Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni

Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is a commune and subprefecture of the French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in northern South America.

Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is a border town in northwest French Guiana. It is the second most populous city of French Guiana, after Cayenne.

 Name 
The name was given in 1856 by the Governor of French Guiana, Auguste Laurent Bauding, after his father and grandfather. Because the town is on the side of the Maroni river, the name was completed as is now: Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.

 History 
The town was made a commune in 1949. In 1969, it was made the capital of the new arrondissement of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. In June 2025, an agreement for the transfer of 91 hectares of state-owned land was signed between the French State and the city of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. The French government transferred more than 250,000 hectares to the French Guiana communities, enabling the creation of public facilities, housing, and a new business park.

 Geography 
Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is a city in northwestern French Guiana to the west of Cayenne, on the Maroni River (in Dutch: Marowijne), opposite the town of Albina in Suriname which can be reached by ferry or small boats.

The commune has an area of ; at the city hall, the altitude is . It includes some islands in the river: Île Portal, Île de la Quarantaine and Île aux Lépreux.

The Maroni river flows through the commune, to which it gives part of its name. Many of its tributaries also flows the commune: Crique Sparouine (on the southern border), Crique Bastien, Crique Serpent, Crique des cascades, Crique Awara, Crique Balaté, Crique Margot, Crique Chameau, Crique aux bœufs lamentins and Crique Vaches (on the northern border).

Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is surrounded by the communes Mana to the north and east, Grand-Santi to the south and southwest and Apatou to the northwest.

 Climate 
Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni has a Tropical rainforest climate (Köppen climate classification: Af) in which there is no dry season - all months have mean precipitation values of at least .

The average temperature for the year in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni 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 Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni is . The month with the most precipitation on average is May with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is October with an average of .

Demographics
The inhabitants of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni are known, in French, as Saint-Laurentins (women: Saint-Laurentines).

The commune of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni has a population, in 2014, of 44,169; its population density is of  inhabitants/km2.

Evolution of the population in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni

 Gallery 

 Related pages 
 Arrondissement of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni

 References 

 Other websites 

 Ville de Saint-Laurent du Maroni official website 
 Collectivité territorial de Guyane website 
 Prefecture website  
 Guyane-Amazonie Tourism

Category:Communes in French Guiana
Category:Subprefectures in France