The département of Guiana or French Guiana (French Guyane), is an overseas département (département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France, located on the Caribbean coast of South America.
First settled by the French in 1604, French Guiana was the site of notorious penal settlements (see Devil's Island) until 1951. The European Space Agency launches its satellites from Centre Spatial Guyanais, Kourou.
The capital is Cayenne.
As part of France, French Guiana is part of the European Union, the largest part (in area) outside Europe and the only part outside Europe that is not an island.
From the CIA World Factbook 2000. Not Wikified.
