South America, northeast coast.

GMT - 3.

83,534 sq km (32,253 sq miles).

178,000 (2005 estimate).

2.1 per sq km.

Cayenne. Population: 50,594 (1999).

French Guiana is situated on the northeast coast of South America and is bordered by Brazil to the south and the east and by Surinam to the west. The southern Serra Tumucumaque Mountains are part of the eastern frontier, whilst the rest is formed by the River Oyapock. Surinam is to the west along the rivers Maroni-Itani and to the north is the Atlantic coastline. Along the coast runs a belt of flat marshy land behind which the land rises to higher slopes and plains or savannah. The interior is comprised of equatorial jungle. Off the rugged coast lie the Iles du Salut and Devil’s Island. Cayenne, the capital and chief port, is on the island of the same name at the mouth of the Cayenne River.

French Guiana is an Overseas Department of France and, as such, is an integral part of the French Republic.

President Nicolas Sarkozy since 2007, represented locally by Prefect Ange Mancini since 2002.

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 centre-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.

The official language is French, though most of the population speak a Creole patois. English is also widely spoken.

Roman Catholic majority, although there are other Christian churches.

220/127 volts AC, 50Hz.

Conservative casual wear is suitable almost everywhere. On beaches, modest beachwear is preferred.