History of French Guiana
The first major French settlement was at Cayenne in 1643. The colony was at various times controlled by the Dutch, English, French, and Portuguese until French rule was restored in 1817. Gold was discovered in 1853, attracting new settlers. The colony, however, failed to develop. This failure was largely caused by the economic dislocation that resulted from the abolition of slavery, on which agriculture was based, and the establishment of harsh French penal camps in the colony, which gave it an unsavory reputation and discouraged immigration. Boundary disputes with Brazil and Suriname were settled in 1891, 1899, and 1915. However, disputes with Suriname continued to occur. In 1946 the colony was made an overseas department of France, and the people became French citizens. A space center for satellite launching was built by France near Kourou in the late 1960's.
In the 1970's and 1980's, separatist groups demanding independence gained adherents. By the mid-1990's, however, opinion polls indicated that most voters wanted only greater autonomy and that support for separatism had dropped significantly.