Kourou () is a
commune in
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 regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
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 souther ...
. Kourou is famous for being the location of the
Guiana Space Centre
The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximat ...
, the main
spaceport of France and the
European Space Agency
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, ÃŽle-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...
(ESA). It is an administrative district in French Guiana and the main town there.
Geography
Some northwest of the French Guianese capital
Cayenne the
Kourou River empties into the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
Ocean. At the mouth of this river sits the town of Kourou, which is ringed by four hills: Carapa, Pariacabo, Café and Lombard, with the Singes and Condamine mountains not far behind. There are three lakes within the town's city limits: Lake Bois Diable (where one can take lessons in jetski and other aquatic sports), Lake Marie-Claire (the smallest and calmest), and Lake Bois Chaudat (the biggest of the three; also open to sport lovers, especially canoers and kayakers). Long white sand beaches and some rocky outcrops line the town's ocean coast, the riverbank and all points inland consisting mostly of mangrove and dense tropical rainforest.
The town had a population of 25,685 inhabitants at the 2017 census. Its inhabitants can be classified into three ethnic groups of roughly equal size:
*Indigenous peoples (mostly Kalina - also called
Galibi),
Creoles,
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.
...
(Boni and
Saramaka),
*Whites (mostly French, from
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...
), and
*Foreigners (
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
ians,
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
se,
Hmong,
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
ans,
Guyanese, etc.)
The Saramaka mostly settled in the ''
quartier Saramaka'', along the river. In 2006, a fire rendered 55 people homeless.
Guiana in general has a high level of crime compared to the rest of France's ''départements''; Kourou has an average of two armed robberies a day. A march protesting the high level of insecurity felt by most of the population was held in Kourou on 27 October 2006. Shopkeepers of Chinese descent in particular are often targeted by armed robbers, their cash registers emptied and some products stolen.
Kourou is the port of departure for those going to the
Iles du Salut, of which the most famous is
Devil's Island. It is also common for many to go up the river in canoes on weekends to camp in the forest.
The
Guiana Space Centre
The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximat ...
, where the
European Space Agency
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, ÃŽle-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...
starts missions, is located a little behind and outside the town. Part of the town and the islands are closed during rocket launches.
In 2010, the Kourou
solar power plant was built near Kourou on Aubanèle Savannah. It is the largest solar power plant in
Overseas France
Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decoloni ...
.
History
Before the Europeans
Not much is known of the pre-colonial era. The area was mostly populated by
Kalina, or Galibi before the arrival of the French in the late 17th century.
Not far from the town at Les Roches Gravées (The Carved Rocks), indigenous art can be seen on the rock walls.
Early colonization
Vicente Yáñez Pinzón sailed along most of the north coast of South America and passed by the current location of Kourou in 1500.
The Jesuits Lombard and Creuilly baptised a few Galibis at the church of Saint Nicholas in Cayenne in December 1710 and returned with them soon after to farm the land at Guatémala, across the river from Kourou. The
Society of Jesus
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
was disbanded (in Guiana) in 1762, however, and Kourou was nothing more than a small village until the arrival of the Expedition.
In 1744,
La Condamine, in charge of the expedition sent to Peru in 1735 to determine the length of a degree of the
meridian arc
In geodesy and navigation, a meridian arc is the curve between two points on the Earth's surface having the same longitude. The term may refer either to a segment of the meridian, or to its length.
The purpose of measuring meridian arcs is to ...
in the neighbourhood of the equator, passed by and gave his name to one of the mountains behind Kourou.
Expedition
The mission at Kourou being abandoned by the Jesuits, the engineers Mentelle and Tugny designed the layout of the future town. This resulted in the neighbourhood called the Bourg, around the Church of Saint Catherine and next to the port on the river.
That same year, 1763, as agreed in the
Treaty of Paris, Great Britain took control of
New France
New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to King ...
. Having lost their largest and richest colony, the French decided to send a large expedition to Guiana, commanded by
Choiseul. Around 10,000 to 12,000 people, mostly Frenchmen, tempted by stories of an
El Dorado
El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or kin ...
on the other side of the ocean, settled in Kourou.
The small town, surrounded by marshes and rainforest, was unprepared for such a massive influx of people, and around 6,000 of the pioneers died within the year due to fevers and other illnesses. Those remaining fled to the
îles du Salut
The Salvation Islands (french: ÃŽles du Salut, so called because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland; sometimes mistakenly called Safety Islands) are a group of small islands of volcanic origin about off the coast of F ...
, free of mosquitoes due to constant winds, to recover before being repatriated to
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...
. Hence the name, "Salvation Islands." Previously they had been known as the ''îles du Diable'' ("Devil's Islands"), and one of the islands retains the name to this day.
The failure of the Expedition only served to discourage settling in Guiana. The colony earned the nickname ''Enfer Vert'' ("Green Hell"), which it is still trying to shake. No other project of mass colonisation was undertaken, and the population of Whites was always drastically lower than that of the slaves. The population of the colony, of all races, did not rise above 20,000 until the gold rush (starting in 1855),
the second abolition of slavery in 1848 and the founding of the prisons.
Prisons
Kourou was formerly the home of the "Kourou Prison" which was one of the main prisons in French Guiana, and which was also a part of the notorious
Devil's Island Prison System. The Kourou Prison was dedicated mostly to agriculture.
In 1852 the three main islands off of Kourou's coast, the
Salut island group (which included Devil's Island) also became prisons. These island prisons held mostly political prisoners, as well as some of France's toughest criminals. The first prisoners arrived in 1862.
In 1938, a law was passed prohibiting the transport of any new prisoners from France to French Guiana. In 1946 eight years later, the Kourou Prison was finally shut down, while some prisoners were kept in other Guyanese prisons until as late as 1953.
After the closing of the prison, most of the prison buildings were demolished to make room for the ''Hôtel des Roches'', but some vestiges of that period remain. One notable remnant of the prison is the Dreyfus Tower, which stands where the river meets the ocean. This tower was used in pre-radio days to communicate with the islands via
Semaphore
Semaphore (; ) is the use of an apparatus to create a visual signal transmitted over distance. A semaphore can be performed with devices including: fire, lights, flags, sunlight, and moving arms. Semaphores can be used for telegraphy when ar ...
. Other prison ruins that remain are the prison bakery — now on private property, but still visible from a cul-de-sac — and an old prison fountain near the moucaya palm trees.
CSG and the French Foreign Legion
In 1965, the Guiana Space Centre was founded a little behind the town by the
CNES
The (CNES; French: ''Centre national d'études spatiales'') is the French government space agency (administratively, a "public administration with industrial and commercial purpose"). Its headquarters are located in central Paris and it is un ...
. With the launch facility being used by the
European Space Agency
, owners =
, headquarters = Paris, ÃŽle-de-France, France
, coordinates =
, spaceport = Guiana Space Centre
, seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png
, seal_size = 130px
, image = Views in the Main Control Room (120 ...
since 1975, the urbanisation of Kourou began in earnest.
The
3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment
The 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment (french: 3e Régiment étranger d'infanterie, 3e REI) is an infantry regiment of the Foreign Legion in the French Army. The regiment is stationed in French Guiana. Its mission includes the protection of the Ce ...
of the
French Foreign Legion
The French Foreign Legion (french: Légion étrangère) is a corps of the French Army which comprises several specialties: infantry, cavalry, engineers, airborne troops. It was created in 1831 to allow foreign nationals into the French Army ...
, whose mission is to protect the CSG, has had a base in the ''Forget'' neighbourhood since 1973. They clashed with the Creoles in 1985 and 2006.
Demographics
Historical population
Migrations
The places of birth of the 26,221 residents in the commune of Kourou at the 2015 census were the following:
*48.7% were born in French Guiana
*16.0% in
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France (french: France métropolitaine or ''la Métropole''), also known as European France (french: Territoire européen de la France) is the area of France which is geographically in Europe. This collective name for the European ...
*2.0% in
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...
*0.9% in
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands— Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
*0.4% in other parts of
Overseas France
Overseas France (french: France d'outre-mer) consists of 13 French-administered territories outside Europe, mostly the remains of the French colonial empire that chose to remain a part of the French state under various statuses after decoloni ...
*32.2% in foreign countries (notably
Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
, followed by
Haiti
Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...
and
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
); among these, 30.7% were immigrants and 1.4% were children of French citizens born abroad
These were the countries of birth of the immigrants living in the commune of Kourou at the 2009 census:
* born in Suriname: 3,035
* born in Haiti: 1,857
* born in Brazil: 1,806
* born in other countries: 1,327
Climate
Like most of French Guiana, Kourou has a
tropical monsoon climate
An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...
(
Köppen ''Am'') with a short dry season centered between the months of August and October when the
Intertropical Convergence Zone is furthest north. During the remainder of the year rainfall is always heavy. Between November and July a total of can be expected in nine months, with rain on most days and very cloudy skies.
Economy
Kourou's economy is largely dominated by the CSG, from which the European
Ariane rockets are launched, as well as the Russian
Soyuz and the Italian
Vega
Vega is the brightest star in the northern
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United Sta ...
rockets.
Transportation
Kourou is served by
Kourou Airport
Kourou Airport is an airport serving Kourou, a commune of French Guiana. Kourou is the location of the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG), the French and European spaceport
A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving space ...
, located at the west of the city.
Politics
Kourou is the main town on an "administrative district" of French Guiana. Such a district is equivalent to a
county
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
. Kourou is represented in Paris as part of
French Guiana's 2nd constituency
The 2nd constituency of French Guiana is a French legislative constituency in the French Guiana ''département''. Comprising the western two-thirds of the ''département'', the 2nd constituency contains the major communes of Saint-Laurent-du-Mar ...
, which has been held by former Kourou city councilor
Davy Rimane since 2022.
Tourism
* The ''
Centre Spatial Guyanais
The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...
(CSG)'' gets many visitors all year round.
* The ''Musée de l'Espace'' is a museum devoted to space and space exploration.
* The
Salvation Islands: Of the three islands, only two,
ÃŽle Royale
The Salvation Islands (french: ÃŽles du Salut, so called because the missionaries went there to escape plague on the mainland; sometimes mistakenly called Safety Islands) are a group of small islands of volcanic origin about off the coast of Fre ...
and
ÃŽle Saint-Joseph, can be visited. The third is
Devil's Island.
* ''Les Roches gravées'': Indigenous rock art, not far from the small industrial zone called Pariacabo.
* There are several marked public footpaths in the jungle, of which the most well-known and used is the one on the ''Montagne des Singes''.
* Kourou River: Many people go up the river on canoes or small boats to camp along the shore in open dwellings, or simply in hammocks.
* The ocean may not be clear (it is brown due to the Amazonian silt), but both it and the beaches are clean.
Popular culture
This Commune is also featured in the 2021 video game ''
Battlefield 2042'' as the setting of multiplayer map Orbital.
See also
*
Communes of French Guiana
*
Saramaka, French Guiana
References
External links
Official site(in French)
''Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG)''''Musée de l'Espace''''Blada'' all-purpose message board and newspaper for Guiana in general and Kourou in particular (in French).
{{Authority control
Beaches of French Guiana
Communes of French Guiana