Grand-Santi is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

, an overseas region and department of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

located in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. Most of the inhabitants are Ndyuka

Maroons Maroons are descendants of Africans in the Americas who escaped from slavery and formed their own settlements. They often mixed with indigenous peoples, eventually evolving into separate creole cultures such as the Garifuna and the Mascogos. ...

and Surinamese immigrants.

History

The commune was originally called Grand-Santi-Papaichton and included the now independent communes of

Apatou Apatou is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Apatou is home to Maroons of the Aluku, Paramacca, Ndyuka, and Saramaka tribes. History The town of Apatou was founded in 1882 as Moutendé ...

and

Papaichton Papaichton (unofficial spelling Papaïchton with a trema) is a commune in the overseas region and department of French Guiana. The village lies on the shores of the Lawa River. Papaichton is served by the Maripasoula Airport. The village whic ...

. On 12 November 1976 Apatou was detached from Grand-Santi-Papaichton and became an independent commune. On 1 January 1993 Papaichton was also detached from Grand-Saint-Papaichton and became an independent commune. On that occasion, the name of the commune was shortened into Grand-Santi. The commune mainly lives from small-scale

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

and fishing. The commune also contains other villages like .

Population

Transport

The commune can only be reached by boat or airplane. The

Grand-Santi Airport Grand-Santi Airport is an airport serving the Lawa River port of Grand-Santi, a commune of French Guiana. The airport is east of the river, which forms the border with Suriname. Airlines and destinations Statistics See also *List of ai ...

is located northeast of Grand-Santi.