• Population: 190,000
• Capital City: Cayenne (pop. 60,000)
• Time difference: -3 hours GMT
• Language: French

French Guiana, or Guyane, is not an independent nation, rather an overseas department of France. It is most famous for its former penal colony, which closed in 1947 but was immortalized in the film Papillon.

Geographically the country is a tangle of rainforest, and adventure tourism is one of the main attractions to the foreign visitor, access to the beaches being somewhat limited by mangrove swamps and the presence of sharks.

The abandoned penal colonies are now historical monuments in themselves, and visitors are drawn to the Iles de Salut (including Devil’s Island). The main island, Ile Royale, is reached by passenger ferry daily from Kourou - and is a evocative insight into the conditions the prisoners faced, since many of the cells can still be visited. There's a hotel, restaurant and an excellent small museum dedicated to le bagne (penal colony). Wildlife such as macaws and sea-turtles can be seen.

The capital Cayenne is hardly a city of cultural sophistication, but like the rest of the country is a melting pot of ethnic diversity; Kourou has a more European feel, and as a whole 40% of the population is creole mixed race, 40% immigrants 12% metropolitan French and the rest maroons (descendants of escaped slaves), and Amerindians.

French Guiana seldom hits the news - except is when there is activity at the European Space Station at Kourou. The space station visitors' centre is open except when the next launch of the Ariane rocket is imminent