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- This article is about the city in French Guiana. For other uses, see Cayenne pepper, Porsche Cayenne and Cayenne Garamonde. Cayenne is also the name of an early Beatles instrumental song.
Commune of Cayenne
Town hall of Cayenne |
| Administration |
| Country |
France |
| Région |
Guyane |
| Département |
Guyane (préfecture) |
| Arrondissement |
Cayenne |
| Canton |
Chief town of 6 cantons |
| Intercommunality |
Communauté
de communes
du Centre Littoral |
| Mayor |
Jean-Claude Lafontaine |
| Statistics |
| Land area¹ |
23.60 km² |
Population²
(1999 census) |
50,594 |
| - Density (1999) |
2,144/km² |
| Miscellaneous |
| Postal code |
97300 |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) and river estuaries. |
| ² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel). |
 |
Cayenne is the capital of the French overseas région of French Guiana. The city stands on an island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. Cayenne is located at 4°56' North, 52°20' West (4.9333, -52.333). [1]
At the 1999 census, there were 66,149 inhabitants in the urban area of Cayenne, 50,594 of whom lived in the city (commune) of Cayenne proper, and the remainder in the neighbouring commune of Remire-Montjoly.
[edit] History
Ignored by Spanish explorers, who found the region too hot and too poor to be colonised, the country was invaded by the French in 1643 and Cayenne was established in 1664. It then passed hands between the Dutch, British and Brazilians before being returned to France. It was used as a French penal settlement from 1854 to 1938.
See also History of French Guiana
[edit] Economy
Cayenne is an important industrial centre for the shrimp industry. Formerly, it also contained sugar refineries.
[edit] Culture
Cayenne is very ethnically diverse, with Creoles, Haitians, Brazilians, Europeans, Hmong and Asians all living in the city. It is famous for its particular annual carnival which starts with the arrival of Vaval (Carnival King) on the first Sunday after New Year's Day and continues with very popular all-night costume balls and Sunday afternoon parades every weekend until Mardi Gras.
In the French author's Voltaire's classic Candide, the characters attempt to reach Cayenne but end up in El Dorado instead.
[edit] Points of interest
Cayenne centers on its main commercial street, the Avenue Général de Gaulle. At the east end of the avenue near the coast is the Place de Palmistes and the Place de Grenoble (also known as the Place Léopold Héder). Most of the official buildings are located in this area: the Hôtel de Ville (the town hall) built by Jesuits in the 1890s, the Post Office, the Préfecture, residence of French Guiana's Préfect, and the Musée Départmental Franconie. To the west of this area lies Fort Cépérou, built in the 17th century, though now mostly in ruins. To the south lie the Place du Coq and Place Victor Schoelcher (named in honour of the anti-slavery activist) and a market.
To the south of this compact region is the Village Chinois (known as Chicago), separated from the rest of Cayenne by the Canal Laussat. It has a reputation for being a dangerous area.
Other buildings in the city include the Cathédrale Saint-Sauveur de Cayenne, municipal library, the municipal musseum and a museum of French Guianese Culture (Musée des Cultures Guyanais) and a scientific research institute (IRD formerly Orstom).
There are some beaches along the coast, like Montjoly and Montabo, and several promontories, though the waters contain sharks.
[edit] Travel
Cayenne is served by the Cayenne-Rochambeau Airport.
There are many hotels in the city: Central Hotel, La Bodéga, Hôtel Ajoupa, Hôtel Amazonia, Hôtel les Amandiers, Hôtel Neptima, Hôtel Novotel and Ket-Tai.
[edit] Administration
Cayenne is the chief town of six cantons:
- The first canton (North West) has 3,935 inhabitants;
- The second canton (North East) has 5,730 inhabitants;
- The third canton (South West) has 8,017 inhabitants;
- The fourth canton (Centre) has 5,955 inhabitants;
- The fifth canton (South) has 9,750 inhabitants;
- The sixth canton (South East) has 17,207 inhabitants
[edit] Cayenne in popular culture
The French folk song Cayenne (named after the main city of French Guiana) tells the story of a pimp who shoots a well-to-do client who grossly disrespected a prostitute, and is then convicted and transferred to the infamous penitentiary. The song has been covered in recent years by rock/punk groups such as Parabellum.
In The Hardy Boys #12: Footprints under the Window, The Hardys' investigations take them to Cayenne.
[edit] External links
Préfectures of départements of France
Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain) • Laon (Aisne) • Moulins (Allier • Digne-les-Bains (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) • Gap (Hautes-Alpes) • Nice (Alpes-Maritimes) • Privas (Ardeche) • Charleville-Mézières (Ardennes) • Foix (Ariège) • Troyes (Aube) • Carcassonne (Aude) • Rodez (Aveyron) • Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) • Caen (Calvados) • Aurillac (Cantal) • Angoulême (Charente) • La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime) • Bourges (Cher) • Tulle (Corrèze) • Ajaccio (corse-du-Sud) • Bastia (Haute-Corse) • Dijon (Côte-d'Or) • Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d'Armor) • Guéret (Creuse) • Périgueux (Dordogne) • Besançon (Doubs) • Valence (Drôme) • Évreux (Eure) • Chartres (Eure-et-Loir) • Quimper (Finistère) • Nîmes (Gard) • Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) • Auch (Gers) • Bordeaux (Gironde) • Montpellier (Hérault) • Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine) • Châteauroux (Indre) • Tours (Indre-et-Loire) • Grenoble (Isère) • Lons-le-Saunier (Jura) • Mont-de-Marsan (Landes) • Blois (Loir-et-Cher) • Saint-Étienne (Loire) • Le Puy-en-Velay (Haute-Loire) • Nantes (Loire-Atlantique) - Orléans (Loiret) • Cahors (Lot) • Agen (Lot-et-Garonne) • Mende (Lozère) • Angers (Maine-et-Loire) • Saint-Lô (Manche) • Châlons-en-Champagne (Marne) • Chaumont (Haute-Marne) - Laval (Mayenne) • Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle) • Bar-le-Duc (Meuse) • Vannes (Morbihan) • Metz (Moselle) • Nevers (Nièvre) • Lille (Nord) • Beauvais (Oise) • Alençon (Orne) • Calais (Pas-de-Calais) • Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) • Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) • Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées) • Perpignan (Pyrénées-Orientales) • Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin) • Colmar (Haut-Rhin) • Lyon (Rhône) • Vesoul (Haute-Saône) • Mâcon (Saône-et-Loire) • Le Mans (Sarthe) • Chambéry (Savoie) • Annecy (Haute-Savoie) • Paris (Paris) • Rouen (Seine-Maritime) • Melun (Seine-et-Marne) • Versailles (Yvelines) • Niort (Deux-Sèvres) • Amiens (Somme) • Albi (Tarn) • Montauban (Tarn-et-Garonne) • Toulon (Var) • Avignon (Vaucluse) • La Roche-sur-Yon (Vendée) • Poitiers (Vienne) • Limoges (Haute-Vienne) • Épinal (Vosges) • Auxerre (Yonne) • Belfort (Territoire de Belfort) - Évry (Essonne) - Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) • Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis) • Créteil (Val-de-Marne) • Cergy (Val-d'Oise)
Overseas départements:
Cayenne (French Guiana) • Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe) • Fort-de-France (Martinique) • Saint-Denis (Réunion)
