A stunning territory, despite being known for its ecological treasures and rich resources, is sparsely populated despite being surrounded by nations with tens of millions of people.
As the name suggests, French Guiana is a French-owned overseas territory, but it is almost ten thousand miles from its administrative nation.
The territory is 7,086 kilometres (4,403 miles) from France, far across the North Atlantic Ocean. It is nestled within Guyana, the South American nation that borders Venezuela and Brazil, two massive countries where each square kilometre is crammed full of people.
Despite their placement, French Guiana and its neighbour are both comparatively tiny, with just a few people scattered over tens of thousands of miles.
Roughly 30 people occupy each square kilometre of Venezuela, with 25 living in the same area of Brazil.
But just a third of that number live across French Guiana’s 84,000 square kilometre (52,195 square miles) area, according to population data, as the territory’s 294,071 residents are spread thinly on the ground.
The area’s population density has been estimated at just 3.6 people per square kilometre (9.3 per square mile) as of 2024.
Guyana’s density is a third of even that, dropping to 3.76 people per square kilometre.
Half of French Guiana’s populace – roughly 147,000 people – lives in Cayenne, the territorial capital, with the rest scattered across the remaining 83,986.4 kilometres (52,186 miles).
The vast majority of those remaining inhabitants live in aggressively forested land, with estimations that trees and vegetation make up 98.9 percent of the territory.
And 95 percent of that is, according to France, the world-famous Amazon rainforest, the largest of them all.
The rainforest and its local biodiversity are among the territory’s most attractive features, with unique wildlife like sea turtles and toucans making the area their home.
The territory even has a spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre, which has sent 500 rockets into orbit.
Despite its location and importance to France, French Guiana is not a country, being among 12 territories administered by the European nation.
