Country Facts - French Guiana

The People

Ethnic Composition

Black or Mulatto	66%
White	12%
East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian	12%
Other	10%

Religious Composition

Roman Catholic	98%
Other	2%

Languages Spoken

French is the official language and most widely spoken. Other minority dialects are spoken.

Education and Literacy

Eighty-three percent of the population over the age of 15 can read. By gender, 84 percent of the male population, and 82 percent of the female population are literate.

Labor Force

Total: 58,800

By occupation:

Government, Services and Commerce	60.6%
Industry	21.2%
Agriculture	18.2%

Geography

Land Mass Total

35,135 sq mi (91,000 sq km)

Land

34,421 sq mi (89,150 sq km)

Water

714 sq mi (1,850 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 735 mi (1,183 km)

Border countries: Brazil 418 mi (673 km), Suriname 316 mi (510 km)

Coastline

234 mi (378 km)

Maritime claim

Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Climate/Weather

Tropical; hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation.

Terrain

Low-lying coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Atlantic Ocean 0 ft (0 m)
Highest: Bellevue de l'Inini 2,791 ft (851 m)

Natural Resources

Bauxite, timber, gold (widely scattered), cinnabar, kaolin, fish.

Land use

Arable land	0%
Permanent crops	0%
Forest	90%
Other	10%

(1998)

Natural hazards

High frequency of heavy showers and severe thunderstorms; flooding.

Geography Note

Mostly an unsettled wilderness. French Guiana is the only non-independent portion of the South American continent.

Demographics

Population

182,333 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	30.2%	Male: 28,140	Female: 26,876
15-64 years:	64.2%	Male: 63,183	Female: 53,902
65 years and over:	5.6%	Male: 5,192	Female: 5,040

Growth Rate

2.57% (2002)

Life Expectancy

76.49 years
female: 79.99 years
male: 73.16 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$6,000 (1998)

Infant Mortality

13.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.17 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	1.03 male(s)/female
Total population:	1.13 male(s)/female

Net migration rate

8.78 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

The economy is tied closely to the French economy through subsidies and imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou, fishing and forestry are the most important economic activities. Forest and woodland cover 90 percent of the country. The large reserves of tropical hardwoods, not fully exploited, support an expanding sawmill industry that provides sawn logs for export. Cultivation of crops is limited to the coastal area, where the population is largely concentrated; rice and manioc are the major crops. French Guiana is heavily dependent on imports of food and energy. Unemployment is a serious problem (over 20 percent), particularly among younger workers. French Guiana is still a "colony" in the 19th-century style and its economy is wholly dependent on France. Growth and inflation statistics are highly inaccurate since local officials see little need in compiling such data.

Unemployment

21.4% (1998)

Inflation Rate

2.5% (1992)

Industries

Construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold mining.

Exports

US$155 million (f.o.b., 1997)

Imports

US$625 million (c.i.f., 1997)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$1 billion (1998)

Top Export Partners

France 62%, Switzerland 7%, US 2% (1997)

Top Import Partners

France 52%, US 14%, Trinidad and Tobago 6% (1997)

Top Exports

Shrimp, timber, gold, rum, rosewood essence, clothing.

Top Imports

Food (grains, processed meat), machinery and transport equipment, fuels and chemicals.

Debt - external

US$1.2 billion (1988)

Fiscal Year:

Calendar year

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	8a.m. to 12:30p.m. and 3p.m. to 6p.m.	Closed
Retail	9a.m. to 1p.m. and 4p.m. to 6p.m.	Saturday 9a.m. to 1p.m. and 4p.m. to 6p.m.
Banks	7:30a.m. to 11:30a.m. and 3p.m. to 5p.m.	Closed
Government	7a.m. to 1p.m. and 3p.m. to 6p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
New Year's Day	January 1	January 1	January 1
Carnival¹	March 4	February 24	February 5 to 8
Easter²	April 20	April 11	March 27
Easter Monday	April 21	April 12	March 28
Labor Day	May 1	May1	May 1
Victory Day (Fete de la Victoire) 1945	May 8	May 8	May 8
Ascension³	May 29	May 20	May 6
Whit Sunday (Pentecost)*¹	June 8	May 30	May 15
Whit Monday	June 9	May 31	May 16
Abolition of Slavery	June 10	June 10	June 10
Bastille Day	July 14	July 14	July 14
Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary	August 15	August 15	August 15
Cayenne Festival	October 15	October 15	October 15
All Saints Day	November 1 and 2	November 1 and 2	November 1 and 2
Armistice Day	November 11	November 11	November 11
Christmas Day*²	December 25	December 25	December 25

¹	Carnival takes place one week before the beginning of Lent. Mainly a Catholic observance.
²	Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is the first Sunday after the full moon and the vernal equinox (fixed in the Gregorian calendar at March 21), and often observed with Good Friday and Easter Monday. In the West, Easter is predicted using the Gregorian calendar, while Eastern Orthodox Christians use the much older Julian calendar, and celebrate 13 days later.
³	The feast of Ascension takes place 40 days after Easter in both the Christian and Orthodox faiths and celebrates the ascent of Christ into Heaven.
*¹	The Christian feast of Pentecost, Whit Sunday or Whit Monday takes place 50 days after Easter, in observation of the day God came to the disciples through the Holy Ghost.
*²	Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. In A.D.320, Pope Julius I fixed the date at December 25 based on the Gregorian calendar. The Orthodox church calculates Christmas using the Julian calendar and celebrates 13 days later on January 7.

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press