Demographics of French Guiana
Population
According to INSEE the population of French Guiana was 239,450 of January 1, 2012. The population is very young: 44% are below the age of 20, while only 1.7% are 75 years or older. The age distribution is a reflection of the high fertility rates of French Guiana.Nationality
On January 1, 2010, 64.5% of the population had French nationality, while 35.5% had a foreign nationality. Of these, Surinamese, Haitians and Brazilians were the largest groups. Smaller groups included people with nationality of Guyana, Colombia, China, the Dominican Republic and Peru.Vital statistics
The total fertility rate in French Guiana has remained high and is today considerably higher than in metropolitan France, and also higher than the average of the French overseas departments. It is largely responsible for the high population growth of French Guiana.| Average population | Live births | Deaths | Natural change | Crude birth rate | Crude death rate | Natural change | Total fertility rate | |
| 1936 | 24,000 | 355 | 554 | -199 | 14.8 | 23.1 | -8.3 | - |
| 1937 | 24,000 | 408 | 487 | -79 | 17.0 | 20.3 | -3.3 | - |
| 1938 | 24,000 | 381 | 649 | -268 | 15.9 | 27.0 | -11.2 | - |
| 1939 | 24,000 | 333 | 499 | -166 | 13.9 | 20.8 | -6.9 | - |
| 1940 | 24,000 | 436 | 505 | -69 | 18.2 | 21.0 | -2.9 | - |
| 1941 | 24,000 | 437 | 626 | -189 | 18.2 | 26.1 | -7.9 | - |
| 1942 | 24,000 | 453 | 733 | -280 | 18.9 | 30.5 | -11.7 | - |
| 1943 | 24,000 | 422 | 702 | -280 | 17.6 | 29.3 | -11.7 | - |
| 1944 | 24,000 | 474 | 627 | -153 | 19.8 | 26.1 | -6.4 | - |
| 1945 | 24,000 | 620 | 539 | 81 | 25.8 | 22.5 | 3.4 | - |
| 1946 | 24,000 | 515 | 596 | -81 | 21.5 | 24.8 | -3.4 | - |
| 1947 | 24,000 | 539 | 623 | -84 | 22.5 | 26.0 | -3.5 | - |
| 1948 | 25,000 | 529 | 547 | -18 | 21.2 | 21.9 | -0.7 | - |
| 1949 | 25,000 | 607 | 471 | 136 | 24.3 | 18.8 | 5.4 | - |
| 1950 | 25,000 | 590 | 384 | 206 | 23.6 | 15.4 | 8.2 | - |
| 1951 | 26,000 | 558 | 383 | 175 | 21.5 | 14.7 | 6.7 | - |
| 1952 | 27,000 | 781 | 462 | 319 | 30.0 | 17.8 | 12.3 | - |
| 1953 | 27,000 | 720 | 426 | 294 | 26.7 | 15.8 | 10.9 | - |
| 1954 | 28,000 | 900 | 378 | 522 | 32.1 | 13.5 | 18.6 | - |
| 1955 | 29,000 | 941 | 377 | 564 | 32.6 | 13.0 | 19.5 | - |
| 1956 | 29,000 | 949 | 411 | 538 | 32.1 | 13.9 | 18.2 | - |
| 1957 | 30,000 | 993 | 426 | 567 | 33.0 | 14.2 | 18.8 | - |
| 1958 | 31,000 | 940 | 404 | 536 | 30.9 | 13.3 | 17.6 | - |
| 1959 | 31,000 | 1,043 | 460 | 583 | 34.1 | 15.0 | 19.1 | - |
| 1960 | 32,000 | 1,026 | 451 | 575 | 31.4 | 13.8 | 17.6 | - |
| 1961 | 34,000 | 1,066 | 487 | 579 | 31.8 | 14.5 | 17.3 | - |
| 1962 | 35,000 | 1,041 | 410 | 631 | 30.1 | 11.8 | 18.2 | - |
| 1963 | 36,000 | 1,118 | 446 | 672 | 31.1 | 12.4 | 18.7 | - |
| 1964 | 38,000 | 1,213 | 399 | 814 | 32.0 | 10.5 | 21.5 | - |
| 1965 | 39,000 | 1,161 | 403 | 758 | 29.0 | 10.1 | 19.0 | - |
| 1966 | 41,000 | 1,244 | 401 | 843 | 29.5 | 9.5 | 20.0 | - |
| 1967 | 43,000 | 1,281 | 376 | 905 | 29.2 | 8.6 | 20.6 | - |
| 1968 | 45,000 | 1,390 | 408 | 982 | 30.4 | 8.9 | 21.5 | - |
| 1969 | 47,000 | 1,424 | 431 | 993 | 30.0 | 9.1 | 20.9 | - |
| 1970 | 49,000 | 1,584 | 385 | 1,199 | 32.2 | 7.8 | 24.4 | - |
| 1971 | 50,000 | 1,600 | 400 | 1,200 | 31.4 | 7.8 | 23.5 | - |
| 1972 | 52,000 | 1,670 | 399 | 1,271 | 31.7 | 7.6 | 24.1 | - |
| 1973 | 54,000 | 1,473 | 418 | 1,055 | 27.1 | 7.7 | 19.4 | - |
| 1974 | 55,000 | 1,529 | 435 | 1,094 | 27.4 | 7.8 | 19.6 | - |
| 1975 | 57,000 | 1,476 | 408 | 1,068 | 25.6 | 7.1 | 18.5 | - |
| 1976 | 59,000 | 1,439 | 415 | 1,024 | 24.2 | 7.0 | 17.2 | - |
| 1977 | 61,000 | 1,476 | 463 | 1,013 | 24.0 | 7.5 | 16.4 | - |
| 1978 | 63,000 | 1,568 | 470 | 1,098 | 24.5 | 7.4 | 17.2 | - |
| 1979 | 65,000 | 1,704 | 454 | 1,250 | 25.7 | 6.9 | 18.9 | - |
| 1980 | 68,000 | 1,933 | 468 | 1,465 | 28.1 | 6.8 | 21.3 | - |
| 1981 | 71,000 | 2,092 | 428 | 1,664 | 29.3 | 6.0 | 23.3 | - |
| 1982 | 74,000 | 2,379 | 492 | 1,887 | 31.6 | 6.5 | 25.1 | - |
| 1983 | 78,000 | 2,314 | 489 | 1,825 | 28.9 | 6.1 | 22.8 | - |
| 1984 | 83,000 | 2,319 | 491 | 1,828 | 27.3 | 5.8 | 21.5 | - |
| 1985 | 87,000 | 2,482 | 501 | 1,981 | 27.6 | 5.6 | 22.0 | - |
| 1986 | 93,000 | 2,392 | 491 | 1,901 | 25.2 | 5.2 | 20.0 | - |
| 1987 | 99,000 | 2,700 | 550 | 2,150 | 27.2 | 5.6 | 21.7 | - |
| 1988 | 105,000 | 3,000 | 550 | 2,450 | 28.5 | 5.2 | 23.2 | - |
| 1989 | 111,000 | 3,300 | 550 | 2,750 | 29.6 | 4.9 | 24.7 | - |
| 1990 | 117,000 | 3,606 | 594 | 3,012 | 30.8 | 5.1 | 25.7 | - |
| 1991 | 122,000 | 3,922 | 583 | 3,339 | 32.2 | 4.8 | 27.4 | - |
| 1992 | 126,000 | 4,045 | 568 | 3,477 | 32.0 | 4.5 | 27.5 | - |
| 1993 | 131,000 | 4,113 | 578 | 3,535 | 31.5 | 4.4 | 27.1 | - |
| 1994 | 135,000 | 4,235 | 625 | 3,610 | 31.5 | 4.6 | 26.8 | - |
| 1995 | 139,000 | 4,264 | 548 | 3,716 | 30.7 | 3.9 | 26.7 | - |
| 1996 | 143,000 | 4,367 | 544 | 3,823 | 30.4 | 3.8 | 26.6 | - |
| 1997 | 148,000 | 4,453 | 568 | 3,885 | 30.1 | 3.8 | 26.2 | - |
| 1998 | 153,000 | 4,696 | 614 | 4,082 | 30.6 | 4.0 | 26.6 | - |
| 1999 | 159,000 | 4,907 | 648 | 4,259 | 30.9 | 4.1 | 26.8 | 3.87 |
| 2000 | 165,000 | 5,149 | 634 | 4,515 | 31.2 | 3.8 | 27.4 | 3.93 |
| 2001 | 172,000 | 5,137 | 678 | 4,459 | 29.9 | 3.9 | 25.9 | 3.79 |
| 2002 | 179,000 | 5,276 | 665 | 4,611 | 29.4 | 3.7 | 25.7 | 3.73 |
| 2003 | 187,000 | 5,553 | 721 | 4,832 | 29.7 | 3.9 | 25.8 | 3.77 |
| 2004 | 195,000 | 5,312 | 719 | 4,593 | 27.3 | 3.7 | 23.6 | 3.47 |
| 2005 | 202,000 | 5,998 | 705 | 5,293 | 29.7 | 3.5 | 26.2 | 3.79 |
| 2006 | 208,000 | 6,276 | 711 | 5,565 | 30.1 | 3.4 | 26.7 | 3.80 |
| 2007 | 216,000 | 6,386 | 690 | 5,696 | 29.8 | 3.2 | 26.6 | 3.73 |
| 2008 | 222,000 | 6,247 | 762 | 5,485 | 28.4 | 3.5 | 24.9 | 3.57 |
| 2009 | 227,000 | 6,171 | 699 | 5,472 | 27.4 | 3.1 | 24.3 | 3.49 |
| 2010 | 233,000 | 6,083 | 773 | 5,310 | 26.3 | 3.3 | 23.0 | 3.37 |
| 2011 | 239,000 | 6,259 | 714 | 5,545 | 26.4 | 3.0 | 23.4 | 3.42 |
| 2012 | 242,000 | 6,609 | 789 | 5,820 | 27.2 | 3.2 | 23.9 | 3.60 |
| 2013 | 248,000 | 6,474 | 767 | 5,707 | 26.1 | 3.1 | 23.0 | 3.47 |
| 2014 | 255,000 | 6,591 | 786 | 5,805 | 25.9 | 3.1 | 22.8 | 3.47 |
| 2015 | 260,000 | 6,806 | 834 | 5,972 | 26.2 | 3.2 | 23.0 | 3.54 |
| 2016 | 7,270 | 901 | 6,369 | 26.9 | 3.3 | 23.6 | 3.62 | |
| 2017 | 8,057 | 964 | 7,093 | 29.4 | 3.5 | 25.9 | ||
| 2018 | 7,995 | 899 | 7,096 | 26.4 | 3.0 | 23.4 |
Structure of the population
Structure of the population :| Age Group | Male | Female | Total | % |
| Total | 113 824 | 116 617 | 230 441 | 100 |
| 0-4 | 14 591 | 13 849 | 28 440 | 12,34 |
| 5-9 | 14 090 | 13 618 | 27 708 | 12,02 |
| 10-14 | 12 843 | 12 024 | 24 867 | 10,79 |
| 15-19 | 10 729 | 10 672 | 21 401 | 9,29 |
| 20-24 | 7 728 | 8 478 | 16 206 | 7,03 |
| 25-29 | 7 281 | 9 109 | 16 390 | 7,11 |
| 30-34 | 7 692 | 8 676 | 16 368 | 7,10 |
| 35-39 | 7 877 | 8 865 | 16 742 | 7,27 |
| 40-44 | 7 415 | 7 650 | 15 065 | 6,54 |
| 45-49 | 6 698 | 6 582 | 13 280 | 5,76 |
| 50-54 | 5 397 | 5 148 | 10 545 | 4,58 |
| 55-59 | 4 207 | 4 107 | 8 314 | 3,61 |
| 60-64 | 2 931 | 2 684 | 5 615 | 2,44 |
| 65-69 | 1 740 | 1 693 | 3 433 | 1,49 |
| 70-74 | 1 083 | 1 260 | 2 343 | 1,02 |
| 75-79 | 752 | 974 | 1 726 | 0,75 |
| 80-84 | 433 | 619 | 1 052 | 0,46 |
| 85-89 | 225 | 402 | 627 | 0,27 |
| 90-94 | 77 | 144 | 221 | 0,10 |
| 95+ | 35 | 63 | 98 | 0,04 |
Infant mortality rate
The infant mortality in French Guiana is higher than in metropolitan France:- 2007-2009: 12.0
- 2008-2010: 11.6
- 2009-2011: 10.1
Life expectancy
Ethnic groups
Estimates of the percentages of French Guiana ethnic composition vary, a situation compounded by the large proportion of immigrants.Creoles, or Mulattoes, are the largest ethnic group, though estimates vary as to the exact percentage, depending upon whether the large Haitian community is included as well. Generally the Creole population is judged to be about 60 to 70% of the total population if Haitians are included, and 30 to 50% without.
Roughly 41,000 people or 14% of the population of French Guiana is of European ancestry. The vast majority of these are of French heritage, though there are also people of Dutch, British, Spanish and Portuguese ancestry.
The main Asian communities are the Chinese and Hmong from Laos. There are also smaller groups from various Caribbean islands, mainly Saint Lucia as well as Dominica. Other Asian groups include East Indians, Lebanese and Vietnamese.
The main groups living in the interior are the Maroons who are from African descent, and Amerindians. The Maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves, live primarily along the Maroni River. The main Maroon groups are the Saramaca, Aucan, and Boni.
The main Amerindian groups are the Arawak, Carib, Teko, Galibi, Palikur, Wayampi and Wayana. As of the late 1990s, there was evidence of an uncontacted group of Wayampi.
Languages
and French Guianese Creole are the most widely spoken languages. There are also several native languages, including Arawak, Carib, and Tupi-Guarani. Other languages spoken include Hakka Chinese and Javanese.The official language, like for all overseas departments and territories of France, is French.