French Guiana - Comité du Tourisme de la Guyane

general information . general information . general information . general information .
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A bit of history
Vincent Pinson discovered French Guiana in January 1500. Later, in 1624, colonisation began
in what is currently Cayenne.
The 17 th century saw the French, English and Dutch successively colonise the area, each one
motivated by the same desire: to find Eldorado.
The French settled down definitively in French Guiana at the end of the 18 th century after
attempts to populate the zone, the most well known being the Kourou expedition in 1763.
However, the Europeans’ inability to adapt to working in a tropical environment and the
impossibility to enslave the Amerindians led to the introduction of slavery in the colony.
The black populations refused enslavement in 1848. Later, during the second half of the
19 th century, gold and prison were the main “activities” in French Guiana. On 14 th March 1946,
French Guiana became a French Department.
In the 60s, thanks to the installation of a space launch centre in Kourou, French Guiana
opened up to new activities. history
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