French Guiana

We hope you will enjoy it !

Atlantic Ocean

French Guiana

Brazil

Suriname

Some important cities in Guiana

St Laurent

Aerial view of the Kourou Spaceport

« Together and in color ! »

They are the first occupants of the country :

→ The Galibis and the Arawaks live near Saint-Laurent ;

→ The Palikours live near Saint-Georges , they adapted themselves to the

occidental lifestyle ; → The Tekos or Emerillons ,the Wayanas

and the Wayampis live in the south. In theory this place is protected to prevent

any illegal activities ( by gold mining ,destruction of the

environment ,pollution ,etc. ... ).

The Amerindians

Amerindian chiefs of Wayampis

An amerindian woman paintinga « sky on the roof » ( = Ciel de

case )

Another « ciel de case »

The Bushinenge are the descendants of the Africans who settled in the

Surinamese inland on the Maroni River to escape slavery.

They are : the Bonis ( or Alukus ) along the Maroni river mostly ; the Djukas in

Grand-Santi ,also on the Maroni river ; the Paramacas and the Saramacas.

Their language is a blend of English ,Hollandese and Portuguese.

The Bushinenge

Their Tembe art

It’s the « Bush people »’s heritage : it was the only way to communicate in the Surinam

plantations. The different colors and shapes had a meaning.

It is a very colorful and geometric art. A Tembe

can be a painting or a sculpture.

The men used to offer a tembe sculpture to ask their lover in marriage.

A paddle

Sculptures

A tembe painting

A sculpted stool

Sculpted traymeal

A canoe

Sculpted chair

The Creoles are the local descendants of African slaves. The slaves worked in plantations and used to grow sugar

cane ,spices ,chocolate ,coffee beans ...

Between the XVIII and the XIX century ,the Creole language appears. It

is French blended with English ,Spanish ,Dutch and a little bit of

Portuguese.

The Creole people

Painting of Creole’s people in the market

Group singing in creole during a concert

Kids wearing madras

Since the XVII century ,Guiana is colonised by the French. They used the

African slaves they brought in with them to grow sugar ,spices ,chocolate and coffee until slavery was definetely

abolished in 1848. The abolition caused the economy to slow ,but not to stop :

Guiana was still French and still growing.

In 1945 ,the territory became a French department ,the « 97.3 ».

In 1973 ,the Kourou Space Center was created ,it’s known for its rockets

named Ariane.

The Europeans

Expelled from Laos in 1977 ,they are today about a thousand people ( 500 on arrival ). They are divided into four villages they have built themselves :

Cacao ,Javouhey ,Rococoua and Corrossony.

The H’mong

H’mong’s traditional dance

H’mong with their different clothes

Their costumes seen close

This minority is mostly composed of immigrants from the surrounding

countries and Islands :→

Chinese ,Brazilians ,Haïtians ,Lebanese ,Guyanese ( from English

Guyana ) ,Dominicans ,Surinamese ,Peruvian ,etc …

The rest of the population

Chinese parade during the Carnival

Brazilians marching through the streets to celebrate a victory ( football

world cup 2002 )

Haïtians kids showing their gifts

THE GASTRONOMY OF FRENCH GUIANA

The Broth Awara

The red beans with quackcolombo

fritters

• Banana comes from the banana tree, a tropical plant. There are two types of bananas : sweet banana and plantain banana, less sweet, which is cooked before be eating. Bananas are picked up again green, and finish grew up after picking up.

BANANA

• Mango comes from the mango tree which is a big tree.The fruit is fleshy, oval and is about from 5 to 15 cm. Mango is green, yellow and red colors. The flesh is sweet, appreciated and delicious. YUMMY ;)

Mango

• Papaya is comes from papaya tree. It is a generous delicious bay rich in flavor which can reach 1 kg. In maturity, papayas are green yellow, with an orange juicy flesh.

PAPAYA

Plum of Cythera• Plum of Cythera has an oval form and

become yelow-orange at maturity. • The plum of Cythera tree is a little tree who

grew up in equatorial zones. Before maturity, plum of cythera is used against the diseases and against the troubles of intestines.

Pineapple• The pineapple is a tropical fruit covered with orange

scales, leafy in its summit, very appreciated for its yellow and sweet flesh.

Passion fruitPassion fruit is called Maragudja too.

It’s comes from a beauiful, sauvage plain who results from tropical zones of the world, Passiflore.

Guava

The guava is the fruit of the guava. She can consume in juice, in fruit, in jam and in sherbet. It is a medicinal plant strong in vitamin C, used against the diarrhea Its relatively plentiful organic acids confer him an a little acidulated flavor and very freshly.

Guava

Ramboutan

• In Guyana, you can find the ramboutan in the mong village.

Citrus fruits

• In french Guyana, there are many types of citrus fruits. There are:

Orange

Satsuma

Grapefruits

Lemon