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Home  >  World  > South America  > French Guiana General Information Area: 83,534 sq km (32,253 sq miles). Population: 177,562 (official estimate 2001). Population Density: 2.1 per sq km. Capital: Cayenne. Population: 50,594 (1999). GEOGRAPHY: French Guiana is situated on the northeast coast of South America and is bordered by Brazil to the south and the east and by Surinam to the west. The southern Serra Tumucumaque Mountains are part of the eastern frontier, whilst the rest is formed by the River Oyapock. Surinam is to the west along the rivers Maroni-Itani and to the north is the Atlantic coastline. Along the coast runs a belt of flat marshy land behind which the land rises to higher slopes and plains or savannah. The interior is comprised of equatorial jungle. Off the rugged coast lie the Iles du Salut and Devil’s Island. Cayenne, the capital and chief port, is on the island of the same name at the mouth of the Cayenne River. Government: French Guiana is an Overseas Department of France and, as such, is an integral part of the French Republic. Head of State: President Jacques Chirac since 1995, represented locally by Prefect Henri Masse since 1999. Language: The official language is French, though most of the population speak a Creole patois. English is widely spoken. Religion: Roman Catholic. Time: GMT - 3. Electricity: 220/127 volts AC, 50Hz. Communications:   Telephone IDD available. Country code: 594. Outgoing international code: 00. Mobile telephone GSM 900 network is operated by France Caraïbe Mobiles, and covers coastal areas and some of the interior. Handsets can be hired locally. Fax Facilities are widely available. Internet Local ISPs include Wanadoo (Website: www.wanadoo.fr). There are Internet cafes in Cayenne. Press The daily newspapers include France-Guyane and La Presse de Guyane. There are no English-language newspapers. BBC World Service and Voice of America frequencies: From time to time these change. BBC (website: www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice): MHz 17.79 15.19 12.10 5.975 Voice of America (website: www.voa.gov): MHz 13.79 9.455 6.130 5.995 Copyright © 2003 Columbus Publishing Ltd. Terms and Conditions apply.