1982 Edition
CIA World Factbook 1982 (Wikisource)
Geography
Area
90,909 km2; 90% forested, 10% wasteland, built on, inland water and other, of which .05% is cultivated and pasture
Coastline
378 km
Land boundaries
1,183 km WATER
Limits of territorial waters (claimed)
12 nm (fishing 200 nm; economic zone 200 nm)
People and Society
Ethnic divisions
95% Negro or mulatto, 5% Caucasian, 10,000 East Indian, Chinese
Labor force
17,012 (1967 census); services 49%, construction 21%, agriculture 18%, industry 8%, transportation 4%; information on unemployment unavailable
Language
French
Literacy
73%
Nationality
noun—French Guianese (sing., pl.); adjective—French Guiana
Organized labor
7% of labor force
Population
69,000 (July 1982), annual growth rate 2.5%
Religion
predominantly Roman Catholic
Government
Branches
executive; prefect appointed by Paris; legislative: popularly elected 16-member General Council and a Regional Council composed of members of the local General Council and of the locally elected deputy and senator to the French parliament; judicial, under jurisdiction of French judicial system
Capital
Cayenne
Communists
Communist party membership negligible
Elections
General Council elections normally are held every five years; last election March 1978 Political parties and leaders: Guyanese Socialist Party (PSG), Raymond Tarcy (senator), Léopold Helder; Union of the Guyanese People (UPG), weak leftist party allied with, but also reported to have been absorbed by, the PSG; Rally for the Republic (RPR), Hector Rivierez
Government leader
Commissioner of the Republic Maxime GONZALVO
Legal system
French legal system; highest court is Court of Appeals based in Martinique with jurisdiction over Martinique, Guadeloupe, and French Guiana
Official name
Department of French Guiana
Political subdivisions
2 arrondissements, 19 communes each with a locally elected municipal council
Suffrage
universal over age 18
Type
overseas department and region of France; represented by one deputy in French National Assembly and one senator in French Senate; Deputy Elie Castor, Senator Raymond Tarcy
Economy
Agriculture
main crops—rice, corn, manioc, cocoa, bananas, sugarcane
Aid
economic—bilateral commitments, ODA and OOF (FY70-79), from Western (non-US) countries, $700 million, no military aid
Electric power
31,000 kW capacity (1981); 136 million kWh produced (1981), 1,705 kWh per capita
Exports
$7.2 million (1977); shrimp, timber, rum, rosewood essence
Fiscal year
calendar year
Fishing
catch 1,142 metric tons (1977)
GNP
$100 million (at market prices, 1975), $800 per capita
Imports
$143.4 million (1977); food (grains, processed meat), other consumer goods, producer goods, and petroleum
Major industries
timber, rum, gold mining, production of rosewood essence, and space center
Major trade partners
exports—78% US, 11% France, 5% Martinique; imports—49% France, 10% US, 3% Trinidad and Tobago (1969)
Monetary conversion rate
4.21 French francs=US$1 1980
Communications
Airfields
10 total, 10 usable; 2 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m
Civil air
no major transport aircraft
Highways
820 km total; 570 km paved, 250 km improved and unimproved earth
Inland waterways
460 km, navigable by small ocean-going vessels and river and coastal steamers; 3,300 km possibly navigable by native craft
Ports
1 major (Cayenne), 7 minor
Railroads
32 km private plantation line, 0.600-meter gauge
Telecommunications
limited open-wire and radio-relay system with about 13,700 telephones (22.1 per 100 popl.); 2 AM, 2 FM, and 2 TV stations; 1 Atlantic Ocean satellite station
Military and Security
Military manpower
males 15-49, 14,000; 9,000 fit for military service