Roura 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 ...
of
French Guiana
French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. ...
, 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 area ...
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 sout ...
. The city of Roura is bordered by
Matoury
Matoury is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America.
Matoury is a southern suburb of Cayenne, the ''préfecture'' and largest city of French Guiana. Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, th ...
and
Montsinéry-Tonnegrande in the North,
Kourou
Kourou () is a commune in French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France in South America. Kourou is famous for being the location of the Guiana Space Centre, the main spaceport of France and the European Space Agency (ESA). It i ...
and
Saint-Elie in the North West and West, and finally by
Régina
Régina is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. With a land area of , it is the second-largest commune of France. The town is named after the first merchant who settled in the area.
...
in the South and East.
History
The town of Roura was founded in 1675 by
Jesuits. In 1786,
Marquis de Lafayette
Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (, ), was a French aristocrat, freemason and military officer who fought in the American Revolutio ...
attempted an early
emancipation
Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure economic and social rights, political rights or equality, often for a specifically disenfranch ...
of the slaves by allowing
small scale agriculture on the savanna ''Gabriel'' near Roury. The experiment failed, and was abandoned in 1796. Between 1809 and 1817, Roura was captured by the Portuguese and part of
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 ...
. In 1848, slavery was abolished.
Cacao is a village of
Hmong
Hmong may refer to:
* Hmong people, an ethnic group living mainly in Southwest China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand
* Hmong cuisine
* Hmong customs and culture
** Hmong music
** Hmong textile art
* Hmong language, a continuum of closely related to ...
farmers. The population were refugees from
Laos who were resettled in French Guiana in 1977
The reasoning was that living, and working conditions were similar to their native land.
Population
Roads
The city of Roura is home to 2 main roads.
* The RD6 road leads to the landing stage of
Kaw
Kaw or KAW may refer to:
Mythology
* Kaw (bull), a legendary bull in Meitei mythology
* Johnny Kaw, mythical settler of Kansas, US
* Kaw (character), in ''The Chronicles of Prydain''
People
* Kaw people, a Native American tribe
Places
* Kaw, Fr ...
. This road follows a
thalweg
In geography and fluvial geomorphology, a thalweg or talweg () is the line of lowest elevation within a valley or watercourse.
Under international law, a thalweg is the middle of the primary navigable channel of a waterway that defines the boun ...
through the primal forest.
* The
RN2 road leads to towns of
Régina
Régina is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. With a land area of , it is the second-largest commune of France. The town is named after the first merchant who settled in the area.
...
and
Saint-Georges.
Nature
In 1998, the
Kaw-Roura Marshland Nature Reserve was established, and covers an area of 94,700 hectares between Roura and Régina, and is sometimes nicknamed "the Everglades of Guyana".
The
Trésor Regional Nature Reserve is a 2,464 hectares
nature reserve
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...
situated on the flank of the
Kaw Mountain.
It became a
protected area in 2010.
Villages
*
Bélizon
*
Cacao
See also
*
Communes of French Guiana
References
External links
Official website of the commune(in French)
{{authority control
Communes of French Guiana