ABSTRACT
The French Overseas Department of Guyana is the easternmost of the three Guianas, which form an enclave on the north-east coast of Brazil, and is bounded on the west by Suriname. Area: 83,534sq km (32,253sq miles); local capital: Cayenne; population: 182,233 (2002 estimate), comprising 66% mulatto, 22% Amerindian, ‘East Indian’ or Chinese, 12% European; official language: French (Creole and various Amerindian languages are also spoken); religion: Roman Catholic 75%, Protestant 4%. Constitution: The head of state is the President of France, represented locally by a Commissioner of the Republic. Both the General Council (Conseil Général) of 19 members and the Regional Council (Conseil Régional) are directly elected, and the Department is represented in the French Assemblée Nationale by two members and in the Senate by one senator. The Department sends one representative to the European Parliament at Strasbourg. History: French settlement in the area began as early as 1604, but the present territory, formerly known as Cayenne, was finally allocated to France only in 1814, at the Treaty of Paris. Gold was discovered in small quantities in the 19th century, but until 1937 the territory was notorious as the site of a number of penal settlements, of which the bestknown was Devil’s Island, where Alfred Dreyfus was incarcerated. In 1946 the territory became an Overseas Department of France, with the same laws and administration as a Department of metropolitan France. However, demonstrations against French rule in the 1970s were followed by continuing pressure for greater autonomy, though only a small proportion of the electorate (some 5%) favour independence. Latest elections: In the first round of presidential elections held on 21 April 2002, a local candidate, Christiana Taubira, of the Parti Radical de Gauche, gained 52.7% of the vote, defeating both Jacques Chirac and Lionel Jospin. International relations and defence: There is a French garrison of some 3,000 troops in the territory. Economy: The Department had a trade deficit of €499m. (US $541.7m.) in 2000, total exports amounting to only €121m. France is the main market for exports and the main source of imports. Shrimps are the main export product; other exports include rice, pineapples and citrus fruit. Timber products have been declining in recent years.
