: INSEE · population estimates · Collectivité Territoriale de Guyane · history · French Government · institutional history · ESA · Guiana Space Centre
Prepared 24 September 2026. World Bank series: SP.POP.TOTL (persons) and NY.GDP.MKTP.KD (constant 2015 US dollars); downloaded 24 September 2026, provider update 13 July 2026. UNDP values use the 2025 report and 2023 observation year. These are dated statistical snapshots, not live population or economic counters.
Maps use Natural Earth geographic data. Background geography, flag descriptions and selected historical facts use archived public-domain CIA World Factbook profiles, supplemented by the sources linked above. The Factbook is no longer updated; dated statistics here come from the separately named providers.
