A bit of France in South America: Facts about French Guiana

In this video you can find seven little known facts about French Guiana. Keep watching and subscribe, as more French territories will follow!

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1. French Guiana, which is located in South America, is actually an overseas region that is overseen by France. French is the official language of the region, which is home to 240,000 people, and the official currency is the Euro. About 100,000 people visit this region every year.

2. French Guiana was originally awarded to France in 1667 thanks to the Treat of Breda. From 1852 until 1939, however, the French actually used this territory as a penal colony. There have been occasional votes for independence over the centuries, but because of the large amount of subsidies that come into this region, the highest vote total for independence has been just 5%.

3. Cayenne is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Ignored by Spanish explorers, who found the region too hot and poor to be claimed, the region was not colonized until 1604, when a French settlement was founded. However, it was soon destroyed by the Portuguese, who were determined to enforce the provisions of the Treaty of Tordesillas. French colonists returned in 1643 and founded Cayenne, but they were forced to leave once more following Amerindian attacks. In 1664, France finally succeeded at establishing a permanent settlement at Cayenne. Over the next decade the colony changed hands between the French, Dutch, and English, before being restored to France. It was captured by an Anglo-Portuguese force at the invasion of Cayenne in 1809 and administered from Brazil until 1814, when it was returned to French control. It was used as a French penal colony from 1854 to 1938.

4. French Guiana also serves as the primary location for France’s space activities. The Guiana Space Center sees several launches every year and has been operational since 1968. What makes this location unique is that it is so close to the equator that the planet actually gives launched rockets extra velocity due to its rotation. The European Space Agency shares the facility and pays for 67% of its annual budget.

5. French Guiana is home to many different ecosystems: tropical rainforests, coastal mangroves, savannahs, inselbergs and many types of wetlands. French Guiana has a high level of biodiversity in terms of both flora and fauna. This is due to the presence of old-growth forests (i.e., ancient/primary forests), which are biodiversity hotspots.

6. French Guiana has some of the poorest soils in the world. The soil is low in nutrients (e.g., nitrogen, potassium) and organic matter. Soil acidity is another cause of the poor soils, and it requires farmers to add lime to their fields. All of these soil characteristics have led to the use of slash and burn agriculture. The resulting ashes elevate soil pH (i.e., lower soil acidity), and contribute minerals and other nutrients to the soil. Sites of Terra preta (anthropogenic soils) have been discovered in French Guiana, particularly near the border with Brazil. Research is being actively pursued in multiple fields to determine how these enriched soils were historically created, and how this can be done in modern times.

7. In 2016, the GDP of French Guiana at market exchange rates was US$4.86 billion (€4.39 billion), ranking as the largest economy in the Guianas, and the 11th largest in South America.

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Teknoaxe – Post Mortem Cosmonaut

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Pushed to Insanity

[noefillon]

I don't understand why you say that the sea is plagued with sharks. I swim in it very often and I never heared about sharks attacks. I know there are some but they don't attack us at all.

The main problems with the sea are the colour (brown or grey) which is more a psychological problem than a real problem and the grount which is slimmy especially at the low tide.

There are also a lot of people that don't know how to swim and that drown in the sea because there is nobody to watch the beaches. So please people be careful but sharks are not a problem.

[stsshornet]

thank you very much for talking about my country 🇬🇫 😘 kiss from French Guiana

[bukelwafakudze]

I love their culture and their creole language.

[michaelgusovsky]

An inselberg is an isolated hill, knob, ridge, outcrop, or small mountain that rises abruptly from a gently sloping or virtually level surrounding plain.

[tattylashes]

Why dont the French have any input it the lives and living conditions of their territory ?

[MyMysiaPysia]

You forgot to say that French guiana is in asphalt 8

[rbfx]

"Did away with 10, 000 Indians"?

[QarsherskiyCooking]

When he says the French "did away with thousands of" native Americans what does he mean by that? Please tell me they got to live.

[sealife]

Can someone please tell me what

mo bon kè zot means

[androsRoccha]

I’ve been looking for a good video about the topic but all are too boring to watch ! Pity!

[fral-homosexualrebel]

It is time for the French ultra-sea department, French Guiana, to become independent from France already. The Guayanese people must rise up and become a free, autonomous and independent country now.

Il est temps que le département français d'ultra-mer, la Guyane Française, devienne déjà indépendant de la France. Le peuple guyanais doit se lever et devenir un pays libre, autonome et indépendant maintenant.

[ericalcazar]

I wish that French Guiana will speak Spanish as their official language just like the other Spanish speaking nations in South America

[aguiarpma]

Pauvre Guyane, dernière colonie d'Amérique du Sud déguisée en État, en ce milieu de XXIe siècle, une pauvreté seulement...