French Guiana Travel Guide

French Guiana — Country and Tourist Information

Browse the French Guiana Photo Gallery

Country Facts

Location: South America, northeast coast.
Language: The official language is French, though most of the population speak a Creole patois. English is also widely spoken.
Area: 83,534 sq km (32,253 sq miles).
Time Zone: GMT - 3.
Electricity: 220/127 volts AC, 50Hz.
Population: 187,200 (2006).
Population Density: 2.2 per sq km.
Capital City: Cayenne.
Government: French Guiana is an Overseas Department of France and, as such, is an integral part of the French Republic.
Head of State: President Nicolas Sarkozy since 2007.
Religion: Roman Catholic majority, although there are other Christian churches.

Recent History

French Guiana has held French Overseas Department Status since 1946. Since a series of reforms introduced under the Mitterand government in 1982-83, local affairs have been dealt with by the Regional Council. Antoine Karam, the president of the Regional Council since March 1992, is French Guiana's single representative in the French Senate.

Karam is a member of the Parti Socialiste Guyanais (PSG), which has long been the strongest political party and is allied to its French namesake. The other major parties are the Forces Démocratiques Guyanaises (FDG), allied with the Walwaries, and the center-right Union pour un Mouvement Populaire (UMP), incorporating the old Rassemblement pour la République (RPR). The PSG is the largest party on the Regional Council following the most recent election in March 2004 in which it gained 17 of the 31 seats. (The FDG-Walwaries and UMP won seven seats each.)

The domestic political agenda has been generally dominated by repeated complaints over the territory's relatively poor social and economic conditions compared to those in France. The alternatives to being an integral part of the French state are self-government and independence. However, enthusiasm for either is lacking and the small independence movement has made little headway in recent years. Paris has also made it clear that it will not countenance any change in French Guiana's status for the time being.

Communications

Telephone

Country Code: .

Mobile Telephone

Roaming agreements exist with most international mobile phone operators. Coverage is limited to main towns. Handsets can be hired locally.

Internet

There are Internet cafes in Cayenne, Kourou, Saint Laurent. Libraries also provide access.

Media

There are no English-language newspapers. The daily newspapers include France-Guyane and La Presse de Guyane. Radio Guyane is operated by Réseau France Outre-mer; Radio Caraïbes International is a commercial station. The public TV channel Télé Guyane is operated by Réseau France Outre-mer; other channels include the commercial Antenne Créole Guyane and pay-TV Canal+ Guyane.

Post

Postal services are reliable in Cayenne (where the central post office is located on route Baduel); post takes around seven days to reach western Europe.(In Cayenne) Mon-Fri 0700-1800.

Public Holidays

Below are listed Public holidays for the January 2011-December 2012 period:
2010
25 Dec Christmas Day

2011
1 Jan New Year’s Day
8 Mar *Mardi Gras
9 Mar Ash Wednesday
25 Apr Easter Monday
1 May Labor Day
8 May VE Day
2 Jun Ascension
10 Jun Abolition of Slavery
13 Jun Whit Monday
14 Jul Bastille Day
15 Aug Assumption
15 Oct *Cayenne Festival
1 Nov All Saints’ Day
2 Nov All Souls’ Day
11 Nov Remembrance Day
25 Dec Christmas Day

2012
1 Jan New Year’s Day
15 Feb *Mardi Gras
22 Feb Ash Wednesday
9 Apr Easter Monday
1 May Labor Day
8 May VE Day
28 May Whit Monday
2 Jun Ascension
10 Jun Abolition of Slavery
14 Jul Bastille Day
15 Aug Assumption
15 Oct *Cayenne Festival
1 Nov All Saints’ Day
2 Nov All Souls’ Day
11 Nov Remembrance Day
25 Dec Christmas Day
* Regional.

Contact Information

Diplomatic Representation

French Guiana is an Overseas Department of the Republic of France, and is represented abroad by French Embassies – see France section.

Comité du Tourisme de la Guyane (Guiana Tourism Committee)

Street address: 12 rue Lallouette, 97338 Cayenne Cédex, French Guiana
Postal address: BP 801, Cayenne, French Guiana
Tel: (594) 296 500.
Website: www.tourisme-guyane.com

French Consulate General in the UK

21 Cromwell Road, London SW7 2EN, UK
Visa section: 6A Cromwell Place, London SW7 2EW, UK
Tel: (020) 7073 1200 (consular section) or 1250 (visa section) or 1295 (visa applications in progress; 1500-1700 only) or 09065 508 940 (visa information service; calls cost £1 per minute) or 266 654 (24-hour visa application form request service; calls cost £1.50 per minute) or 540 700 (24-hour automated visa appointment booking service).
Website: www.consulfrance-londres.org
Opening hours: Mon-Thurs 0845-1200 and Fri 0845-1130.