 Definition  Field Listing  Rank
Order
|
Location: |
Northern
South America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Brazil
and Suriname |
|
Geographic coordinates: |
4 00 N, 53
00 W |
|
Map references: |
South
America |
|
Area: |
total:
91,000 sq km
land: 89,150 sq km
water: 1,850
sq km |
|
Area - comparative: |
slightly
smaller than Indiana |
|
Land boundaries: |
total: 1,183 km
border countries: Brazil 673
km, Suriname 510 km |
|
Coastline: |
378 km
|
|
Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic
zone: 200 nm |
|
Climate: |
tropical;
hot, humid; little seasonal temperature variation |
|
Terrain: |
low-lying
coastal plains rising to hills and small mountains |
|
Elevation extremes: |
lowest
point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Bellevue de
l'Inini 851 m |
|
Natural resources: |
bauxite,
timber, gold (widely scattered), petroleum, kaolin, fish, niobium,
tantalum, clay |
|
Land use: |
arable
land: 0.14%
permanent crops: 0.05%
other:
99.81% (90% forest, 10% other) (2001) |
|
Irrigated land: |
20 sq km
(1998 est.) |
|
Natural hazards: |
high
frequency of heavy showers and severe thunderstorms; flooding |
|
Environment - current issues: |
NA |
|
Geography - note: |
mostly an
unsettled wilderness; the only non-independent portion of the South
American continent Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
|
|
Population: |
191,309 (July
2004 est.) |
|
Age structure: |
0-14
years: 29.6% (male 28,959; female 27,657)
15-64
years: 64.5% (male 66,388; female 57,020)
65 years and
over: 5.9% (male 5,736; female 5,549) (2004 est.) |
|
Median age: |
total: 28.3 years
male: 29.4 years
female: 27.2 years (2004 est.) |
|
Population growth rate: |
2.25% (2004
est.) |
|
Birth rate: |
21
births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
|
Death rate: |
4.82
deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
|
Net migration rate: |
6.27
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
|
Sex ratio: |
at
birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05
male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.16 male(s)/female
65
years and over: 1.03 male(s)/female
total population:
1.12 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
|
Infant mortality rate: |
total:
12.46 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 13.3 deaths/1,000
live births
female: 11.58 deaths/1,000 live births (2004
est.) |
|
Life expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 76.89 years
male: 73.57 years
female: 80.38 years (2004 est.) |
|
Total fertility rate: |
3.05 children
born/woman (2004 est.) |
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: |
NA |
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: |
NA |
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths: |
NA |
|
Nationality: |
noun:
French Guianese (singular and plural)
adjective: French
Guianese |
|
Ethnic groups: |
black or
mulatto 66%, white 12%, East Indian, Chinese, Amerindian 12%, other
10% |
|
Religions: |
Roman
Catholic |
|
Languages: |
French
|
|
Literacy: |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83%
male: 84%
female: 82% (1982 est.) Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
|
|
Country name: |
conventional long form: Department of Guiana
conventional short form: French Guiana
local long
form: none
local short form: Guyane |
|
Dependency status: |
overseas
department of France |
|
Government type: |
NA |
|
Capital: |
Cayenne
|
|
Administrative divisions: |
none
(overseas department of France) |
|
Independence: |
none
(overseas department of France) |
|
National holiday: |
Bastille
Day, 14 July (1789) |
|
Constitution: |
28 September
1958 (French Constitution) |
|
Legal system: |
French legal
system |
|
Suffrage: |
18 years of
age; universal |
|
Executive branch: |
chief of
state: President Jacques CHIRAC of France (since 17 May 1995),
represented by Prefect Ange MANCINI (since 31 July 2002)
head
of government: President of the General Council Joseph
HO-TEN-YOU (since 26 March 2001); President of the Regional Council
Antoine KARAM (since 22 March 1992)
cabinet: NA
elections: French president elected by popular vote for a
five-year term; prefect appointed by the French president on the
advice of the French Ministry of Interior; presidents of the General
and Regional Councils are appointed by the members of those councils
|
|
Legislative branch: |
unicameral
General Council or Conseil General (19 seats; members are elected by
popular vote to serve six-year terms) and a unicameral Regional
Council or Conseil Regional (31 seats; members are elected by
popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: General
Council - last held NA March 2000 (next to be held NA 2006);
Regional Council - last held 15 March 1998 (next to be held NA 2004)
election results: General Council - percent of vote by
party - NA; seats by party - PSG 5, various left-wing parties 5,
independents 7, other 2; Regional Council - percent of vote by party
- PS 28.28%, various left parties 22.56%, RPR 15.91%, independents
8.6%, Walwari Committee 6%; seats by party - PS 11, various left
parties 9, RPR 6, independents 3, Walwari Committee 2
note: one seat was elected to the French Senate on 27
September 1998 (next to be held NA September 2007); results -
percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - NA; 2 seats were
elected to the French National Assembly on 9 June-16 June 2002 (next
to be held NA 2007); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats
by party - UMP/RPR 1, Walwari Committee 1 |
|
Judicial branch: |
Court of
Appeals or Cour d'Appel (highest local court based in Martinique
with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana)
|
|
Political parties and leaders: |
Guyanese
Democratic Action or ADG [Andre LECANTE]; Guyanese Socialist Party
or PSG [Marie-Claude VERDAN]; Guyana Democratic Forces or FDG
[Georges OTHILY]; Popular National Guyanese Party or PNPG [Jose
DORCY]; Socialist Party or PS [Paul DEBRIETTE]; Union for a Popular
Movement or UMP [Muriel ICARE]; Walwari Committee (aligned with the
PRG in France) [Christine TAUBIRA-DELANON] |
|
Political pressure groups and leaders: |
NA |
|
International organization participation: |
WCL, WFTU
|
|
Diplomatic representation in the US: |
none
(overseas department of France) |
|
Diplomatic representation from the US: |
none
(overseas department of France) |
|
Flag description: |
the flag of
France is used Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
|
|
Economy - overview: |
The economy
is tied closely to the larger French economy through subsidies and
imports. Besides the French space center at Kourou (which accounts
for 25% of GDP), fishing and forestry are the most important
economic activities. Forest and woodland cover 90% 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, particularly among
younger workers. |
|
GDP: |
purchasing
power parity - $1.551 billion (2003 est.) |
|
GDP - real growth rate: |
NA |
|
GDP - per capita: |
purchasing
power parity - $8,300 (2001 est.) |
|
GDP - composition by sector: |
agriculture: NA
industry: NA
services: NA (2001 est.) |
|
Population below poverty line: |
NA |
|
Household income or consumption by percentage
share: |
lowest
10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices): |
1.5% (2002
est.) |
|
Labor force: |
58,800 (1997)
|
|
Labor force - by occupation: |
agriculture
18.2%, industry 21.2%, services, government, and commerce 60.6%
(1980) |
|
Unemployment rate: |
22% (2001)
|
|
Budget: |
revenues: $225 million
expenditures: $390
million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1996)
|
|
Agriculture - products: |
corn, rice,
manioc (tapioca), sugar, cocoa, vegetables, bananas; cattle, pigs,
poultry |
|
Industries: |
construction, shrimp processing, forestry products, rum, gold
mining |
|
Industrial production growth rate: |
NA |
|
Electricity - production: |
455 million
kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - consumption: |
423.2 million
kWh (2001) |
|
Electricity - exports: |
0 kWh (2001)
|
|
Electricity - imports: |
0 kWh (2001)
|
|
Oil - production: |
0 bbl/day
(2001 est.) |
|
Oil - consumption: |
6,500 bbl/day
(2001 est.) |
|
Oil - exports: |
NA (2001)
|
|
Oil - imports: |
NA (2001)
|
|
Exports: |
$155 million
f.o.b. (2002 est.) |
|
Exports - commodities: |
shrimp,
timber, gold, rum, rosewood essence, clothing |
|
Exports - partners: |
France 62%,
Switzerland 7%, US 2% (2001) |
|
Imports: |
$625 million
c.i.f. (2002 est.) |
|
Imports - commodities: |
food
(grains, processed meat), machinery and transport equipment, fuels
and chemicals |
|
Imports - partners: |
France 63%,
US, Trinidad and Tobago, Italy (2002 est.) |
|
Debt - external: |
$1.2 billion
(1988) |
|
Economic aid - recipient: |
NA (1995)
|
|
Currency: |
euro (EUR)
|
|
Currency code: |
EUR |
|
Exchange rates: |
Euros per US
dollar - 0.886 (2003), 1.0626 (2002), 1.1175 (2001), 1.0854 (2000),
0.9386 (1999) |
|
Fiscal year: |
calendar
year Learn geography the easy way by playing ZL's Geographycards (www.geographycards.com)
|
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