Matoury 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 The overseas departments and regions of France (french: départements et régions d'outre-mer, ; ''DROM'') are departments of France that are outside metropolitan France, the European part of France. They have exactly the same status as mainlan ...

and

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

of France located in South America. Matoury is a southern suburb of

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

, the ''

préfecture In France, a prefecture (french: préfecture) may be: * the ''chef-lieu de département'', the commune in which the administration of a department is located; * the ''chef-lieu de région'', the commune in which the administration of a region is l ...

'' and largest city of French Guiana.

Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport (french: link=no, Aéroport de Cayenne – Félix Eboué, ) is French Guiana's main international airport. It is located near the commune of Matoury, southwest of French Guiana's capital city of Cayenne. It is ...

, the main international airport of French Guiana, is located in the commune of Matoury.

Air Guyane Express The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

has its head office on the grounds of the airport.

Geography

Location

Matoury is located in

situated in South America. It is bordered by 5 communes: *

in the North * Rémire-Montjoly in the North-East *

Roura Roura is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city of Roura is bordered by Matoury and Montsinéry-Tonnegrande in the North, Kourou and Saint-Elie in the North West and West, ...

in the East, South-East and South *

Montsinéry-Tonnegrande Montsinéry-Tonnegrande is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Montsinéry-Tonnegrande is to the south-west of Cayenne. It contains a botanical garden, and various walking trails. P ...

in the West *

Macouria Macouria is a commune of French Guiana located midway between Cayenne and Kourou, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The seat of the commune is the settlement of Tonate, and so the commune is also known unoff ...

in the North-West The city used to be called "Tour de l'Isle" because it is bordered by water : * Fouillé inlet ( in French "Crique Fouillée") is the limit both with

and Rémire-Montjoly * The river

Mahury The Mahury is an extended estuary of French Guiana southeast of Cayenne. It reaches inland from the Atlantic Ocean, where it becomes known as the Oyak Ordu Yardımlaşma Kurumu (OYAK) (''lit. Military Mutual Aid Institution''), is a Turkish c ...

and the southern part of the river Tour de l'Île are the border with

* The Northern part of the river Tour de l'Île and the southern part of the Cayenne river are the boundary with

* The Northern part of the Cayenne river is the limit with

Town planning

The town planning of Matoury is very uneven. Outside the town-centre there are some urbanized areas along the road leading to

and

. PROGT, the professional lyceum in Balata is surrounded by forests. The city is urbanizing quickly as a suburb of

The main neighbourhoods of Matoury are: * Copaya and Barbadine in the town-centre * Concorde near the Félix Eboué airport * Larivot next to the Larivot harbour * Chemin de la Levée * Stoupan and Degrad on the river

* Sainte-Rose-de-Lima * Balata * Cogneau-Larivot * La Chaumière

Population

The commune of Matoury experienced a rapid suburbanisation in the late 20th century, and grew from 567 people in 1967 to 31,956 in 2017. Matoury is a cosmopolitan town. It is home to Amerindians (located in Sainte-Rose-de-Lima, Cécilia and Petit-la-Chaumière), to Afro–French Guianans, Metropolitans, Haïtians, Brazilians, Surinamese, Javanese, Chinese,

Maroon Maroon ( US/ UK , Australia ) is a brownish crimson color that takes its name from the French word ''marron'', or chestnut. "Marron" is also one of the French translations for "brown". According to multiple dictionaries, there are var ...

and people from

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

such as

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

History

In 1838, during the colonial era, the District of Matoury was the third of the French Guiana colony thanks to its large and diversely cultivated areas. The main productions were sugarcane,

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...

, achiote and pepper. Matoury is also home to remains of the past: * The Trio fort situated in the Levée location was designed by Vauban and was used to protect the Cayenne Isle, conjointly with the Cépérou and Diamant forts (in

and Rémire-Montjoly). * The Macaye-Duchassis habitation which used to be a cacao and sugar plantation, * The Lamirande manufacture in Lamirande, next to the PROGT, which used produced

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double ...

and

rum Rum is a liquor made by fermenting and then distilling sugarcane molasses or sugarcane juice. The distillate, a clear liquid, is usually aged in oak barrels. Rum is produced in nearly every sugar-producing region of the world, such as the Phili ...

between 1927 and 1950.

Administration

Gabriel Serville Gabriel Serville (born 27 September 1959) is a French-Guianese politician who was elected to the French National Assembly on 16 June 2012 representing French Guiana's 1st constituency.deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spai ...

to the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...

since 2012.

Nature

The Mirande trail is located in Matoury. The trail gives access to the

Mont Grand Matoury Nature Reserve The Mont Grand Matoury Nature Reserve ( French: ''Réserve naturelle nationale du mont Grand Matoury'') is a nature reserve in French Guiana, France. The reserve is located about eight kilometres south of Cayenne in the commune of Matoury It has b ...

on the eponymous mountain.

Notable people

* Alex Éric (1990), footballer.