French Guiana
Overseas department and region of France in South America
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| 2025 | The French Ministry of Justice announced plans to build a prison in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. |
| 2025 | A new European Ariane 6 rocket was successfully launched from Kourou, providing Europe independent access to space. |
| 2025 | An Engins de Débarquement Amphibie – Standards (EDA-S) landing craft is scheduled to be delivered to naval forces in French Guiana to support coastal and riverine operations. |
| 2025 | PLD Space is likely to be the first company to use the reactivated launch pad. |
| January 2025 | INSEE estimated the population of French Guiana at 292,354, over 10 times the population in 1954, though lower than previous population forecasts. |
| 2024 | Macron recognized Brazilian Indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire with the Legion of Honor medal for rainforest conservation efforts. |
| 2024 |
President Macron visited French Guiana to commemorate French special forces major Arnaud Blanc who died during an operation against illegal gold mining in Maripasoula. He also visited the Guiana Space Centre and met with local officials.
French President Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with National Gendarmerie Director-General Christian Rodriguez during a ceremony in tribute to French GIGN gendarme Marechal des Logis-Chef Arnaud Blanc, who was killed in an operation against illegal gold mining in French Guiana, at the French National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN) base of Versailles-Satory in Versailles, west of Paris, Friday March 31, 2023.(Ludovic Marin, Pool via AP Stock Photo - Alamy
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www.rfi.fr
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| September 2024 | MaiaSpace was selected to use the launch pad for their Maia rocket, with plans to invest tens of millions of euros and aim for an inaugural launch in late 2025. |
| July 9 2024 | First flight of the Ariane 6 was conducted from the ELA-4 launch facility. |
| April 2024 | CNES issued a call to take over the launch pad. |
| 2023 | Riots broke out following the death of Nahel M in a Paris suburb, resulting in the death of a government worker from a mosquito control office. |
| August 21 2023 | Antoine Poussier becomes the latest Prefect of French Guiana, succeeding Thierry Queffelec. |
| July 5 2023 | ELA-3 facility ceases active operations after 27 years of launching Ariane 5 rockets. |
| 2022 | The Maritime Gendarmerie deployed the patrol boat Charente to replace the previous boat Mahury, which was no longer considered serviceable. |
| October 2022 | Saint-Georges became one of the three sub-prefectures of French Guiana and was designated as the seat of the Arrondissement of Saint-Georges. |
| June 2022 | National Assembly elections held in French Guiana, with Jean-Victor Castor (Decolonization and Social Emancipation Movement) and Davy Rimane (La France Insoumise) elected as deputies. |
| February 26 2022 | Roscosmos suspended operations at ELS launch site in response to international sanctions during the Russo-Ukrainian War. |
| 2021 | Gabriel Serville was elected as president of the Assembly of French Guiana, beginning a six-year term. |
| 2021 | An INSEE report revealed that 37% of individuals aged 21 to 29 leave the region to pursue education or employment opportunities abroad. |
| 2021 | Gabriel Serville became the President of the Guianese Assembly. |
| 2021 | Construction began on a combined power plant featuring 55 MW solar capacity, 3 MW hydrogen fuel cell, 20 MW/38 MWh battery, and 16 MW hydrogen electrolyser with 88 MWh storage, representing a significant infrastructure development in French Guiana's energy sector. |
| 2021 | Tour of Guiana was again canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 2021 | A census was conducted in French Guiana, documenting population statistics for major metropolitan areas including Cayenne (151,103 residents), Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni (50,250 residents), and Kourou (27,442 residents). |
| September 28 2021 | The new ELA-4 launch facility was officially inaugurated. |
| 2020 | Tour of Guiana could not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| 2020 | Marie-Laure Phinéra-Horth became the first woman to be elected to the French Guiana Senate. |
| 2020 | French Guiana experiences a moderate recession of -2.7% due to the COVID-19 pandemic. |
| November 25 2020 | Thierry Queffelec begins his term as Prefect of French Guiana. |
| June 2020 | By the end of June, more than 1% of French Guianese tested positive for COVID-19. |
| 2019 | Recorded highest fertility rate in Latin America at 27.3 births per 1,000 people, with an average of 3.63 children per woman. |
| 2019 | The South American Classification Committee (SACC) reclassified royal flycatchers from the tyrant flycatcher family to their own distinct family, Onychorhynchidae. |
| 2019 | Census data shows an increase in immigrant population to 30.5%, with ongoing migration from Syria, Cuba, Yemen, and Palestine seeking refuge in French Guiana as a gateway to Europe. |
| 2019 | A census was conducted in French Guiana revealing the demographic composition, including that 56.5% of inhabitants were born in French Guiana, 8.9% in Metropolitan France, 2.8% in French Caribbean departments, and 31.5% in foreign countries. |
| 2019 | Unemployment declines to 19.3%, and the GDP per capita at market exchange rates is US$17,375, which is 42.3% of metropolitan France's average. |
| 2019 | Civil engineering works on the flame trench and other buildings at ELA-4 launch site were completed. |
| 2019 | Launch pad reactivation began, with plans to rename it ELM (Ensemble de Lancement Multilanceurs) to support multiple microlauncher companies. |
| August 5 2019 | Martin Jaeger concludes his term as Prefect of French Guiana. |
| 2018 | Storm-petrel family Oceanitidae was taxonomically separated from the Hydrobatidae family, marking a significant change in bird classification. |
| 2018 | The total fertility rate settled at 3.82, maintaining a significantly higher reproductive rate compared to metropolitan France's 1.84. |
| 2017 | French Guiana experienced a fertility rate peak at 3.93, highlighting the continued high population growth trend. |
| 2017 | Significant social unrest occurred, leading to an economic recession in 2018 and triggering increased emigration of young people to Metropolitan France. |
| 2017 | Social unrest occurs, leading to almost no economic growth for the year. |
| May 2017 | Delayed satellites from the March protests were finally launched after negotiations between French government and Guianese protesters. |
| April 24 2017 | The Guiana Space Centre resumed operations after the French government authorized an emergency relief plan of up to 2.1 billion euros. |
| April 4 2017 | The Guiana Space Centre was occupied by 30 labour unions and indigenous peoples leaders during social unrest in French Guiana. |
| March 2017 | Strikes and protests began in March, highlighting infrastructural issues and social inequities in French Guiana, involving 30 labour unions and spreading across the country. |
| March 21 2017 | An Ariane 5 rocket launch carrying a Brazilian and South Korean satellite was prevented due to strikes and protests by local workers and the Collective of 500 Brothers blocking the Guiana Space Centre. |
| 2016 | The Assembly of French Guiana was established, replacing the previous General Council and Regional Council administrative structures. |
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This contents of the box above is based on material from the Wikipedia articles Politics of French Guiana, List of colonial and departmental heads of French Guiana, Assembly of French Guiana, Saint-Georges, French Guiana, Guiana Space Centre, Economy of French Guiana, University of the French Antilles, French Guiana & List of birds of French Guiana, which are released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.