Introduction
Background: First settled by the French in 1604,
Geography
Location: Northern South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between
Geographic coordinates: 4 00 N, 53 00 W
Map references:
Area: total: 91,000 sq km; land: 89,150 sq km; water: 1,850 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than
Land boundaries: total: 1,183 km; border countries:
Coastline: 378 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea: 12 nm; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate: tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation
Terrain: low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains
Elevation extremes: lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m; highest point:
Natural resources: bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered), petroleum, kaolin, fish, niobium, tantalum, clay
Land use: arable land: 0.14%; permanent crops: 0.05%; other: 99.81% (90% forest, 10% other) (2001)
Irrigated land: 20 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: high frequency of heavy showers and severe thunderstorms; flooding
Environment - current issues: NA
Geography - note: mostly an unsettled wilderness; the only non-independent portion of the South American continent
People
Population: 195,506 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 29.3% (male 29,262/female 27,947); 15-64 years: 64.7% (male 67,895/female 58,534); 65 years and over: 6.1% (male 6,038/female 5,830) (2005 est.)
Median age: total: 28.45 years; male: 29.49 years; female: 27.31 years (2005 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.1% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 20.7 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 4.85 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: 5.11 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female; under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 1.16 male(s)/female; 65 years and over: 1.04 male(s)/female; total population: 1.12 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
Infant mortality rate: total: 12.07 deaths/1,000 live births; male: 12.91 deaths/1,000 live births; female: 11.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: total population: 77.09 years; male: 73.77 years; female: 80.58 years (2005 est.)
Total fertility rate: 3.01 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: NA%
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: NA
HIV/AIDS - deaths: NA
Nationality: noun: French Guianese (singular and plural); adjective: French Guianese
Ethnic groups: black or mulatto 66%, white 12%, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian 12%, other 10%
Religions: Roman Catholic
Languages: French
Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write; total population: 83%; male: 84%; female: 82% (1982 est.)
Government
Country name: conventional long form: Department of Guiana; conventional short form:
Dependency status: overseas department of
Government type: NA
Capital:
Administrative divisions: none (overseas department of
National holiday: Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)
Constitution:
Legal system: French legal system
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995), represented by Prefect Ange MANCINI (since 31 July 2002); head of government: President of the General Council Joseph HO-TEN-YOU (since 26 March 2001); President of the Regional Council Antoine KARAM (since 22 March 1992); cabinet: NA; elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; presidents of the General and Regional Councils are appointed by the members of those councils
Legislative branch: unicameral General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional Council or Conseil Regional (31 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms); elections: General Council - last held NA March 2000 (next to be held NA 2006); Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004); election results: General Council - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - PSG 5, various left-wing parties 5, independents 7, other 2; Regional Council - percent of vote by party - PS 28.28%, various left parties 22.56%, RPR 15.91%, independents 8.6%, Walwari Committee 6%; seats by party - PS 11, various left parties 9, RPR 6, independents 3, Walwari Committee 2; note: one seat was elected to the French Senate on 27 September 1998 (next to be held September 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - NA; 2 seats were elected to the French National Assembly on 9 June-16 June 2002 (next to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA%; seats by party - UMP/RPR 1, Walwari Committee 1
Judicial branch: Court of Appeals or Cour d'Appel (highest local court based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and
Economy
Economy - overview: The economy is tied closely to the much larger French economy through subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou (which accounts for 25% of GDP), fishing and forestry are the most important economic activities.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.551 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: NA%
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $8,300 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: NA%; industry: NA%; services: NA% (2001 est.)
Labor force: 58,800 (1997)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 18.2%, industry 21.2%, services, government, and commerce 60.6% (1980)
Unemployment rate: 22% (2001)
Population below poverty line: NA%
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: NA%; highest 10%: NA%
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.5% (2002 est.)
Budget: revenues: $225 million; expenditures: $390 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996)
Agriculture - products: corn, rice, manioc (tapioca), sugar, cocoa, vegetables, bananas; cattle, pigs, poultry
Industries: construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold mining
Industrial production growth rate: NA%
Electricity - production: 460.1 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - consumption: 427.9 million kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 6,500 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Exports: $155 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities: shrimp, timber, gold, rum, rosewood essence, clothing
Exports - partners:
Imports: $625 million c.i.f. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities: food (grains, processed meat), machinery and transport equipment, fuels and chemicals
Imports - partners:
Debt - external: $1.2 billion (1988)
Economic aid - recipient: NA
Currency (code): euro (EUR)
Exchange rates: Euros per US dollar - 0.8054 (2004), 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000)
Fiscal year: calendar year
Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 51,000 (2001)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 138,200 (2002)
Telephone system: general assessment: NA; domestic: fair open-wire and microwave radio relay system; international: country code - 594; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (
Radio broadcast stations: AM 2, FM 14 (including 6 repeaters), shortwave 6 (including 5
repeaters) (1998)
Television broadcast stations: 3 (plus eight low-power repeaters) (1997)
Internet country code: .gf
Internet users: 3,200 (2002)
Transportation
Highways: total: 817 km (1998)
Waterways: 3,760 km; note: 460 km navigable by small oceangoing vessels and coastal and river steamers, 3,300 km by native craft (2004)
Ports and harbors: Degrad des
Merchant marine: registered in other countries: 3
Airports: 11 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 4; over 3,047 m: 1; 914 to 1,523 m: 2; under 914 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 7; 914 to 1,523 m: 2; under 914 m: 5 (2004 est.)
Transnational Issues
Disputes - international:
Illicit drugs: small amount of marijuana grown for local consumption; minor transshipment point to
