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Cayenne
Cayenne
Capital, prefecture and commune
	2012 aerial view of Cayenne
	Coat of arms
	Location of the commune (in red) within French Guiana
	Location of Cayenne
	Coordinates: 4°56′14″N 52°19′34″W / 4.9372°N 52.3260°W
Country	France
Overseas region and department	French Guiana
Arrondissement	Cayenne
Intercommunality	Centre Littoral
Government
• Mayor (2020-)	Sandra Trochimara
Area 1	23.60 km2 (9.11 sq mi)
• Urban (2010)	206.9 km2 (79.9 sq mi)
• Metro (2010)	5,087 km2 (1,964 sq mi)
Population (Jan. 2012)	55,198
• Density	2,300/km2 (6,100/sq mi)
• Urban (Jan. 2012)	106,358
• Urban density	510/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
• Metro (Jan. 2012)	121,308
• Metro density	24/km2 (62/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−03:00
INSEE/Postal code	97302 /97300
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Cayenne is a commune, the capital (prefecture) of the French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France that is in northern South America. The city is on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne river on the Atlantic coast.

History

The first European settlement in the region was founded on the Cayenne island in 1604 by French people sent by Henry IV but the settlement was destroyed by Portuguese to enforce the Treaty of Tordesillas

French colonists came back in 1643 and founded Cayenne, but they were forced to leave once more following Amerindian attacks. In 1664, France finally succeeded at establishing a permanent settlement at Cayenne. Over the next decade the colony changed hands between the French, Dutch, and English, before being restored to France. It was captured by an Anglo-Portuguese force at the invasion of Cayenne in 1809 and administered from Brazil until 1814, when it was returned to French control. It was used as a French penal colony from 1854 to 1938.

Geography

Cayenne is a city along the Atlantic coast on the sides of a common estuary of the Cayenne and Montsinéry rivers. It has an area of 23.60 km² (9.11 sq mi); at the city hall, the altitude is 53 m (174 ft).^[4]

The commune is at 268 km (167 mi) from Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and 64 km (40 mi) from Kourou. The distances to other cities out of French Guiana are:

Paris, the national capital, la capitale nationale, 7,100 km (4,412 mi).
Fort-de-France, capital of Martinique, 1,500 km (932 mi).
Paramaribo, capital of Surinam, 342 km (213 mi) to the northwest.
Macapá, capital of Amapá (Brazil), 777 km (483 mi).

The city is surrounded by:

Climate

Cayenne has an equatorial climate (Köppen climate classification: Af) bordering on a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen climate classification: Am) with a dry season and a heavy monsoon the rest of year and no cold season.

The average temperature for the year in Cayenne is 26.2 °C (79.2 °F). The warmest month, on average, is September with an average temperature of 27.2 °C (81.0 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 26.1 °C (79.0 °F).

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Cayenne is 3,205.5 mm (126.2 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is May with 513.1 mm (20.2 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is September with an average of 43.2 mm (1.7 in). There is an average of 201.0 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in May with 27.0 days and the least precipitation occurring in September with 5.0 days.^[5]

Climate data for Cayenne, French Guiana, France
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	27 (81)	28 (82)	28 (82)	28 (82)	28 (82)	28 (82)	29 (84)	30 (86)	31 (88)	30 (86)	30 (86)	28 (82)	29 (84)
Daily mean °C (°F)	26 (79)	26 (79)	26 (79)	26 (79)	26 (79)	26 (79)	26 (79)	26 (79)	27 (81)	27 (81)	26 (79)	26 (79)	26 (79)
Average low °C (°F)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	23 (73)	22 (72)	22 (72)	22 (72)	22 (72)	22 (72)	23 (73)	23 (73)
Average rainfall mm (inches)	380 (15.0)	320 (12.6)	380 (15.0)	380 (15.0)	510 (20.1)	390 (15.4)	200 (7.9)	100 (3.9)	40 (1.6)	50 (2.0)	120 (4.7)	290 (11.4)	3,160 (124.6)
Source: Weatherbase.com [1]