Cayenne

Cayenne is a commune, the capital (prefecture) of the French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France that is in northern South America. The city is on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne river on the Atlantic coast.

 History 
The first European settlement in the region was founded on the Cayenne island in 1604 by French people sent by Henry IV but the settlement was destroyed by Portuguese to enforce the Treaty of Tordesillas

French colonists came back in 1643 and founded Cayenne, but they were forced to leave once more following Amerindian attacks. In 1664, France finally succeeded at establishing a permanent settlement at Cayenne. Over the next decade the colony changed hands between the French, Dutch, and English, before being restored to France. It was captured by an Anglo-Portuguese force at the invasion of Cayenne in 1809 and administered from Brazil until 1814, when it was returned to French control. It was used as a French penal colony from 1854 to 1938.

 Geography 
Cayenne is a city along the Atlantic coast on the sides of a common estuary of the Cayenne and Montsinéry rivers. It has an area of ; at the city hall, the altitude is .

The commune is at  from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and  from Kourou. The distances to other cities out of French Guiana are:
 Paris, the national capital, la capitale nationale, .
 Fort-de-France, capital of Martinique, .
 Paramaribo, capital of Surinam,  to the northwest.
 Macapá, capital of Amapá (Brazil), .

The city is surrounded by:

 Climate 
Cayenne has an equatorial climate (Köppen climate classification: Af) bordering on a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification: Am) with a dry season and a heavy monsoon the rest of year and no cold season.

The average temperature for the year in Cayenne is . The warmest month, on average, is September with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Cayenne is . The month with the most precipitation on average is May with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is September with an average of . There is an average of 201.0 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in May with 27.0 days and the least precipitation occurring in September with 5.0 days.

Demographics
The inhabitants of Cayenne are known, in French, as Cayennais (women: Cayennaises).

The city of Cayenne has a population, in 2014, of 55,817; its population density is of  inhabitants/km2.

Evolution of the population in Cayenne

 Sister cities 
Cayenne is twinned with:
 Salvador, Bahia (Brazil)

 Sites of interest 
 Place des Palmistes (Palms square)
 Botanical Garden
 Saint-Sauveur de Cayenne cathedral

 Gallery 

 Related pages 
 Arrondissement of Cayenne

 References 

 Other websites 

 Ville de Cayenne official website 
 Collectivité territorial de Guyane website 
 Prefecture website  
 Guyane-Amazonie Tourism

Category:Cities in overseas regions belonging to France
Category:Departmental capitals in France
Category:Regional capitals in France
Category:Communes in French Guiana