Cayenne

Average population growth of the Cayenne metropolitan area:

• 1961–1967: +1,122 people per year (+4.6% per year)
• 1967–1974: +1,079 people per year (+3.4% per year)
• 1974–1982: +1,799 people per year (+4.4% per year)
• 1982–1990: +2,206 people per year (+3.9% per year)
• 1990–1999: +2,812 people per year (+3.6% per year)
• 1999–2007: +2,856 people per year (+2.8% per year)
• 2007–2012: +1,421 people per year (+1.2% per year)
• 2012–2017: +3,486 people per year (+2.7% per year)

The places of birth of the 121,490 residents in the Cayenne metropolitan area at the 2012 census were the following:[12]

• 56.5% were born in French Guiana
• 12.0% in Metropolitan France
• 3.0% in Martinique
• 1.4% in Guadeloupe
• 0.3% in other parts of Overseas France
• 26.7% in foreign countries (notably Haiti and Brazil, followed by Suriname and Guyana); among these, 25.0% were immigrants and 1.7% were children of French citizens born abroad

These were the countries of birth of the immigrants living in the Cayenne metropolitan area at the 2009 census:[13]

• born in Haiti: 12,184
• born in Brazil: 7,627
• born in Suriname: 2,691
• born in Guyana: 2,537
• born in China: 924
• born in other countries: 3,713

Health conditions in Cayenne and French Guiana are generally good. The principal illnesses that cause mortality are circulatory, infectious and parasitic diseases, as well as cancer. A branch of the Pasteur Institute in Paris, located in Cayenne, conducts research on tropical and endemic local diseases and is renowned throughout Latin America. Life expectancy averages about 76 years for men and 83 years for women.[14] The main hospital of the city is the Andrée-Rosemon Hospital which opened in 1992.[15]

The palmists place.

Initially it was a place arranged to ventilate the city after the demolition of the walls in 1810. The place being occupied by herbs, it was therefore called Place de la Savane. Later they planted royal palms of Guisanbourg, and it became the place of the Palmistes. In 1880, a bronze column was erected bearing the bust of the Republic commemorating the taking of the Bastille. Under Governor Gerville-Reache transformed the place into an English garden, with artificial hills, flower beds and ornamental plants. Because of the rains, the place was regularly flooded, which is why Governor Chanel in 1925 bordered it with a network of cemented canals that can still be found today. There is a statue of Félix Éboué, an illustrious Guianan character, in place of the Merlet fountain. Today it is a place of life, meeting Cayenese. In the evening, trailers sell French fries, sandwiches, bamis and nassi (Javanese specialties), local juices and other takeaways.

Le jardin botanique de Cayenne, with the Gaston Monnerville statue in its center.

In 1786, Louis XVI had a garden that served as a deposit and nursery for various plants and trees from various destinations. Louis Claude Richard, director of the garden was responsible for bringing from India muscadiers, rattans, trees in, feet of cardamom and pepper. During this period, it was called King's Garden. In 1821 a house was built for the botanist. In 1879, he changed his name and became Botanical Garden is a floral park in the city center. It covers an area of three hectares. There is a Gaston Monnerville statue in the center of the garden.

Right aisle of the Cayenne market.

La place du Coq.

These two adjoining buildings are located near the old port of Cayenne. As early as 1703, a Place du Port appears on a map of the city of Cayenne, it then becomes Place du Marché in 1842. In 1888, a covered market and a public garden were built there. In 1907 the municipal council led by the mayor Eugène Gobert decides the removal of the garden for the construction of a new covered market, the one that we know today. In 1920 on the site of the old market was inaugurated the war memorial of the First World War surmounted by a rooster, which gave it the current name of the place.

Saint-Sauveur Cathedral of Cayenne after its renovation of 2005.

In 1823, the Reverend Father Nicolas Guiller and Baron Pierre Bernard Milius, administrator of French Guiana decided to replace the old church of Cayenne, the Church of St. Nicholas to the current place Leopold Heder. Work begun in 1825 was completed in 1833. The church was inaugurated in 1861. It is classified as a Historic Monument.

The high altar, the pulpit and the confessional of the chapel of the penitentiary of Ilet la Mère were transferred to the cathedral in 1876.

In 1933, the Apostolic Prefecture of French Guiana was transformed into a vicariate, the Apostolic Prefect became bishop. The church also changes status and becomes cathedral. It is consecrated as a cathedral on 9 November 1934 by Bishop Gourtay, then the first bishop of Guiana. In 1952, it was enlarged, during the work the workers found an inset lead cassette containing 21 coins, the oldest of which dates from Napoleon I and 20 seals from the time of Charles X.

Between 1952 and 1954 to the east on 13 m, the ceiling, the stained glass windows, the floors of the tribune, are replaced.

The Saint-Sauveur Cathedral of Cayenne has been recently renovated.

Carnival in the Cayenne streets in 2006.

Carnival parade in the Cayenne streets in 2007.

Touloulous in the Cayenne streets in 2007.

The carnival is one of the major events of the Capital. It takes place between Epiphany in early January and Ash Wednesday in February or March.

This festival belongs to the Guianan Creole culture. It is originally carnival as practiced in Europe. At the beginning of the colonization, the colonists practiced the carnival, but it was forbidden to the slaves. Braving ban, the slaves practiced the carnival, in the clandestine festivals. They were regaining some freedom, commemorating Africans, fertility and harvest, and making fun of settlers.

The fat days close the carnival :

• Fat Sunday: this is the day of the grand parade, the biggest carnival parade. concurrent groups to get prizes based on their performance.
• fat Monday: burlesque marriages, men dress up for brides and women for married couples.
• Mardi Gras: the carnivals go by in Diab rouj, everyone dresses in red and black.
• Ash Wednesday: black and white devils bury Vaval, the king of the carnival.

Groups disguised according to the theme of the year, and around decorated characters, to the rhythm of drums and brass. The preparation of the groups last from the month before the carnival. The groups parade in front of the thousands of spectators who are massed on the sidewalks and the stands arranged for the occasion.

The most known groups are:

• Kassialata
• Reno Band
• OsBand
• les Belles de la Madeleine

Brazilian bands similar to those at the Rio Carnival are also appreciated for their alluring rhythms and costumes. The Asian community of Cayenne also participates in the changes made by a characteristic touch, with the dragons.

The night business, called "Universities", organizes masked balls during which men come to dance with the Touloulous. Evenings are held on Friday and Saturday nights. This tradition is peculiar to French Guiana, it does not exist anywhere else.

Since the 1990s, Tololo parties have been held, where men disguise themselves and play the role of the Touloulous. These evenings are more and more popular and take place several times during the carnival.

The carnival dances are mazurka, biguine and piké djouk. It is the Touloulou who invites men to dance, and they can not refuse. Only the Touloulous have the right to dance, if a woman is not disguised, the orchestra stops.

The Cayenne Ballroom is called Nana, where the Blues Star band plays.