French Guiana

American  

[gee-an-uh, gee-ah-nuh] / giˈæn ə, giˈɑ nə /

noun

1. an overseas department of France, on the NE coast of South America: formerly a French colony. 35,135 sq. mi. (91,000 sq. km). Cayenne.

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French Guiana British  

noun

1. a French overseas region in NE South America, on the Atlantic: colonized by the French in about 1637; tropical forests. Capital: Cayenne. Pop: 229 000 (2009 est). Area: about 91 000 sq km (23 000 sq miles)

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Other Word Forms

• French Guianan
  adjective
• French Guianese
  adjective

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

French Guiana

Nine of the 11 starters in France’s win over Morocco either immigrated to France or are the children of immigrants from Madagascar, Lebanon, French Guiana and Cameroon, Guinea-Bissau and elsewhere.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

The spacecraft achieved lift-off on a Vega-C rocket at 0352 GMT on Tuesday from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on the northeastern coast of South America.

From Barron's ● May 19, 2026

The satellite is due to be launched at 10:15 BST from ESA's Kourou station in French Guiana.

From BBC ● Apr. 28, 2025

The discovery was made through the DNA analysis of pollen attached to butterflies found in French Guiana in South America, that was found to have originated in Africa.

From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2024

The distance derived from measurements of the parallax of Mars carried out in 1671 by a French team using simultaneous observations by Jean Richer from Cayenne, in French Guiana, and Cassini from Paris.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin