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French Guiana. Capital – Cayenne. Facts About French Guiana. Population: 247, 739 Less than 3 per km 2 Half live in the capital Total Area: 34, 750 sq. mi. Currency: Euro Language: Officially French Regional languages and other languages spoken also.
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French Guiana Capital – Cayenne
Facts About French Guiana • Population: 247, 739 • Less than 3 per km2 • Half live in the capital • Total Area: 34, 750 sq. mi. • Currency: Euro • Language: Officially French • Regional languages and other languages spoken also.
Climate and Topography of French Guiana • Average highs in the 80s average lows in the 70s • Three main regions: • The coastal plain in the north (where most people live) • A hilly plateau in the middle • The Tumac-Humac Mountains in the south • Most of the interior (83 percent of it) is dense tropical rain forest. • There are more than twenty rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean from French Guiana. • Oyapock - forms the southeastern border with Brazil • Maroni forms the border with Suriname
Miscellaneous Information about French Guiana • Vast majority are Roman Catholic. • Minority religious groups include: • Seventh Day-Adventists, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses • Indigenous Amerindian shamanistic religions, • Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam • African based religions. • Very dependent on France for goods • European Ariane Space Program • Space Center – Europe’s space port • Illegal gold mining is a problem
Government in French Guiana • Part of the European Union • Head of state –President of the French Republic • Head of government – Prime Minister of France • 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.
People in French Guiana • Families Tend to be close and live in close proximity • Women stay home with the kids and work in the garden (the more traditional life), while men provide. • Average family has three children • Schooling is compulsory to age sixteen • Ethnicity • black or mulatto 66% • white 12% • East Indian • Chinese • Amerindian 12% • other 10%
Fast Facts About French Guiana • Cayenne pepper is named after Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana. • Site of one of the world's most notorious prisons for more than a century – Devil’s Island. • It is the only country in the entire Americas in which the Euro is used as currency. • French Guiana offers one of the highest qualities of life in South America, due to its colonial status within the French Empire.