Cacao is a village in

French Guiana French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

, lying on the to the south of Cayenne. Most of the population are Hmong farmers, refugees from

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

who were resettled in French Guiana in 1977. The reasoning was that the living and working conditions of the area were similar to the Hmong's native land. As of 2007, the village had a population of 750 people.

Overview

The village is four blocks in size, with narrow streets. Local commercial outlets include restaurants, grocery and bread stores. There are two primary schools, but no secondary education facilities. Public buildings include an insect museum, a library, a church, and gendarmerie. There is also a Sunday morning market at which Hmong weaving, embroidery and food can be purchased. The main hotel in Cacao is L'Auberge des Orpailleurs. Tourist activities include jungle tours, canoeing and kayaking. During December the village hosts a Hmong New Year's festival that lasts about 3–4 days.

Economy

The economy is based on agriculture. The villagers have 1,375

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), that is, square metres (), and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. ...

s of land. A freshwater prawn farm has been setup and is exporting 1 to 1.2 tons to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

every month. A

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

employs 70 people.

Geography

Climate

Cacao has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''Af''). The average annual temperature in Cacao is . The average annual rainfall is with May as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in October, at around , and lowest in January, at around . The highest temperature ever recorded in Cacao was on 31 October 1999; the coldest temperature ever recorded was on 25 February 1980.

References

External links