.gf French Guianese Domain Country Information - .gf French Guiana Country Information

.gf French Guiana Country Information

French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations: Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west. Its 83,534 km2 (32,253 sq mi) have a very low population density of less than 3 /km2 (7.8 /sq mi), with almost half of its 229,000 people in 2009 living in the urban area of Cayenne, its capital.

The addition of the adjective "French" in English comes from colonial times when five such colonies existed (The Guianas), namely from west to east: Spanish Guiana (now Guayana Region in Venezuela), British Guiana (now Guyana), Dutch Guiana (now Suriname), French Guiana, and Portuguese Guiana (now Amapá, a state in far northern Brazil). French Guiana and the two larger countries to the north and west, Guyana and Suriname, are still often collectively referred to as the Guianas and comprise one large shield landmass.

A large part of the department's economy derives from the presence of the near-equatorial Guiana Space Centre, the European Space Agency's primary launch site.

Though sharing cultural affinities with the French-speaking territories of the Caribbean, French Guiana is often not considered to be part of that geographic region, because the Caribbean Sea is located several hundred kilometres to the west, beyond the arc of the Lesser Antilles. However, the boundaries of what people have defined as the Caribbean have changed over time. Historically, the boundaries of the Caribbean were at their greatest extent during the 17th and 18th centuries and as such French Guiana was situated on the edge and during some periods may have been thought to be part of the Caribbean proper.

French Guiana lies between latitudes 2° and 6° N, and longitudes 51° and 53° W. It consists of two main geographical regions: a coastal strip where the majority of the people live, and dense, near-inaccessible rainforest which gradually rises to the modest peaks of the Tumac-Humac mountains along the Brazilian frontier. French Guiana's highest peak is Bellevue de l'Inini in Maripasoula (851 m (2,792 ft)). Other mountains include Mont Machalou (782 m (2,566 ft)), Pic Coudreau (711 m (2,333 ft)) and Mont St Marcel (635 m (2,083 ft)), Mont Favard (200 m (660 ft)) and Montagne du Mahury (156 m (512 ft)). Several small islands are found off the coast, the three Îles du Salut Salvation Islands which include Devil's Island and the isolated Îles du Connétable bird sanctuary further along the coast towards Brazil.