The original inhabitants of French Guiana were Carib and Arawak Indians. By the mid-17th century, the Dutch, British and French had all established colonies in the region. Though territorial and commercial arrangements shifted frequently, France consolidated control of the region in 1817. Sugar and rainforest timber became the colony's economic mainstays. Slaves brought from Africa worked the sugar plantations, though their success was limited by tropical diseases and the hostility of the local Indians. The plantations' output never matched that of other French Caribbean colonies, and after the abolition of slavery in 1848, the local industry virtually collapsed.

At about the same time, it was decided that penal settlements in Guiana would reduce the cost of prisons in France and contribute to the development of the colony. Some 70,000 prisoners - including Alfred Dreyfus and Henri 'Papillon' Charrière - arrived between 1852 and 1939. Those who survived their initial sentence were forced to remain in Guiana as exiles for an equal period of time, but as 90% of them died of malaria or yellow fever, the policy did little for population growth.

Guiana remained a penal colony until after WWII, becoming a department of France in 1946. Since then, many natives have called for increased autonomy, though only around 5% favor independence from France, partly due to the vast subsidies the French government supplies. The European Space Centre at Kourou has brought a corner of French Guiana into the modern world and attracted a sizable expatriate work force.

French Guiana is predominantly Roman Catholic, and French is the official language. Nearly everyone also speaks the native creole, French Guianese, while Maroons (descendants of escaped slaves who established villages in the interior) and Amerindians maintain their own religions and speak Arawak, Carib, Emerillon, Oyapi, Palicur and Wayana. Tokens of the country's French connection - francs, gendarmes and sidewalk cafes - mingle with local influences - Carnaval, Maroon woodcarving and Caribbean music and dance - to give Guiana its decidedly non-Latin air.