a at market exchange rates was US$4.72 billion (€3.21 billion),[1] ranking as the largest economy in the Guianas, and the 11th largest in South America.[5] French Guiana is heavily dependent on mainland France for subsidies, trade, and goods. The main industries are fishing (accounting for three-quarters of foreign exports), gold mining and timber. In addition, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou accounts for 25% of the GDP and employs about 1,700 people. There is very little manufacturing. Agriculture is largely undeveloped and is mainly confined to the area near the coast — sugar and bananas are two of the main cash crops grown. Tourism, especially eco-tourism, is growing. Unemployment is a major problem, running at about 20% to 30%. In 2008 the GDP per capita of French Guiana at market exchange rates, not at PPP, was US$20,904 (€14,204),[1] the highest in South America,[5] but only 47% of Metropolitan France's average GDP per capita that year.[1] Regional GDP per capita, percentage of the EU27 average  1999   2000   2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2006   2007  French Guiana[6] 64 53 60 60 56 52 53 50 49 France[7] 115 115 116 116 112 110 111 109 108 Demographics Main article: Demographics of French Guiana French Guiana's population of 229,000 (January 2009 est.),[8] most of whom live along the coast, is very ethnically diverse. At the 1999 census, 54.4% of the inhabitants of French Guiana were born in French Guiana, 11.8% were born in Metropolitan France, 5.2% were born in the French Caribbean départements (Guadeloupe and Martinique), and 28.6% were born in foreign countries (primarily Brazil, Suriname, and Haiti).[9] Estimates of the percentages of French Guiana ethnic composition vary, a situation compounded by the large proportion of immigrants (about 20,000, nearly 10%). Creoles (people of mixed African and French ancestry) are the largest ethnic group, though estimates vary as to the exact percentage, depending upon whether the large Haitian community is included as well. Generally the Creole population is judged to be about 60% to 70% of the total population if Haitians (comprising roughly one-third of Creoles) are included, and 30% to 50% without. Roughly 14% of the population is of European ancestry. The vast majority of these are of French heritage, though there are also people of Dutch, British, Spanish and Portuguese ancestry . The main Asian communities are the Chinese (3.2%, primarily from Hong Kong and Zhejiang province) and Hmong from Laos (1.5%). There are also smaller groups from various Caribbean islands, mainly Saint Lucia as well as Dominica. Other Asian groups include East Indians, Lebanese and Vietnamese. The main groups living in the interior are the Maroons (formerly called "Bush Negroes") who are racially black African, and Amerindians. The Maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves, live primarily along the Maroni River. The main Maroon groups are the Saramaca, Aucan (both of whom also live in Suriname), and Boni (Aluku). The main Amerindian groups (forming about 3%-4% of the population) are the Arawak, Carib, Emerillon, Galibi (now called the Kaliña), Palikour, Wayampi and Wayana. As of late 1990s there was evidence of an uncontacted group of Wayampi. The dominant religion of French Guiana is Roman Catholicism; the Maroons and some Amerindian people maintain their own religions. The Hmong people are also mainly Catholic owing to the influence of missionaries who helped bring them to French Guiana.[10] Historical population 1790 estimate 1839 estimate 1857 estimate 1891 estimate 1946 census 1954 census 1961 census 1967 census 1974 census 1982 census 1990 census 1999 census 2007 census 2009 estimate 14,520 20,940 25,561 33,500 25,499 27,863 33,505 44,392 55,125 73,022 114,678 156,790 213,029 229,000 Official figures from past censuses and INSEE estimates. Fertility The total fertility rate in French Guiana has remained high and is today considerably higher than in Metropolitan France, and also higher than the average of the four French overseas departments. It is largely responsible for the high population growth of French Guiana. Total fertility rate  1999   2000   2001   2002   2003   2004   2005   2006   2007  French Guiana 3.87 3.93 3.79 3.73 3.77 3.47 3.79 3.80 3.71 Four overseas departments 2.32 2.45 2.42 2.35 2.38 2.40 2.46 2.48 2.50 Metropolitan France 1.79 1.87 1.88 1.86 1.87 1.90 1.92 1.98 1.96 Source: INSEE[11] Languages The official language of French Guiana is French, but a number of other local languages exist. Regional languages include French Guiana creole, six Amerindian languages (Arawak, Palikur, Kali'na, Wayana, Wayampi, Emerillon), four Maroon dialects (Saramaka, Paramaccan, Boni, Djuka), as well as Hmong Njua.[12] Other languages spoken include Portuguese, Hakka, Haitian Creole, Spanish, Dutch and English. Politics Main article: Politics of French Guiana French Guiana, as part of France, is part of the European Union, the largest landmass for an area outside of Europe (since Greenland left the European Community in 1985), with one of the longest EU external boundaries. Along with the Spanish enclaves in Africa of Ceuta and Melilla, it is one of only three European Union territories outside Europe that is not an island. As an integral part of France, its head of state is the President of the French Republic, and its head of Government is the Prime Minister of France. The French Government and its agencies have responsibility for a wide range of issues that are reserved to the National Executive, such as defense and external relations. 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. There are two legislative bodies: the 19-member General Council and the 34-member Regional Council, both elected. French Guiana sends two deputies to the French National Assembly, one representing the commune (municipality) of Cayenne and the commune of Macouria, and the other representing the rest of French Guiana. This latter constituency is the largest in the French Republic by land area. French Guiana also sends one senator to the French Senate. French Guiana has traditionally been conservative[clarification needed], though the Socialist Party has been increasingly successful in recent years. A chronic issue affecting French Guiana is the influx of illegal immigrants and clandestine gold prospectors from Brazil and Suriname. The border between the department and Suriname is formed by the Maroni River, which flows through rain forest and is difficult for the Gendarmerie and the French Foreign Legion to patrol. There have been several phases launched by the French government to combat illegal gold mining in French Guiana, beginning with Operation Anaconda beginning in 2003, followed by Operation Harpie in 2008, 2009 and Operation Harpie Reinforce in 2010. Colonel François Müller, the commander of French Guiana's gendarme believes these operations have been successful. However, after each operation ends, Brazilian miners, Garimpeiros, return.[13] Soon after Operation Harpie Reinforce began, an altercation took place between French authorities and Brazilian miners. On March 12, 2010 a team of French soldiers and border police were attacked while returning from a successful operation, during which "the soldiers had arrested 15 miners, confiscated three boats, and seized 617 grams of gold... currently worth about $22,317." Garimpeiros returned to retrieve the lost loot and colleagues. "The soldiers fired warning shots and rubber "flash balls" but the miners managed to retake one of their boats and about 500 grams of gold. “The violent reaction by the garimpeiros can be explained by the exceptional take of 617 grams of gold, about 20 percent of the quantity seized in 2009 during the battle against illegal mining,” said Phillipe Duporge , the director of French Guiana’s border police, at a press conference the next day."[14] Transport Main article: Transport in French Guiana Cayenne French Guiana's main international airport is Cayenne-Rochambeau Airport, located in the commune of Matoury, a southern suburb of Cayenne. There are three flights a day to Paris (Orly Airport), served by Air France, Air Caraïbes and CorsairFly. The flight time from Cayenne to Paris is 8 hours and 25 minutes, and from Paris to Cayenne it is 9 hours and 10 minutes. There are also flights to Fort-de-France, Pointe-à-Pitre, Port-au-Prince, Miami and Belém. French Guiana's main seaport is the port of Dégrad des Cannes, located on the estuary of the Mahury River, in the commune of Remire-Montjoly, a south-eastern suburb of Cayenne. Almost all of French Guiana's imports and exports pass through the port of Dégrad des Cannes. Built in 1969, it replaced the old harbour of Cayenne which was congested and couldn't cope with modern traffic. An asphalted road from Régina to Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock (a town by the Brazilian border) was opened in 2004, completing the road from Cayenne to the Brazilian border. It is now possible to drive on a fully paved road from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni on the Surinamese border to Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock on the Brazilian border. Following an international treaty between France and Brazil signed in July 2005, the Oyapock River Bridge over the Oyapock River (marking the border with Brazil) is currently being built and is due to open in 2010. This bridge will be the first land crossing ever opened between France and Brazil, and indeed between French Guiana and the rest of the world (there exists no other bridge crossing the Oyapock River, and no bridge crossing the Maroni River marking the border with Suriname - there is a ferry crossing to Albina, Suriname.). When the bridge is opened, it will be possible to drive uninterrupted from Cayenne to Macapá, the capital of the state of Amapá in Brazil. Notable natives and residents Tariq Abdul-Wahad, French professional basketball player Léon Bertrand, French politician Henri Charrière, escaped French convict, imprisoned in and around French Guiana from 1933 to 1941 Léon Damas, Francophone poet widely notated for his influence on the literary movement known as la négritude Jean-Claude Darcheville, football striker who joined Rangers from FC Girondins de Bordeaux in the summer of 2007 Alfred Dreyfus, French military officer unjustly imprisoned in French Guiana for espionage Félix Éboué, black French Guianan born colonial administrator Marc-Antoine Fortuné, football striker who plays for Celtic in Glasgow, Scotland Antoine Karam, Senator for French Guiana in the French Sénat Bernard Lama, former French international football player Florent Malouda, French international football player who plays for Chelsea Football Club Malia Metella, French swimmer, SC European Championships 2004: 1st 100m free Gaston Monnerville, French politician and lawyer Georges Patient, French politician Cyrille Regis, former West Bromwich Albion and England player Hector Riviérez, French politician Henri Salvador, famous singer, one of the inspiration sources for the Bossa nova movement Christiane Taubira, politician of Parti Radical de Gauche (France) See also France portal Geography portal Index of French Guiana-related articles List of colonial and departmental heads of French Guiana Notes ^ a b c d e "Rapport annuel 2009 IEDOM Guyane". IEDOM. http://www.iedom.fr/IMG/pdf/ra2009_guyane-.pdf. Retrieved 2010-08-12.  ^ Ben Lomond's Prisoner of Devil's Island. The Valley Post. ^ French Guiana. Encyclopædia Britannica. ^ "Average Conditions Cayenne, French Guiana". BBC Weather.  ^ a b IMF. "World Economic Outlook Database, April 2010". http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2010/01/weodata/weoselgr.aspx. Retrieved 2010-08-12.  ^ Eurostat. "Regional gross domestic product (PPS per inhabitant in % of the EU-27 average), by NUTS 2 regions". http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&language=en&pcode=tgs00006&plugin=1. Retrieved 2010-08-12.  ^ Eurostat. "GDP per capita in PPS". http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/tgm/table.do?tab=table&init=1&plugin=1&language=en&pcode=tsieb010. Retrieved 2010-08-12.  ^ (French) INSEE, Government of France. "Population des régions au 1er janvier". http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/tableau.asp?ref_id=CMRSOS02137. Retrieved 2010-08-12.  ^ (French) INSEE, Government of France. ""Migrations (caractéristiques démographiques selon le lieu de naissance)"". http://www.recensement.insee.fr/FR/ST_ANA/D9C/MIGTABMIG1DOMMIG1DOMAD9CFR.html. Retrieved 2007-05-04.  ^ Danny Palmerlee (2007). South America. Lonely Planet. ISBN 1-74104-443-X. http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN174104443X&id=zeUwp50DR9EC&pg=PA746&lpg=PA746&dq=%22French+Guiana%22+date:2000-2007&ie=ISO-8859-1&output=html&sig=Gmy65FICYCisCQwh8XgOF9h0rmo.  ^ (French) INSEE. "TABLEAU P3D - INDICATEURS GÉNÉRAUX DE LA POPULATION PAR DÉPARTEMENT ET RÉGION". http://www.insee.fr/fr/ppp/bases-de-donnees/irweb/sd2008/dd/excel/sd2008_p3d_fe.xls. Retrieved 2010-08-12.  ^ "Ethnologue report for French Guiana". Ethnologue. 2009. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=GF. Retrieved 22 September 2009.  ^ http://untoldstories.pulitzercenter.org/2010/04/french-guiana-interview-with-colonel-francois-muller-commander-of-the-gendarmes.html#more ^ http://untoldstories.pulitzercenter.org/2010/03/french-guiana-welcome-to-the-jungle.html#more References France's Overseas Frontier : Départements et territoires d'outre-mer Robert Aldrich and John Connell. Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN 0-521-03036-6 Dry guillotine: Fifteen years among the living dead René Belbenoit, 1938, Reprint: Berkley (1975). ISBN 0-425-02950-6 Hell on Trial René Belbenoit, 1940, Translated from the Original French Manuscript by Preston Rambo. E. P Dutton & Co. Reprint by Blue Ribbon Books, New York, 194 p. Reprint: Bantam Books, 1971 Papillon Henri Charrière Reprints: Hart-Davis Macgibbon Ltd. 1970. ISBN 0-246-63987-3 (hbk); Perennial, 2001. ISBN 0-06-093479-4 (sbk) Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana Peter Redfield. ISBN 0-520-21985-6 External links Find more about French Guiana on Wikipedia's sister projects: Definitions from Wiktionary Textbooks from Wikibooks Quotations from Wikiquote Source texts from Wikisource Images and media from Commons News stories from Wikinews Learning resources from Wikiversity Conseil régional de Guyane Official website (French) Préfecture de Guyane Official website (French) French Guiana at the Open Directory Project Wikimedia Atlas of French Guiana French Guiana travel guide from Wikitravel Consular Information Sheet from the United States Department of State Ethnologue French Guiana page Silvolab Guyanae - scientific interest group in French Guiana Article on separatism in French Guiana About.com French Guiana travel site Status of Forests in French Guiana Officials reports, thesis, scientific papers about French Guiana (en|fr) Training legionnaires to fight in French Guiana The IRD's database AUBLET2 stores information about botanical specimens collected in the Guianas, mainly in French Guiana Coordinates: 4°N 53°W? / ?4°N 53°W? / 4; -53 v • d • e Overseas departments and territories of France   Inhabited areas Overseas departments1 French Guiana · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Réunion Overseas collectivities French Polynesia · Mayotte2, 3 · St. Barthélemy · St. Martin · St. Pierre and Miquelon · Wallis and Futuna Special status New Caledonia   Uninhabited areas Pacific Ocean Clipperton Island French Southern and Antarctic Lands Île Amsterdam · Île Saint-Paul · Crozet Islands · Kerguelen Islands · Adélie Land Scattered islands in the Indian Ocean Banc du Geyser4 · Bassas da India4 · Europa Island4 · Glorioso Islands3, 4, 5 · Juan de Nova Island4 · Tromelin Island5, 6 1 Also known as overseas regions.  2 Overseas department by 2011  3 Claimed by Comoros.  4 Claimed by Madagascar.  5 Claimed by Seychelles.  6 Claimed by Mauritius. v • d • e Regions of France     Alsace Aquitaine Auvergne Burgundy Brittany Centre Champagne-Ardenne Corsica Franche-Comté Île-de-France Languedoc-Roussillon Limousin Lorraine Midi-Pyrénées Nord-Pas-de-Calais Lower Normandy Upper Normandy Pays de la Loire Picardy Poitou-Charentes Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Rhône-Alpes Overseas regions: French Guiana · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Réunion v • d • e Departments of France Ain · Aisne · Allier · Alpes-de-Haute-Provence · Hautes-Alpes · Alpes-Maritimes · Ardèche · Ardennes · Ariège · Aube · Aude · Aveyron · Bouches-du-Rhône · Calvados · Cantal · Charente · Charente-Maritime · Cher · Corrèze · Corse-du-Sud · Haute-Corse · Côte-d'Or · Côtes-d'Armor · Creuse · Dordogne · Doubs · Drôme · Eure · Eure-et-Loir · Finistère · Gard · Haute-Garonne · Gers · Gironde · Hérault · Ille-et-Vilaine · Indre · Indre-et-Loire · Isère · Jura · Landes · Loir-et-Cher · Loire · Haute-Loire · Loire-Atlantique · Loiret · Lot · Lot-et-Garonne · Lozère · Maine-et-Loire · Manche · Marne · Haute-Marne · Mayenne · Meurthe-et-Moselle · Meuse · Morbihan · Moselle · Nièvre · Nord · Oise · Orne · Pas-de-Calais · Puy-de-Dôme · Pyrénées-Atlantiques · Hautes-Pyrénées · Pyrénées-Orientales · Bas-Rhin · Haut-Rhin · Rhône · Haute-Saône · Saône-et-Loire · Sarthe · Savoie · Haute-Savoie · Paris · Seine-Maritime · Seine-et-Marne · Yvelines · Deux-Sèvres · Somme · Tarn · Tarn-et-Garonne · Var · Vaucluse · Vendée · Vienne · Haute-Vienne · Vosges · Yonne · Territoire de Belfort · Essonne · Hauts-de-Seine · Seine-Saint-Denis · Val-de-Marne · Val-d'Oise Overseas departments: French Guiana · Guadeloupe · Martinique · Réunion v • d • e Member states and observers of the Francophonie Members Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Belgium (French Community) · Benin · Bulgaria · Burkina Faso · Burundi · Cambodia · Cameroon · Canada (New Brunswick • Quebec) · Cape Verde · Central African Republic · Chad · Comoros · Cyprus1 · Democratic Republic of the Congo · Republic of the Congo · Côte d'Ivoire · Djibouti · Dominica · Egypt · Equatorial Guinea · France (French Guiana • Guadeloupe • Martinique • St. Pierre and Miquelon) · Gabon · Ghana1 · Greece · Guinea · Guinea-Bissau · Haiti · Laos · Luxembourg · Lebanon · Macedonia2 · Madagascar · Mali · Mauritania · Mauritius · Moldova · Monaco · Morocco · Niger · Romania