Cayenne

Cayenne, city, port, and capital of French Guiana, northern French Guiana, on Cayenne Island, at the mouth of the Cayenne River. The leading port of French Guiana, it has steamboat service to other coastal points and is included in the itinerary of an air-transport system. The harbor is shallow, and large ships are handled nearby. The chief exports include bananas, gold, rum, hides, spices, fish glue, and various kinds of timber. Among the imports are grain, flour, wines, clothing, glass, hardware, cotton and silk goods, and tobacco. The first French settlement at Cayenne was established early in the 17th century. It was occupied by the Dutch from 1654 to 1664, when the French reestablished their control. Following another period of Dutch occupation, beginning in 1667, the French acquired permanent control of the town early in the 18th century. A French penal colony was established in Cayenne in the 1850s. In 1946, the French government abandoned the practice of transporting prisoners to the colony. Devil’s Island, another former French penal colony, is nearby. Population (2001 estimate) 53,000.