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French Guiana wasn't founded like other countries in South America; it was a settlement from France under French control. Before it was under French control, it was ruled over by the Dutch and the British. During the Neolithic wars, Guiana was under Portuguese rule, then, finally, after Portuguese rule, French Guiana was under French rule and has continued to be under French Rule. -
In 1850, French Guiana discovered large amounts of gold, which boosted the economy, but this prosperity didn't last long. After the new economic growth, there was a vast decline. This decline happened due to the collapse of the mining frontier. Due to a lack of control, the economy shifted, and the country entered a period of decline. And French Guiana never regained the same prosperity. But they had other gold rushes, but not as prosperous as the first gold rush. -
In 1946, French Guiana was given French Overseas Territory. This essentially meant Guiana was a French Territory but outside of France. France has 13 colonies overseas. In 1970, French Guiana was very neglected, which helped introduce reforms to help French Guiana become a better country, and have France help Guiana to be better. -
In 1946, French Guiana officially was a part of the French Department, but many people wanted freedom and didn't want to be controlled or live under French Rule. Their independence movement was hard due to dependence on France. French Guiana was overlooked by France, but it still needed their help economically, which caused a lot of pushback. Unfortunately, to this day, French Guiana doesn't have the freedom it wants and deserves due, thats still due to its dependence on France. -
In 1946, when French Guiana became an official part of the French department, people from French Guiana sought freedom. They began implementing reforms to improve their chances of achieving it in the future. There was a lot of colonial dependence, which kept making it harder for French Guiana to move away from France. -
In French Guiana, a penal colony in Cayenne, it was a colony, and they used it to imprison political prisoners. This place was inhuman and had extremely harsh conditions. Many prisoners worked or starved to death due to the conditions. In 1952, it was closed down to harsh punishment. Now it's a jungle-like fortress. -
In 1960, the European Space Agency was built. It was built due to how close they are to the equator. This New building helped French Guiana become a tourist attraction, causing popularity to rise within French Guiana due to Europe and Russia using this Space agency. -
In the 1970's French Guiana had an unstable economy. They made bad investments, which led to instability. Then, in the mid-1970s, the market kept changing, causing prices to not stay the same. same. During this time, French Guiana was not in a good place overall financially. -
In 2014, in French Guiana, all of a sudden, another influx of gold came again. In only a matter of time, French Guiana is “the largest gold reserve in the world”. With all the rapid mining for gold, a lot of deforestation started to occur in French Guiana, and a massive cyanide spill occurred within the forests. -
After multiple space centers were opened in French Guiana, they received military supervision to ensure the space stations would never be attacked. The number of police officers in French Guiana in 2017 was 920, which is a lot due to French Guiana being a minority country and not having a lot of help from France.