Overseas region of France
French Guiana
French Guiana is an overseas region of France. It covers about 83,200 km² (32,100 mi²), the 2nd largest of the 18 regions in Natural Earth’s file for France, and about the same size as Austria. About 288,000 people live there (Wikidata, 2022).
100 km
- Austria
- French Guiana
Facts
| Area, measured | 83,200 km²32,100 mi² |
|---|---|
| Official area | 83,500 km²Wikidata · agrees with our measure |
| Share of France | 13%of the area of the 18 regions |
| Rank by area | 2nd of 18regions of France |
| Population | 288,000Wikidata, 2022 |
| Density | 3.5 people per km² |
| Capital | Cayenne |
| Latitude range | 2°N to 6°N |
| Type | Overseas region |
What the numbers say about French Guiana
- French Guiana covers 13% of the area of France and ranks 18th of 18 by population, against 2nd by area.
- It would take 7.65 regions the size of French Guiana to cover France.
- The largest, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, is 1.02× the size of French Guiana; the smallest, Mayotte, is 0.5% of it.
- Closest in size within France: Nouvelle-Aquitaine (85,000 km², 1.02×) and Occitania (73,500 km², 1.13×).
- Counted as a country, French Guiana would be larger than 124 of the 239 countries and territories listed on sizeversus, and would rank 116th by area, between Austria (84,000 km²) and Czechia (78,800 km²).
- With 288,000 people it would rank 180th of 238 by population.
- French Guiana has 3.5 people per km², about the density of Iceland, which has 3.6 per km².
- That makes French Guiana the 18th most densely populated of the 18 regions, 3.2% of the average for France (107 per km²).
- French Guiana has 295× the room per person of Île-de-France, the most crowded of the 18: 3.5 against 1,023 people per km².
- French Guiana lies at 4°N, close to the equator, where a standard web map (Web Mercator) is nearly true to size: it inflates area by only about 1.0×.
- Laid out flat, French Guiana stretches about 404 km north to south and 329 km east to west.
- Wikidata's official figure of 83,500 km² agrees with our measured area of 83,200 km², to within 2%.
Beside the regions of other countries
The closest region by area and by people in each of the other countries that have regional pages here, within a factor of 2. All 395 regions side by side.
- ChinaAreaChongqing1.01× · 82,400 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- United StatesAreaMaine0.99× · 84,300 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- IndiaAreaArunachal Pradesh1.03× · 80,600 km²PeopleLadakh1.05× · 274,000 (2011)
- GermanyAreaBavaria1.19× · 70,000 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- ItalyAreanone within 2×PeopleMolise0.95× · 304,000 (2019)
- SpainAreaCastilla–La Mancha1.05× · 79,400 km²PeopleLa Rioja89% · 324,000 (2024)
- JapanAreaHokkaido (Japan)1.06× · 78,800 km²PeopleTottori52% · 550,000 (2021)
- BrazilAreaSanta Catarina87% · 95,100 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- CanadaAreaNew Brunswick1.14× · 72,800 km²PeopleNewfoundland and Labrador56% · 511,000 (2021)
- AustraliaAreaTasmania (Australia)1.22× · 68,100 km²PeopleNorthern Territory1.10× · 262,000 (2024)
- MexicoAreaJalisco1.04× · 80,000 km²Peoplenone within 2×
- ThailandAreanone within 2×PeopleMae Hong Son1.01× · 285,000 (2020)
Where French Guiana ranks
French Guiana is the 2nd largest of the 18 regions of France.
Compare French Guiana
- Austria vs French Guiana
- Azerbaijan vs French Guiana
- Portugal vs French Guiana
- French Guiana vs Vanuatu
- Iceland vs French Guiana
- French Guiana vs Tasmania (Australia)
- French Guiana vs New Brunswick
- French Guiana vs Chongqing
- Santa Catarina vs French Guiana
- Maine vs French Guiana
- French Guiana vs Arunachal Pradesh
- French Guiana vs Jalisco
- French Guiana vs Castilla–La Mancha
- French Guiana vs Hokkaido (Japan)
- French Guiana vs Bavaria
- French Guiana vs Mae Hong Son
- French Guiana vs South Carolina
- French Guiana vs Tamaulipas
- French Guiana vs Assam
- West Bengal vs French Guiana
Share this outline
Sources and method
- Outline
- Natural Earth, 1:10m Admin 1 - States, Provinces, public domain: the one department in the file that makes up this overseas region, so nothing is joined.
- Boundary
- De facto, as drawn by Natural Earth.
- Area
- Measured on the WGS84 ellipsoid from the full-detail outline, shown rounded. The region’s whole area is counted, every island included.
- Official figures
- Area, population and capital from Wikidata (CC0), fetched 2026-11-12
- Population
- Wikidata, 2022. France’s units share the 2022 figures where Wikidata has them; the year is shown wherever the figure is.
- Matching
- Countries come from Natural Earth’s country file. Places whose status is contested and dependencies are never used as automatic matches. A region under 2,500 km² is matched against the small countries and island nations.
- Data built
- 2026-11-12