I made this gallery of pictures for another thread, but I thought people here might also find these interesting, so here it is for you.

As of January 2007, there are officially 2,563,818 people living in the French overseas departments/regions and territories, which is exactly 4% of the French Republic's total population. These French overseas departments/regions and territories are spread across the Caribbean, South America, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific Ocean.

The largest French overseas cities are (ranked by the population of their urban areas):
- Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe): 171,773 inhabitants (in March 1999)
- Saint-Denis-de-la-Réunion (Réunion): 158,139 (in March 1999)
- Nouméa (New Caledonia): 146,245 (in Sept. 2004)
- Saint-Pierre (Réunion): 140,700 (in Jan. 2004)
- Fort-de-France (Martinique): 134,727 (in March 1999)
- Papeete (French Polynesia): 127,635 (in Dec. 2002)
- Saint-Paul (Réunion): 92,500 (in Jan. 2004)
- Cayenne (French Guiana): 84,181 (in March 1999; more than 100,000 today)

Saint-Denis-de-la-Réunion

Saint-Denis-de-la-Réunion is the capital of Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

The old city hall
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/53/Mairie-saint-denis.JPG/600px-Mairie-saint-denis.JPG

General view of the city
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/SaintDenisReunion003.jpg/1000px-SaintDenisReunion003.jpg

The suburbs
http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/474/steclotilde0128mk.jpg

The University of Réunion
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Universite_de_la_Reunion.jpg/450px-Universite_de_la_Reunion.jpg

A new development in Saint-Denis, under construction
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/98/2512-Grue-Saint-Denis.jpg/800px-2512-Grue-Saint-Denis.jpg

The dual tram-train line that will be built to link Saint-Denis and the neighboring towns. It will be similar to the type of Stadtbahn pioneered in Karlsruhe.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/4555/reupersbelair2021wc.jpg

http://img303.imageshack.us/img303/5673/saintdenisblvdsud8he.jpg

In between Saint-Denis and the other towns it will look more like a train.
http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8521/reupersbelair7rm.jpg

Fort-de-France

Fort-de-France is the capital of Martinique in the Caribbean.

http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/8097/sanstitre19rd.jpg

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/5570/6150308en.jpg

http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5959/6150320xx.jpg

High-rise building under construction in Fort-de-France. Here are the renderings:
http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/1915/tower4vs5.jpg

http://x5.freeshare.us/122fs3175198.jpg

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5690/image20wy.jpg

http://x5.freeshare.us/122fs3175456.jpg

http://x5.freeshare.us/122fs3175289.jpg

Construction of this high-rise started last year:
http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/254/work7wk.jpg

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/8242/image1lw1.jpg

Restructuring of the La Savane park in the center of Fort-de-France:
http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/558/lasavaneou6.jpg

Construction of a commercial mall in the historical center of Fort-de-France:
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/116/perrinon67pv.jpg

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/1430/perrinon89zd.jpg

Work on a motorway/freeway in the suburbs of Fort-de-France:
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2920/869cc19810bc193de20ebbfmt9.jpg

Nouméa

Nouméa is the capital of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. The standard of living is the same as in Western Europe.

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/1791/mysterisdr8.jpg

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/1279/mysterarummz9.jpg

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/6250/noumea301ig2.jpg

http://lavieosoleil.canalblog.com/albums/noumea/m-anse_vata.jpg

The new Tjibaou Cultural Centre, built by Renzo Piano in the suburbs of Nouméa and opened in 1998, presents the art and culture of the native Melanesian inhabitants. No offence to Sydney, but I think it is by far the most iconic building complex in the South Pacific.

http://www.architektur.tu-darmstadt.de/upload/powerhouse_typepicture/953/picturehigh/project1046_high.jpg

http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/6450/helicotjibaouah9.jpg

http://www.nouvelle-caledonie.gouv.fr/sections/le_departement/phototeque/vues_de_la_province4471/portal_repository/2121869911__0001/preview

http://membres.lycos.fr/sylpress/VOYAGE/NCALEDONIE/NCAL022.JPG

http://membres.lycos.fr/sylpress/VOYAGE/NCALEDONIE/NCAL024.JPG

It does look great.

What do these French Overseas cities have as their primary industries? Is it primarily tourism?

Cool. Nice suburb at Nouméa.

Wow!!!!!!! Noumea!!!! I'm now googling this place! hahaha! Amazing!
That Tjibaou Cultural Center is Indeed Very Iconic! More beautiful that Sydney Opera! Blends Well with Nature.....

Thanks Brisavoine I lived two years in Saint Denis

Maison des Civilisations de la Réunion
It is a museum of civilisation of Reunion island since this iland has people from Europe, China, Africa, India and Middle East It make this departement one of diverse of France

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5366/47616282ap0.jpg
http://stickyesman.free.fr/divers/x-tu_reunion_museecivilisation.jpg

Two high-rises planned for Cambraie a new city planned in the Grand West urban area (St Paul wich has now more than 100,000 inhabitants)
http://www.clicanoo.com/IMG/jpg/CAMBAIE-3.jpg
hypodrome of Cambraie
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/3980/hippodrome2mq3.jpg
Other rendering of tis new city Crambraie would be between 30,000 and 40,000 inhabitants
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/4840/pontonkt5.jpg
http://img124.imageshack.us/img124/1037/tramya6.jpg

The map of the the light rail
http://www.lemoniteur-expert.com/depeches/picto/D38VRK59CtraceTTOK.jpg

Brisavoine do you have some news about the freeway bridge wich was ploughed up ?
This bridge was a vital way for la Reunion with over 50,000 cars per day
http://www.lemoniteur-expert.com/depeches/picto/D3A801ZPSpontvignette1.jpg
The construction of the Tamarin Freeways between Saint Paul and le Tampon ?
And the reconstruction of the freeway between Saint-Denis and Le Port ?


For understand, the maps of Reunion island
cities, airports and rivers
http://www.mi-aime-a-ou.com/image_presentation/carte_ile_reunion.jpg
the freeway, highway and road.
http://www.mi-aime-a-ou.com/image_presentation/carte_routes_ile_reunion.gif

What do these French Overseas cities have as their primary industries? Is it primarily tourism?
No, tourism is only a minor sector of the economy in these cities. The number one sector is administration (civil service), since these cities serve as the capital of their territory, with lots of local and state administrations. The transportation sector is also important since these cities usually have the main airport and seaport of their territory. According to the French Wikipedia, the container port of Fort-de-France is the 5th-largest in France (!). I know Le Havre is the number one container port in France, then there's probably Marseille and Dunkirk, but I don't know which one is fourth. Fort-de-France is fifth, interesting.

These cities also have manufacturing industries, but as elsewhere in the developped world, the manufacturing sector is small, the largest sector being services, same as in western Europe or North America. Nouméa, however, has a big industrial sector based on nickel extraction, treatment and shipping. Nouméa is arguably the most industrial city in the South Pacific, and its harbor ships large quantities of nickel (New Caledonia is the largest producer of nickel in the world). I didn't show you pictures of that ugly industrial part of town above.

That's the industrial part of Nouméa. Thanks God it's in the northern suburbs, quite sheltered from the southern pretty areas of Nouméa that I showed you before.
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/yug/Noumea/Images/sln/01.jpg

http://www.asterducaillou.nc/IMG_1932.jpg

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/yug/Noumea/Images/sln/02.jpg

Even with an industrial environment, the beauty of New Caledonia strikes the eyes.
http://www.albert-videt.eu/photographie/carnet-de-route/nouvelle-caledonie_11-2004/images/nouvelle-caledonie_11-2004_040.jpg

Don't know if this is the right place to ask the question, but hey. Do any of you guys know if french language courses are offered in these overseas parts of France? I want to improve my French, doing it in one of these exotic places must be great!

Don't know if this is the right place to ask the question, but hey. Do any of you guys know if french language courses are offered in these overseas parts of France? I want to improve my French, doing it in one of these exotic places must be great!
You're right, it's not really the right place to ask that question, but anyway, here is your answer: these places are part of the French educational system, so there are French high schools and universities same as in metropolitan France. I don't know if they offer classes for foreign students wishing to learn French, but you can always ask them. In Paris I know one of the Paris universities offers summer classers for foreign students wishing to learn French.

The best place to ask is at the "rectorat" (aka "académie") of each of these departments and territories. The "rectorat" is the local branch of the French Ministry of Education in charge of overseeing schools and universities in the department or territory. Make a search in google for each rectorat. Here is the rectorat of New Caledonia for instance:
http://www.ac-noumea.nc/sitevr/

My most favorite is the "vice-rectorat" of the far-away islands of Wallis and Futuna lost in the middle of the Pacific Ocean:
http://www.wallis.co.nc/vrwf/

On their website they explain how the history and geography curriculums should be adapted to the particular situation of Wallis and Futuna. So for example instead of concentrating on Roman and Greek Antiquity as in metropolitan France, they ask history professors to spend a lot of time on Polynesian migrations in pre-European times (which professors obviously don't do in metropolitan France). And they ask geography professor to understand that Wallisian and Futunian pupils have no clue what a "city" is, so the professor must pay great attention when teaching the geography lessons dealing with urbanism and cities. Reading the details of this adapted curriculum from the "vice-rectorat" was quite fascinating I must say.

Joop20, indeed, there are structures for foreigners in the overseas territories where you can learn french

http://www.cesalanguages.com/main/guadeloupe_intro.htm

But I have no idea what they are worth though.

The Reunion island has always been to me one of the most interesting places on earth I wish to visit

There's something about such a big city in the middle of the ocean that really intrigues me, its cultural diversity, its geological and volcanic situation, its demographics, etc

http://www.nouvelle-caledonie.gouv.fr/sections/le_departement/phototeque/vues_de_la_province4471/portal_repository/2121869911__0001/preview

Is this the "institut francais" in nouméa, it looks intriguing and daring! Great!:cheers:

Nice collection for the projects. French will be better after this.

so many great projects! love it

Nouméa

Nouméa is the capital of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. The standard of living is the same as in Western Europe.



Have you been to Noumea? It doesn't have a Western European living standard. It's still a nice place though.

france has tropical palm trees?
BTW, some are futruristic

france has tropical palm trees?
BTW, some are futruristic

Metropolitan France have not a tropical climate, but there is some Palms in the south of the country (especially in the French Riviera).

But here, we are to deal with the French Overseas Departements and Territories, who are parts of France located in the Pacific, Caribbean sea and Indian Ocean (there is also Antartic territories and St Pierre et Miquelon near Canada).

Many of these territories have tropical climate, you can consider them as France but its differs from Metroplitan France that you know :)

hm... There is palm trees that grow in Britanny ... yes north-west of France, it's called micro-climatic regions.

Eyone, i misread your answer. Sorry!

Have you been to Noumea? It doesn't have a Western European living standard. It's still a nice place though.
In 2004, according to official figures from the New Caledonia statistics institute, the GDP per capita of New Caledonia was 25,352 US dollars. Greater Nouméa account for 63% of New Caledonia's population, and GDP per capita there is significantly higher than in the rest of New Caledonia, so I would say the GDP per capita in Greater Noumea is possibly about 29,000 US dollars whereas the GDP per capita of the rest of New Caledonia is about 19,000 US dollars (just an educated guess).

For comparisons, in the same same year (2004), the GDP per capita of New Zealand was 24,706 US dollars according to the World Bank. The GDP per capita of Spain was 24,577 US dollars, Singapore 24,134, Italy 28,782, Australia 31,421. So I think it's not an exageration to say that Nouméa has a West European standard of living. Not to mention that there is also a part of the population who are metropolitan French retirees spending their retirement in Nouméa. These people have a revenue (pensions) but they do not produce anything, thereby artificially decreasing the GDP per capita of New Caledonia (the same happens on the French Riviera where the high proportion of retirees gives a low GDP per capita for the French Riviera which does not correspond to the real revenues of people there). In Nouméa this phenomenon happens too, although not to the same extent as on the French Riviera.

Cayenne, the capital of French Guiana, is known the world over for its pepper and its former penal settlement, but the once sleepy French tropical backwater has now become a booming city due to high birth and immigration from neighboring countries (the GDP per capita of French Guiana was US$16,030 in 2004 according to Eurostat, higher than any other Latin American country, more than 3 times higher than Brazil for example). The city and its suburbs together have approximately 110,000 inhabitants at the moment, but if INSEE projections are any guide, Cayenne should have between 200,000 and 300,000 inhabitants by 2030. This would then make it the largest French overseas city. As always, only time will tell.

First, a few views of Cayenne. Bear in mind that the extreme tropical weather is saturated with humidity (close to 100% humidity in the air), so the facades of any freshly refurbished building corrode extremely quickly, which explains why some buildings look shabby on the pictures, even though they are not really shabby. Just paint and metal corrosion.

The city center is located between the ocean and some small coastal mountains, the only coastal mountains to be found between the Amazon and the Orinoco rivers (the coasts of Guyana, Suriname and Amapa are completely flat):
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/2836/dscf0407sl0.jpg

Tropical clouds about to burst over central Cayenne:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/254/456037427_7301b6631c_b.jpg

View of the city and some suburbs from afar:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/19/100559111_be4945f00b.jpg?v=0

Central square:
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/8225/p10100351mb.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/PlacedesPalmistes.JPG/800px-PlacedesPalmistes.JPG

Cayenne city hall:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c3/MairiedeCayenne.JPG/800px-MairiedeCayenne.JPG

Mural on Avenue Charles de Gaulle:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/232/456083041_4dd395edd4_b.jpg

Old creole houses in the city center:
http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/6748/dscf0143ps9.jpg

The extreme tropical weather is taking its toll. That's what happens when landlords do not renovate the facades for several years:
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/5227/dsc000129yp.jpg

The municipality has launched a project to refurbish all the old creole houses of the city center:
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/3576/dsc000057gg.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/fr/4/42/Batise_refaite1.JPG

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/188/456027811_fafd1cc427_b.jpg

Committee of Jacques Chirac's friends!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/202/456042944_7329cced55_b.jpg

A 1970s suburb of Cayenne. It feels almost like a suburb of Paris.
http://img118.imageshack.us/img118/8506/dscf0355lh7.jpg

Cayenne is lucky to have some of the only beaches between the Amazon and the Orinoco (almost the entire coast between these two mighty rivers is swampland and mangrove):
http://www.conservatoire-du-littoral.fr/common/scripts/get_element.Asp?ID=4285

The freestyle French swimmer Malia Metella, Olympic silver medalist, at a beach in the suburbs of Cayenne:
http://www.imagesandco.com/upload/photos_gripe/MAL01.jpg

At the beach in Cayenne.
http://www.imagesandco.com/upload/photos_gripe/MAL04.jpg

Beaches in a southern suburb of Cayenne. Who would have thought the penal settlement of Cayenne was such a paradise?
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/122/309795989_e762362f10_b.jpg

The need to accommodate a booming population means there are lots of urban projects and constructions going on in Cayenne at the moment. From hospitals (Cayenne hospital has the most births of any French hospitals), to schools, to police stations, it's a tropical SimCity in the making if you will.

An interesting project is the creation of a university campus. So far French Guiana doesn't have its own university, it is attached to the Université des Antilles et de la Guyane based in the French Caribbean, but the booming population has made it necessary to open a university campus in French Guiana. The campus is an ambitious project, part of France's goal to increase its presence in South America. A bridge on the Oyapock River between French Guiana and Brazil due to be completed in 2008 will open the first land route between Brazil and France. France has an active policy of cooperation with Brazil, and the Cayenne university campus is intended as a francophone "center of excellence" in South America, attracting international students from Brazil and other Latin American countries who will be offered French higher education at a cheaper cost than if they had to go all the way to Metropolitan France. The campus will also train South American teachers of French, part of the Francophonie Organization efforts to expand the French language in South America.

The Cayenne university campus is already twinned with the University of Brasilia and is promoting itself in the university fairs of Sao Paulo, Rio, and Recife. You can find more about the campus here: http://www.poluniv-guyane.fr/index.php

Here are some maps and renderings of the future campus. Work has already started. It will be located very near the beaches I showed above.

The banner says "A site of excellence between Europe and South America":
http://img79.imageshack.us/img79/1654/cayenne1yc9.jpg

http://img54.imageshack.us/img54/4111/troubiranbigaf7.jpg

http://img57.imageshack.us/img57/5614/planpugbigoo4.gif

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/9844/vueaeriennehg1.jpg

Buildings with student services (cafeteria, health center, student associations, etc.):
http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/8661/ve2rd8.jpg

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/9303/ve1mc2.jpg

The building where French teachers will be trained:
http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/7880/iufmwebww8.jpg

http://img485.imageshack.us/img485/4961/iufm2mz9.jpg

University student classrooms:
http://www.poluniv-guyane.fr/data/Image/illustrations/PES1.jpg

http://www.poluniv-guyane.fr/data/Image/illustrations/PES2.jpg

http://img274.imageshack.us/img274/8489/pugfuturjy1.jpg

http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/3143/rectoratfuturnf9.jpg

Work under way. Construction of the campus was officially started Tuesday last week (July 10, 2007) at a ceremony with officials and academics.
http://img274.imageshack.us/img274/8990/rectoratpieujb9.jpg

http://img50.imageshack.us/img50/9509/rectoratpreliminairevv0.jpg

thanks for those new posts, brisavoine

did not know anything about this city

It was revealed last week that Nouméa (160,000 inhabitants), the capital of New Caledonia, will have its first high rise building. The tower, due to be built in the new Ducos business district to the north of downtown Nouméa, will be 50 meters (165 ft) high and will have 19 floors. It's still a rather modest tower, but you got to start somewhere. Will Nouméa someday ressemble Auckland? The city is currently booming, and the population is expected to rise to about 400,000 inhabitants by 2050, which is about the size of Wellington, NZ.

Satellite view of Nouméa showing the Ducos area:

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4619/noum1ni4.png

Screenshots of the tower:

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/4649/noum1hx2.jpg

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/1120/noum2in5.jpg

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/7439/noum3ud0.jpg

http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/2264/noum4zx1.jpg

Larger view of the Ducos projects:

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/6499/noum5jk6.jpg

The beach districts: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/images/icons/icon10.gif

http://lavieosoleil.canalblog.com/albums/noumea/m-anse_vata.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/9539/55972966ansevataep6.jpg

Nouméa is built on hills like San Francisco. It's probably the most scenic French city. A skyscraper district in the middle of this scenic city would look fantastic, but it will probably take a century before that happens.

http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/5113/55972960noumaja5.jpg

http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/4480/noumeaot1.jpg

An article about urban development in Nouméa, New Caledonia, published yesterday in the French reference newspaper Le Monde. I'm only translating the three first paragraphs (translation notes between square brackets).

North of Nouméa, a city is being born to absorb the island's growth

Le Monde
March 29, 2008

On the northern outskirts of Nouméa, on a hilly land covering 600 hectares [1,500 acres] and whose indented coastline forms two headlands jutting out into the Coral Sea, a 25,000 to 30,000 people city is going to appear. The ZAC [under French law, ZACs are development zones in partnership between private developers and public authorities] of Dumbéa-sur-Mer is one of the largest development zones in France at the moment.

Far from the gloomy economic climate of Metropolitan France, New Caledonia is experiencing an incredible economic boom, with growth superior to 4.5% a year. Boosted by high nickel prices, the archipellago of New Caledonia, which possesses a quarter of the world's known reserves of nickel ore, is being completely transformed by gigantic projects reaching the limits of the territory's capacity.

One of the consequences of this sparkling growth is the increasing population pressure on Nouméa and its suburbs, the only urban area on the Rock [the Rock, [I]le Caillou in French, is the affectionate nickname of New Caledonia]. Real estate prices are skyrocketing and about 30,000 people are waiting for social housing, two-third of whom live in sheds on the outskirts of the capital.

The rest of the article for those who can read French: http://www.lemonde.fr/aujourd-hui/article/2008/03/29/au-nord-de-noumea-une-ville-nait-pour-absorber-la-croissance-de-l-ile_1028796_3238.html
(in a nutshell: Dumbéa-sur-Mer will cost 252 million euros to develop, excluding the actual building of houses and apartment blocks by private developers, but the project is expected to bring 1.6 billion euros to the economy of New Caledonia; 6,000 dwellings will be built, half of which social housing, along with two high schools, six primary schools, one gymnasium, several stores, and a large public hospital and Pasteur Institute research center housed along the sea in the largest building ever built in New Caledonia; environmental associations have successfully lobbied to preserve 20 hectares of the mangrove and patches of the original forest of New Caledonia; local feuds between the New Caledonian branch of the UMP, Nicolas Sarkozy's party, and a local New Caledonian center-right party which seceded from the UMP could slow the development project)
Using the previous satellite map I have indicated what I believe are the two headlands of the future district of Dumbéa-sur-Mer mentioned in the article:

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5086/noum1ni4ck7.png

Nice, I've a question, are those islands actually counted as part of the French territory? or just mainland France's territory the only one that counts?

It surprises me that so few Frenchmen live in Guyane.

According to Wiki the population is around 200,000.

The population of Puerto Rico is 4,000,000, and Guyane is at least four times larger (the percapita income is about the same).

Why aren't thousands of Frenchmen moving to such a tropical paradise? It could be the 'Quebec' of South America (without the political problems).

^^
They are a demographic boom, if you look on "wiki France", you will see that there were only 115 000 inhabitants in 1990, 220 000 today and there would be 400 000 in 2030.
But the Guyana is first of all a zone of dense forest where alone some cities exist.

http://www.europe-guyane.fr/ressources/Image/vue%20correcte.jpg

The economic boom is due to the aerospace with the installation of the European Space Agency and the site of launching of Ariane in the middle of 1970's. And now Services and public equipments are progressively accomplished.

Cayenne, the first city of Guyana counts 70 000 inhabitants, but only 40000 in 1990 and 50000 in 2000.

Kourou, the implantion's city of the ESA had 1000 inhabitants in 1970 and 20 000 today.

Nice, I've a question, are those islands actually counted as part of the French territory? or just mainland France's territory the only one that counts?
All these islands are part of France, and their inhabitants are French citizens, with French passports; they vote in French and European elections, and send representatives to the French parliament. Legally speaking, there's a difference between the overseas departments (such as French Guiana and Réunion), which have the same legal status as Metropolitan France (the European part of France), and the overseas collectivities (such as New Caledonia and French Polynesia) which have more autonomy and are not part of the EU (although they vote in European elections, go figure!). So broadly speaking the overseas departments have a status somewhat similar to the Canary Islands with respect to Spain, whereas the overseas collectivities have a status somewhat similar to the Faroe Islands with respect to Denmark.
It surprises me that so few Frenchmen live in Guyane.

Why aren't thousands of Frenchmen moving to such a tropical paradise?
The climate of French Guiana is not really paradise. Humidity in the air is close to 100%, and temperatures close to 30 degress celsius (90F), so just imagine how hot and sultry that is. Bit like Louisiana on a hot and humid summerday, except all year long. The French government tried several times to send settlers to French Guiana in the past (in the 17th century, in the 19th century), but it always failed due to the harsh climate and yellow fever. If you want paradise try New Caledonia or Réunion where temperatures are alway balmy but never too hot (like 25-28 degrees), and humidity in the air is not too high.

The second reason why not more Frenchman live in French Guiana, beside the climate, is because French Guiana was for a long time a penal settlement, so it had and still has kept somehow a bad reputation in France. People think of it as Hell on Earth, a place with jungles, horrible insects, etc.

Finally, there is the economy. The economy of French Guiana is not very developped, so it's hard to attract lots of newcomers from Metropolitan France. And the French are not really entrepreneurs (despite having coined the word), so don't expect tens of thousands of French people moving to the new frontier of French Guiana with a mind to create new businesses or exploit the untapped potential of French Guiana. The good side of this is it has spared French Guiana the ravages of industrialisation and urbanization, thus preserving the rain forest, which is one of the best preserved parts of the Amazonian jungle, despite the illegal Brazilian gold diggers. Now that biodiversity is being hailed worldwide as a great asset, French Guiana has discovered that it has a huge asset with its preserved biodiversity.
Cayenne, the first city of Guyana counts 70 000 inhabitants, but only 40000 in 1990 and 50000 in 2000.
Actually Cayenne has more like 100,000 people in its urban area (which includes Remire-Montjolly and Matoury). It had 84,181 inhabitants in 1999, and 62,920 in 1990.

I have a friend who decided to go to French Guiana for his first job. He had previously studied and made some internships in different places around the world (Texas, England, Africa). He was looking for some kind of adventure and new experience in Guiana. After one year in Cayenne, he came back to Paris because he could not stand the place anymore: harsh climate, social and racial tensions, isolation, etc. French Guiana is not really a paradise despite its tropical location!

Here is more information from Le Monde about the public hospital and Pasteur Institute research center which is going to be built in the new district of Dumbéa-sur-Mer, north of Nouméa, New Caledonia. The whole complex will be known as the Médipôle de Koutio, i.e. the "medic pole", or "medical complex" of Koutio. I'm translating the whole article.
A Médipôle with Pacific touch

Le Monde
March 29, 2008

In the heart of the ZAC of Dumbéa-sur-Mer, in the end of 2012, will stand the Médipôle of Koutio. Meant as a replacement for the ageing Gaston-Bourret hospital of Nouméa, this 30 billion pacific francs (252 million euros) complex will be the largest building ever built on the territory with 100,000 m² [1.1 million sq. ft] of floor space. On a magnificent site along the sea it will comprise a 608-bed hospital, the Pasteur Institute, and the New Caledonian Cancer Centre.

The Metropolitan French firm Michel Beauvais & Partners, winner of the architectural competition, designed a building strongly inspired by the New Caledonian context whose climate, culture and local plants have guided the architects.

"We wanted to design a hospital reflecting the serenity of the Oceanian lifestyle. It's a multi-unit structure built on a horizontal level, with lots of greenery", explains Ollivier Dalla Vechia, from the Archipel firm, the local partner of Mr. Beauvais.

Shafts of light

Symbolizing a beach, a large esplanade planted with palm trees will lead to the "Grand Fare" (fare means house in Polynesian). This 700 m² [7,500 sq. ft] reception area, ventilated and with high ceiling, will be the "interface between the city and the Médipôle". Beyond the Grand Fare, a so-called Crossing Garden [Jardin des traversées] will be the backbone of the Médipôle, with the hospital buildings on each side of it: operating blocks, emergency rooms, and three units for consultation and hospitalization (mother-child, surgery and medicine).

Within each building, a patio will provide a shaft of light and an island of greenery reflecting the rich flora of New Caledonia. The Crossing Garden, organized in various "theme parks", will contain the symbolic plants or those used in traditional Kanak medicine [the Kanaks are the native Melanesian inhabitants of New Caledonia, now making up 45% of the population].

In Oceania, where families extend to the clan or tribe, the hospital draws many visitors. Two-third of patient rooms at the Médipôle will have terraces, while in the many shaded areas people will be able to spread mats on the floor.

I have a friend who decided to go to French Guiana for his first job..... After one year in Cayenne, he came back to Paris because he could not stand the place anymore: harsh climate, social and racial tensions, isolation, etc.Many people have the same experience when moving to the U.S. or Europe. Harsh climate, social and racial tensions sounds a lot like contemporary Paris.

I think France has been missing an opportunity to have a significant presence in South America.

@josean figueroa: I am not criticizing South American countries as a whole. Actually, I lived in Mexico and Brazil for one year and loved my stay there. What I can tell you, is that the situation in Cayenne is very different from the one in other South American cities.
The climate is really difficult, even for someone used to tropical conditions. Temperature and humidity are extreme (it has nothing to do with the climate in Mexico City or Rio for instance). Social and racial tensions exist everywhere, but in Cayenne they are reinforced by the difference between the French from the "métropole" (in Europe) and the rest of the population (French Guiana natives or foreigners). Moreover Cayenne is a small town, with few amenities compared to other cities in Latin America. Finally, it's very isolated. You need to take the plane if you want to escape the town for few days at least.
I repeat myself, I have lived and stayed in numerous Latin American cities (Sao Paulo, Salvador de Bahia, Buenos Aires, Guatemala City, etc.) and they are not comparable to Cayenne. So I am not saying all these cities are bad, on the contrary.

PS. I can assure you that Paris and Cayenne are actually very, very different places to live :)

What I can tell you, is that the situation in Cayenne is very different from the one in other South American cities.
Yes, the situation is very different from other South American cities: Cayenne has a lower crime rate than most South American cities. Let's try to keep things in perspective, Good.
Temperature and humidity are extreme (it has nothing to do with the climate in Mexico City or Rio for instance).
It has nothing to do with Mexico City, but it is quite similar to a particularly humid summerday in Rio. Compared to San Juan, the climate in Cayenne is definitely more humid than in San Juan. Just take the most humid day in the year in San Juan, when your clothes stick and you're literally dripping, and that's Cayenne everyday. Cayenne weather is quite similar to Singapore, for those who know, with same humidity in the air, and temperatures about 2 degrees celsius cooler than in Singapore.
Moreover Cayenne is a small town, with few amenities compared to other cities in Latin America.
It doesn't have the cultural life of larger Latin American cities, but it has all the modern amenities that many Latin American cities lack, thanks to the French State. In Cayenne you get the French health systen, French police, the French legal system, etc., which is far better than the crumbling health system and corrupted police and justice found in many Latin American countries.
Finally, it's very isolated. You need to take the plane if you want to escape the town for few days at least.
You exagerate a bit. It's possible to drive by car from Cayenne to Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. When the bridge on the Franco-Brazilian border is opened in 2010 it will also be possible to drive from Cayenne to Macapá, the capital of the Brazilian state of Amapá. If the Brazilians build a bridge over the Amazon River someday, then it will be possible to drive all the way from Cayenne to Rio. :cheers:

Yes, I know that, by the virtue of belonging to France, Cayenne enjoys social benefits that other cities in the same region don't. But for an expatriate or, more generally, for an executive, Cayenne is probably one of the least attractive cities in Latin America.

Yes, I know that, by the virtue of belonging to France, Cayenne enjoys social benefits that other cities in the same region don't. But for an expatriate or, more generally, for an executive, Cayenne is probably one of the least attractive cities in Latin America.
Rest assured, I could fill this entire page with Latin American cities that are far less attractive than Cayenne. For example Buenaventura (the main port of Colombia on the Pacific, the most dangerous city in Latin America, with awful constant rainy weather), Ushuaia (nice name, but dreary place, and far more remote than Cayenne), Georgetown (one of the highest crime rates in the world probably, and climate as hot and humid as Cayenne), Managua (small, boring, run-down), Villahermosa in Mexico (worse climate than Cayenne if you can believe it, and full of mosquitos), Porto Velho the capital of the Brazilian state of Rondônia (plain boring, and high crime rate), etc., etc.

At least in Cayenne you get good public services, and you have a quarter of people who are from Europe which adds diversity to the city contrary to the other places I named which are inhabited solely by locals, which are far from everything, and which don't happen to have the 2nd largest spaceport in the world 50 miles away.

I think that the French government should colonize those lands and turn then into first world departments after all they are part of the French territory just like Hawaii is to the U.S.

BWT, do all these islands lower down France's indicators like poverty, corruption, etc.? or they are counted separately like independent countries?

So what are they now?

So what are they now?
They're not first world, they are nothing like mainland France that's why the French government should develop those areas.

Climate: There is such thing as air conditioning.

Isolation: Airplanes (I live in an island and I don't recognize that as a problem).

I think the French government should show some initiative/imagination and send 3,000,000 million to live in Guyane. Build a 'New France' in the tropics. It would be positive for S.America and France/Europe.

I think that the French government should colonize those lands and turn then into first world departments after all they are part of the French territory just like Hawaii is to the U.S.

BWT, do all these islands lower down France's indicators like poverty, corruption, etc.? or they are counted separately like independent countries?

Poverty is not so worse than in some departement of France.
Corruption is not higher than any other departement of France. (maybe even lower than in southern France)

These departement are in the first world.
A little Look of Saint Denis
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jikgoe/sets/72157600251791199/

This is Saint Denis of Reunion Island, Minato Ku, not Saint Denis of France...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/SaintDenisReunion003.jpg

Reunion is France and we speak of Overseas departements , so it is more likely Saint Denis in Reunion island than Sant Denis in Paris. ;)

^^ French are French, they don't do that frivolous kind of thing.

We speak about French Guyana so, the first bridge constructs between Guyana and Brazil was introduced by these two presidents.
This bridge, along of 300 m, is planned for 2010.

http://image.ifrance.com/actu/photos/2008/02/12/1809/French_Guiana_Lula_Sarkozy.jpg
ifrance.com

Climate: There is such thing as air conditioning.
AC is good when you're inside, but one also has to go outside, unless you spend all your days at home, and there's no AC when you're outside unfortunately.
I think the French government should show some initiative/imagination and send 3,000,000 million to live in Guyane. Build a 'New France' in the tropics. It would be positive for S.America and France/Europe.
The people of French Guiana would never accept that. They are already upset about making up only 50% of French Guiana's population (the rest is made up of Brazilian, Surinamese and Haitian immigrants, as well as Metropolitan Frenchmen). They fear that their original French Guianese creole culture is being swamped and erased by all these newcomers (just imagine a country with 50% of the population being immigrants), so they would completely oppose the arrival of 3 million people from Metropolitan France which would turn them into a tiny minority.

Besides, France is not a dictatorship, so it's not like you can snap your fingers and have 3 million Metropolitan French people move to French Guiana. Of all the Europeans, the French have always been the least inclined to migrate. Even a paradise like New Caledonia has attracted only 50,000 French people since the 19th century. If French people were migrants at heart, North America today would be French speaking, and French would be the world language today instead of English because in the 18th century there were 4 times more inhabitants in France than in England. England, with 4 times less inhabitants than France, sent 230,000 settlers to North America in the 17th and 18th centuries (not even counting the Scots, Scot-Irish and Irish) whereas France sent only 30,000 settlers, two-third of whom returned to France (while extremely few English settlers returned to England), thus leaving only 10,000 French people in North America. The 7 million French Canadians and the nearly 10 million US citizens with French, French Canadian and Cajun ancestry are all descended from these 10,000 French settlers who remained in North America.

Even if the French government disregarded the uneasiness of French Guianese creoles becoming a tiny minority in their homeland, and suddenly promoted a large scale immigration program to French Guiana, I doubt they would attract more than a few tens of thousands of Metropolitan French people.

The people of French Guiana would never accept that.So..could they really do anything about it?

They fear that their original French Guianese creole culture is being swamped and erased by all these newcomersAre creole cultures worth preserving? I couldn't care less about Puerto Rico's 'cultura criolla'...It is nothing more than immature colonial provincialism.

Of all the Europeans, the French have always been the least inclined to migrate.I am aware...and this failure to build a true empire means that the French language is destined to become 'caduc' (perhaps to the detriment of Western Civilisation).

The 7 million French Canadians and the nearly 10 million US citizens with French, French Canadian and Cajun ancestry are all descended from these 10,000 French settlers who remained in North America.Your numbers are somewhat mistaken: Only the people of Quebec are said to descend from 10,000 frenchmen, not the rest. There were french immigrants during the 19th and early 20th century also, to the U.S and other countries in America. I have relatives who are 'Bernier', whose French ancestors settled in P.R. 200 years ago. .

So..could they really do anything about it?
Of course they could. They could declare independence, and then what could France do? Nothing. In fact there used to be a party advocating independence there, but it has lost most of its following now. Yet the imposed migration of hundreds of thousands of people there would of course rekindle calls for independence, let's not be naive.
Are creole cultures worth preserving?
It's not ours to decide. Every people have a right to keep their traditions if they wish too. If Alsatians wish to preserve an Alsatian regional culture, nobody can force them to abandon it. Same with the French Guianese creole culture. Besides, the French Guianese Creoles are in large part descended from freed slaves. They climbed the social ladder and ended up becoming the ruling elite of French Guiana. Now they see themselves being surrounded at home by ever more numerous White people from Brazil and France, so no wonder some of them feel unhappy about it. You have to strike a fragile balance in French Guiana: allow newcomers in to help the territory develop, but also blend newcomers with the original creole culture and not allienate the Creoles who until 40 years ago made up 90% of the local population.

I am aware...and this failure to build a true empire means that the French language is destined to become 'caduc' (perhaps to the detriment of Western Civilisation).
If so then German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and many more are also destined to become 'caduc'. I wouldn't worry too much about French, especially when the number of French speakers in Africa is set to surpass the number of Spanish speakers in Latin American by the middle of this century thanks to Africa's demographic boom.

Your numbers are somewhat mistaken: Only the people of Quebec are said to descend from 10,000 frenchmen, not the rest. There were french immigrants during the 19th and early 20th century also, to the U.S and other countries in America. I have relatives who are 'Bernier', whose French ancestors settled in P.R. 200 years ago. .
The 10,000 people figure I gave is for the entire North America, i.e. Québec + Louisiana + Acadia. The majority of US citizens with French ancestry are descended from French Canadians who migrated to New England in the 19th century and from Cajuns and French Creoles of Louisiana. In fact it is estimated that if French Canadians had not migrated to the US in the 19th century and early 20th century, there would be 12 to 14 million French Canadians in Canada today!

If so then German, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and many more are also destined to become 'caduc'.I don't understand what Spanish is doing in that list.

Note: 10,000 persons reproducing to 17,000,000 in 250 years?? I don't think so...your claims are absurd.

Check this Web pate: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEfrance.htm

"An investigation carried out in 1978 revealled that since 1820 over 751,000 people emigrated to the United States from France."

Note: 10,000 persons reproducing to 17,000,000 in 250 years?? I don't think so...your claims are absurd.

Check this Web pate: http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEfrance.htm

"An investigation carried out in 1978 revealled that since 1820 over 751,000 people emigrated to the United States from France."
I know it sounds crazy, but that's explained by the extremely high fertility rate of the French Canadians and Cajuns until the middle of the 20th century. In fact they had the highest fertility rate of all the Caucasian people in the world, with an average of 7 to 8 children per woman. Families with 15 children where not unheard of in Québec in the 19th century.

These 10,000 original French settlers had already generated 80,000 people by 1760 (60,000 in Québec and 20,000 in Lousiana), and 210,000 people by 1800 according to censuses (160,000 in Québec and 50,000 in Louisiana). In other words they had already multiplied 21 times in just 100 years. Their fertility rate dropped in the middle of the 20th century. If we assume that since 1950 these 17 million people have had only a modest population increase of one-third, that means they were 13 million in 1950. An increase from 210,000 in 1800 to 13 million in 1950 means an average population increase of 2.8% per year over these 150 years, which seems quite realistic given their incredibly high fertility rate at the time. That's the kind of population increase that Subsaharan Africa is experiencing now. For example Congo has currently a population increase of 3.0% a year, Uganda 3.1% a year, Kenya 2.8%. So as you see, once you make the calculations, what seemed crazy in the beginning finds a logical explanation. What made the case of the French Canadians unique is that they experienced this very high population increase for nearly 250 years (1700-1950), whereas in Subsaharan Africa the UN estimate the very high population increase will last for about only 80 years (1970-2050).

Concerning the US I didn't take the entire population of French descent. There are of course more than 10 million people of French descent in the US, accounting for the immigrants from France in the 19th and 20th century that you mentioned.

Anyway, we should get back to the theme of the thread which is construction projects.

All those rumours about French women most be true then :)

EDIT

Some interesting statistics I found which explain why there are so many urban projects going on in overseas France at the moment.

In 1982 there were 1,626,737 people living in the French overseas departments and territories. In 2008 the number of people living in the overseas departments and territories has reached 2,597,318. That's an increase of nearly a million in 25 and a half years. The population in the overseas departments and territories since 1982 has increased at the very high rate of +1.85% per year, compared to an increase of only +0.51% per year in metropolitan France (the European part of France), which is itself already quite good in a European context. Just to give an idea, if metropolitan France had grown as fast as overseas France since 1982, there would be 86.8 million people in metropolitan France today (whereas in the real world there are 61.9 million people in metropolitan France in 2008).

The rapid population increase of the overseas departments and territories is all the more remarkable considering that their population has at the same time been siphoned off by a large departure of young people in search of employment towards metropolitan France, in particular young people from Réunion, Martinique, and Guadeloupe, tens of thousands of whom are now living in metropolitan France. This departure of young people from overseas France toward metropolitan France was in part compensated by immigration to French Guiana (from Brazil and Suriname), to Mayotte (from the Comoros), and to New Caledonia (from metropolitan France), but it is above all the high birth rates of these overseas departments and territories that explain their high population increase, although the birth rates have been rapidly declining in recent years in all of overseas France.

Due to this high population increase, the overseas departments and territories accounted for 2.9% of the French Republic's population in 1982 but they now account for 4.0%. By 2030, if no overseas department and territory becomes independent in the meantime, they should account for 5% of the total population.

One of the overseas departments and territories with the fastest population increase is French Guiana, in part due to a very high fertility rate, much higher than in other overseas departments and territories, and in part also due to high levels of immigration from Brazil and Suriname. In 1982 French Guiana accounted for 4.5% of overseas France's population. In 2008 it now accounts for 8.3% of overseas France's population, and the share of French Guiana in the overseas France's population should continue to increase in the next decades. French Guiana is expected to see its population double by 2030.

To accommodate such a large new population, many urban projects have been started in several cities of French Guiana, planning entire new neighborhoods, with streets, utilities, schools, supermarkets, etc. I'll soon post info about these projects. There is no other part of France that has so many new urban districts planned as French Guiana, except perhaps in the also booming metropolitan area of Toulouse. Making room for such a large new population is a real challenge in a place like French Guiana, but the possible discovery of offshore oil off the coast of French Guiana later this year could be the solution to French Guiana's problems (the Matamata oil field, where drilling will start later this year, could contain as much as one billion barrels of oil according to confidential sources... [off-topic]information about Matamata oil field's potential has been completely ignored by large French medias so far, I wonder why, given that if it is confirmed that there are one billion barrils of oil reserves there, that would make it the largest oil field ever found on French soil so far, on par with some of the largest oil fields found in the North Sea by Norway and the UK... but the French medias prefer to speak about Mrs. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's love life, it's SO much more important of course...[/off-topic]).

New housing developments in the northern suburbs of Nouméa, New Caledonia:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0f/Noumeacloudy.jpg/1000px-Noumeacloudy.jpg

The mayor of Fort-de-France, the capital and largest city of Martinique, has announced today that the tower planned on the seafront of downtown Fort-de-France is finally starting construction in earnest after delays due to the Martinique earthquake last year. The tower is now scheduled to be completed and opened in the end of 2010 according to the mayor.

The tower, located at the Pointe Simon ("Simon Headland"), will have 21 floors and its height will be 105.5 meters / 346 feet (I don't know if the spire is included or not in the 105.5 meters). It will be the tallest tower in the Lesser Antilles. The developers behind the project are from Trinidad and from Martinique. They are investing 236 million euros (347 million US dollars) for the tower and the surrounding buildings at the Pointe Simon. According to the mayor of Fort-de-France, it will be the most outstanding commercial estate complex in the Caribbean.

Here is a description of the complex that I found online:
Pointe Simon, a new travel destination in Fort-de-France, Martinique, will offer visitors a a full range of global business and leisure services. The project consists of a 21-story office tower, a seven-story condominium and an eight-story Marriott hotel with a fine dining restaurant, a 500-person ballroom, a spa and several boutiques. Infrastructure work will include new cruise ship docking facilities, a bus station, a pedestrian bridge, an expansion for the autobridge and a new central plant.

Pointe Simon today, a large empty land on the seafront of downtown Fort-de-France:

http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3630/pointesimonlg5.png

http://img107.imageshack.us/img107/254/work7wk.jpg

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5504/pointesimon1lk3.png

The building permit posted on site:

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/4471/7f58f29401168d8ff97e909cp3.jpg

Some renders of the tower and the other future buildings at the Pointe Simon:

http://www.enregistrersous.com/images/cb83f6281ae4da47f2c39f3a92d7d0d8.jpg

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/7315/commercephoto1nn4.jpg

http://www.enregistrersous.com/images/e1d98926032b01aa96368b77bbad47ef.jpg

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/663/11bn6.jpg

http://www.enregistrersous.com/images/6c56a6e0e8cd0f6f15defe8daafa299e.jpg

http://www.enregistrersous.com/images/3cd9c52e9a62209b7f651754767b08ba.jpg

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1709/81898856fu7.jpg

The tower is to the very left of the picture:
http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/2484/69429641rb3.jpg

http://www.enregistrersous.com/images/ab3a29f8689fda5208698b864131acf3.bmp

http://www.enregistrersous.com/images/73f8fadf5fe69aad2165d4aa77276fd7.bmp

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/2174/28103885mt2.jpg

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8184/10lu9.jpg

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7505/12jf6.jpg

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/5690/image20wy.jpg

http://www.enregistrersous.com/images/c591f502b8995a6a1f508387ff8660e1.bmp

http://www.monplaisirgroup.com/projects/pointe-simon/1.jpg

http://www.monplaisirgroup.com/projects/pointe-simon/3.jpg

http://www.monplaisirgroup.com/projects/pointe-simon/4.jpg

http://www.monplaisirgroup.com/projects/pointe-simon/5.jpg

http://www.monplaisirgroup.com/projects/pointe-simon/6.jpg

Mariott Hotel to be built next to the tower:

http://www.enregistrersous.com/images/09fdda21f7da8dc2af255602843f545c.jpg

http://www.enregistrersous.com/images/e01a3b6991a0b9b8bf595f98168cae86.jpg

You can watch the interview of the Fort-de-France mayor here. The part where they talk about the Pointe Simon commercial estate complex starts at 11:57 into the video.
Link: http://www.rfo.fr/v4_player_jt.php3?ids=2

You can watch the video until tonight directly by clicking on the link. After tonight, you'll have to select "Ven 29" to watch the video (it should be online for a week or so).

Thank you Brisavoine for this thread about Overseas Department of France :)


There's only one information I have to correct : actually, Fort-de-France's population is not 134,727 but 176,000 ! I don't know why the French National Institute of Statistics (INSEE) put the city of Le Lamentin (40,000 inhabitants) outside of Fort-de-France's urban area when, actually, it is part of it.

Indeed, if you look at the website of the Community of the Urban Area of Martinique's Center ("Communauté d'agglommération du Centre de la Martinique"), they precise that the urban area of FDF is made of FDF, Le Lamentin, Scheolcher and Saint-Joseph :



The cities of Fort-de-France, Le Lamentin, Saint-Joseph and Schœlcher, that make up the central urban area, have a population of 176,000 inhabitants : 99,000 in Fort-de-France, 40,000 in Le Lamentin, 21,000 in Schœlcher and 16,000 in Saint-Joseph.


source : http://www.cacem.org/cms/index.php?id=9

I through Fort de France had about 190,000 inhabitants.

There's only one information I have to correct : actually, Fort-de-France's population is not 134,727 but 176,000 ! I don't know why the French National Institute of Statistics (INSEE) put the city of Le Lamentin (40,000 inhabitants) outside of Fort-de-France's urban area when, actually, it is part of it.
Looking at a topographic map, it seems you're actually right! I had never realized that.

http://img185.imageshack.us/img185/6341/fdfgu7.png

I noticed the same problem with Cayenne. INSEE said that the Cayenne urban area is made up only of the communes of Cayenne and Remire-Montjoly, and they excluded the commune of Matoury even though Matoury is really part of the Cayenne urban area when you look at topographic maps and satellite views.

I don't know why they did that. Maybe they'll add Le Lamentin to the Fort-de-France urban area and Matoury to the Cayenne urban area when they redraw the borders of the urban areas, which they should normally do next year when the new results of the census are finally published.

So with Le Lamentin, the Fort-de-France urban area had 170,187 inhabitants at the 1999 census, which would make it the second most populated urban area in overseas France with almost as many inhabitants as the Pointe-à-Pitre - Les Abimes urban area. I wonder whether Ducos could also be added to the Fort-de-France urban area. Ducos looks almost physically linked to Le Lamentin. If Ducos is added (along with Le Saint-Esprit which is physically linked to Ducos according to INSEE), then the Fort-de-France urban area had 193,630 inhabitants at the 1999 census, which was as many inhabitants as the urban areas of Dunkerque, Le Mans, and Caen.

In the future, however, it is the urban areas of Nouméa and Cayenne that should become the most populated urban areas in overseas France, due to the high population growth in New Caledonia and French Guiana, whereas Martinique is experiencing only moderate population growth now.

Minato-ku and Brisavoine,

Actually, it is hard to determine precisely what is the size of Fort-de-France's urban area...

Indeed, since the 80's, Martinique is called "city-island" ("île-ville" in French) by geographs since urbanization has spread to much of the island, to the South in particuliar.

But, if we only talk about "urban continuity", the urban area of Martinique's capital stretches from Case-Pilote to Saint-Esprit with a total population of more than 190,000 inhabitants.

Well, that's true that Martinique's population grow slowly now and, indeed, maybe by 2020, Cayenne's urban area will be more populated than Fort-de-France's.

The people of French Guiana would never accept that. They are already upset about making up only 50% of French Guiana's population (the rest is made up of Brazilian, Surinamese and Haitian immigrants, as well as Metropolitan Frenchmen). They fear that their original French Guianese creole culture is being swamped and erased by all these newcomers (just imagine a country with 50% of the population being immigrants), so they would completely oppose the arrival of 3 million people from Metropolitan France which would turn them into a tiny minority.

Besides, France is not a dictatorship, so it's not like you can snap your fingers and have 3 million Metropolitan French people move to French Guiana. Of all the Europeans, the French have always been the least inclined to migrate. Even a paradise like New Caledonia has attracted only 50,000 French people since the 19th century. If French people were migrants at heart, North America today would be French speaking, and French would be the world language today instead of English because in the 18th century there were 4 times more inhabitants in France than in England. England, with 4 times less inhabitants than France, sent 230,000 settlers to North America in the 17th and 18th centuries (not even counting the Scots, Scot-Irish and Irish) whereas France sent only 30,000 settlers, two-third of whom returned to France (while extremely few English settlers returned to England), thus leaving only 10,000 French people in North America. The 7 million French Canadians and the nearly 10 million US citizens with French, French Canadian and Cajun ancestry are all descended from these 10,000 French settlers who remained in North America.

Even if the French government disregarded the uneasiness of French Guianese creoles becoming a tiny minority in their homeland, and suddenly promoted a large scale immigration program to French Guiana, I doubt they would attract more than a few tens of thousands of Metropolitan French people.

why do you leave out Africa?:ohno: There are many French people that flocked to Africa south of Sahara....there was a large chunk that arrived after 1960. The figure sky-rockettted to 350 000 till 1980´s...the number has gone down drastically since then but there are still relatively large French commnunities in certain African countries, even second and third generation!!!:)

Moreover, do not forget the Magreb, there are many Franch people in Tunisia and Marocco and I don´t mean the tourists.

Btw, lovely pics!:cheers:

Is there any slight chance of seeing an independent Quebec in the future?

The people of French Guiana would never accept that. They are already upset about making up only 50% of French Guiana's population (the rest is made up of Brazilian, Surinamese and Haitian immigrants, as well as Metropolitan Frenchmen). They fear that their original French Guianese creole culture is being swamped and erased by all these newcomers (just imagine a country with 50% of the population being immigrants), so they would completely oppose the arrival of 3 million people from Metropolitan France which would turn them into a tiny minority.

Besides, France is not a dictatorship, so it's not like you can snap your fingers and have 3 million Metropolitan French people move to French Guiana. Of all the Europeans, the French have always been the least inclined to migrate. Even a paradise like New Caledonia has attracted only 50,000 French people since the 19th century. If French people were migrants at heart, North America today would be French speaking, and French would be the world language today instead of English because in the 18th century there were 4 times more inhabitants in France than in England. England, with 4 times less inhabitants than France, sent 230,000 settlers to North America in the 17th and 18th centuries (not even counting the Scots, Scot-Irish and Irish) whereas France sent only 30,000 settlers, two-third of whom returned to France (while extremely few English settlers returned to England), thus leaving only 10,000 French people in North America. The 7 million French Canadians and the nearly 10 million US citizens with French, French Canadian and Cajun ancestry are all descended from these 10,000 French settlers who remained in North America.

Even if the French government disregarded the uneasiness of French Guianese creoles becoming a tiny minority in their homeland, and suddenly promoted a large scale immigration program to French Guiana, I doubt they would attract more than a few tens of thousands of Metropolitan French people.

why do you leave out Africa?:ohno: There are many French people that flocked to Africa south of Sahara....there was a large chunk that arrived after 1960. The figure sky-rockettted to 350 000 till 1980´s...the number has gone down drastically since then but there are still relatively large French commnunities in certain African countries, even second and third generation!!!:)

Moreover, do not forget the Magreb, there are many Franch people in Tunisia and Marocco and I don´t mean the tourists.

Btw, lovely pics!:cheers:

Is there any slight chance of seeing an independent Quebec in the future?

hope you don´t mind if I add some Nouméa pictures:)

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Thank you Matthias for those pics, Nouméa seems to be a nice place to live.

Some pics of FORT-DE-FRANCE and suburbs (MARTINIQUE, French caribbean)


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Have you been to Noumea? It doesn't have a Western European living standard. It's still a nice place though.
In 2004, according to official figures from the New Caledonia statistics institute, the GDP per capita of New Caledonia was 25,352 US dollars. Greater Nouméa account for 63% of New Caledonia's population, and GDP per capita there is significantly higher than in the rest of New Caledonia, so I would say the GDP per capita in Greater Noumea is possibly about 29,000 US dollars whereas the GDP per capita of the rest of New Caledonia is about 19,000 US dollars (just an educated guess).
I've found some very interesting statistics in a study just published by the French statistical office (link below). These statistics confirm what I was guessing in a previous post (above). The French statistical office calculated GDP per capita for each province of New Caledonia, and also for Greater Nouméa. As far as I know, this is the first time that this was ever done. They found (all details in the study linked to below) that in 2004 the GDP per capita in Greater Nouméa was about 18% higher than the New Caledonian average. If we suppose that it was the same in 2007 (18% higher in Greater Nouméa than in New Caledonia as a whole), that means the GDP per capita in Greater Nouméa was 42,990 US dollars in 2007 at market exchange rates (compared to 36,376 US dollars for New Caledonia as a whole).

These are very high GDP per capita figures, and in fact with 42,990 US dollars the GDP per capita of Greater Nouméa is higher than the GDP per capita of Metropolitan France (the European part of France), which was "only" 41,311 US dollars in 2007. :nuts:

However, these are GDP per capita figures converted at market exchange rates. If they were converted at purchasing power parity (PPP), they would be significantly lower due to the very high cost of life in New Caledonia, since most products have to be imported from far away. In the same study the French statistical office tried to calculate the PPP GDP per capita of New Caledonia. As far as I know, this is also the first time this was ever attempted (neither the IMF nor the World Bank make any PPP calculations for New Caledonia). The French statistical office tried a PPP calculation for New Calculation for the year 2005, a very rough calculation not as accurate as those carried out by the IMF and the World Bank, but still it gives an idea. If I apply their PPP conversion to the year 2007 (i.e. supposing that the PPP value of a Pacific franc in US dollars in 2007 is the same as the PPP value in 2005 calculated by INSEE), then I find that in 2007 the PPP GDP per capita of Greater Nouméa was 25,750 US dollars (down from 42,990 US dollars at market exchange rates, which reflects the very high cost of life in New Caledonia). This is a PPP GDP per capita that is very close to the PPP GDP per capita of New Zealand. As for New Caledonia as a whole, I find a PPP GDP per capita of 21,790 US dollars, which is the same as the PPP GDP per capita of Portugal. For comparison, the PPP GDP per capita of Metropolitan France in 2007 was 33,509 US dollars.

So there you have it. The PPP GDP per capita in Greater Nouméa is about the same as in New Zealand, and bear in mind that it doesn't even include the pensions of the many French retirees living in Nouméa who receive an income through their French pensions but sink the GDP per capita figures since they don't work (same as happens on the French Riviera or in Florida, but on a smaller scale of course).

These figures I found in a very detailed study just published this week. The study is about the New Caledonian economy, the reasons for the economic boom in New Caledonia, the socio-economic conditions of the territory, and the prospects for the New Caledonian economy in the future. It contains a wealth of information, figures, tables, graphs. I can only recommend it if you can read French. I learned some very interesting things, such as how the Melanesian Kanaks are fast catching up with the European New Caledonians: in the past 20 years, the fertility rates in the Northern Province as well as in the Loyalty Islands, where the majority of the Kanaks live, have dropped dramatically, being now almost the same as in Greater Nouméa, where the majority of the Whites live. Standards of living have also dramatically increased in 20 years in the Northern Province and the Loyalty Islands (the number of houses equiped with bathrooms and toilets for example, the ownership of cars, etc.). Inequalities still remain high, however, much higher than in Metropolitan France, but are diminishing year after year. Life expectancy in the Northern Province and the Loyalty Islands has also greatly increased, now reaching almost the life expectancy in Greater Nouméa.

Here is the link to the study: The Challenges of New Caledonia's Growth (http://www.cerom-outremer.org/jahia/webdav/site/cerom/users/admin_cerom/public/Pdf/BilanmacroNC2008.pdf)

With the expansion of the nickel industry, the economic boom in New Caledonia is set to continue in the coming years, despite the current global crisis (bar a total collapse of economic growth in East Asia). This attracts many immigrants to New Caledonia (in particular from Metropolitan France), and explains the big urban growth in Greater Nouméa, with many urban developments currently going on. I'll post info as it comes.

News just in: Nicolas Sarkozy announced tonight that a referendum will be held in the overseas collectivity of Mayotte on March 29, 2009 to decide whether Mayotte will become a full-fledged département of France. Most likely the majority of the Mayotte people will vote in favor of becoming a French département. In that case, Mayotte (200,000 inhabitants and growing) will become the 101st French département in 2011 (the first département created since 1964), and will therefore also enter the European Union. The entry of Mayotte in the EU in 2011 will be the first enlargement of the EU since the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007.

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The results of the last French census (Jan. 1, 2006 census) were published last week. We can now establish a new ranking of the largest cities in overseas France. Here the list, with the population in the urban areas as of Jan. 1, 2006. In parenthesis you can see the total population increase between the 1999 census and the 2006 census.

On January 1, 2006:
- Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe): 177,336 inh. (+3.2%)
- Fort-de-France (Martinique): 173,128 inh. (incl. Le Lamentin) (+1.7%)
- Saint-Denis-de-la-Réunion (Réunion): 168,910 inh. (+6.8%)
- Saint-Pierre (Réunion): 144,329 inh. (+11.7%)
- Cayenne (French Guiana): 100,323 inh. (incl. Matoury) (+19,2%)
- Saint-Paul (Réunion): 99,291 inh. (+13.2%)
- Le Port (Réunion): 64,390 inh. (+6.8%)
- Saint-André (Réunion): 51,817 inh. (+20.0%)
- Saint-Louis (Réunion): 49,455 inh. (+13.6%)
- Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe): 46,319 inh. (+3.2%)

The overseas collectivities in the Pacific have separate censuses on different dates than the general census for the rest of France. Only two cities from the overseas collectivities in the Pacific would make it in the list above. Here is the population in their urban areas, with the dates of the censuses:
- Nouméa (New Caledonia): 146,245 inh. (Sept. 2004 census)
- Papeete (French Polynesia): 131,695 inh. (Aug. 2007 census)

Renderings of the new Prefecture buildings in Fort-de-France, Martinique, planned to be added to the old Prefecture. The Prefecture, which was originally the palace of the governor, was too small and needed to be enlarged.

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Poverty is not so worse than in some departement of France.
Corruption is not higher than any other departement of France. (maybe even lower than in southern France)

These departement are in the first world.
A little Look of Saint Denis
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The pictures of Saint Denis in Réunion look like a provincial town of South America - with some (superficial) French touches, but definitely not First World

New general hospital under construction in Mamoudzou, capital of Mayotte. The hospital will be completed in 2010. Architects: Cardete & Huet, Atelier REC. Floor space: 12,000 m² (130,000 sq. ft). Cost: 20 million euros (28.5 million US dollars). Apparently the architects had trouble starting construction due to the insularity of Mayotte (harbor not fit for large boats carrying construction material).

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The 21-floor tower at the Pointe Simon, on the seafront of downtown Fort-de-France, Martinique, started construction earlier this year and is now rising above ground. :banana:

At 105.5 meters (346 feet) above street level, it will be the tallest tower in the Lesser Antilles. Here are the latest pictures of the construction site by Skyhig.

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News just in: Nicolas Sarkozy announced tonight that a referendum will be held in the overseas collectivity of Mayotte on March 29, 2009 to decide whether Mayotte will become a full-fledged département of France. Most likely the majority of the Mayotte people will vote in favor of becoming a French département. In that case, Mayotte (200,000 inhabitants and growing) will become the 101st French département in 2011 (the first département created since 1964), and will therefore also enter the European Union. The entry of Mayotte in the EU in 2011 will be the first enlargement of the EU since the entry of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007.


Does this mean Mayotte will be included on the euro bills?

That Tram Train project looks quite interesting...

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That Tram Train project looks quite interesting...

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Yes it is , but the local authorities have problems to finance the project.

Some realisations and new projects in Fort de France

Cour Perrinon shopping mall

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Fort-de-France waterfront

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New justice court

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Kerlys technopole in the periphery of Fort de France

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Kampflamm has turned Réunionais? :sly:



:D

Concerning that project, they currently have problems to finance it, and the central government in Paris doesn't seem willing to help them that much, so the project is a bit up in the air at the moment. However, Réunion is growing a lot, its population will pass 1 million before 2030, so I think they have no choice but to build it if they don't want traffic to choke the island very soon.

PS: Sarkozy visited Réunion this week, so he may have promised something about the tram-train (he has great plans to develop the economy of Réunion further, so the tram-train would seem necessary to prevent traffic jams that are detrimental to the local economy). I'll have to check what he said there. I'll let you know.

Well, I'm just interested in the outer territories of our European Empire (Reunion, Martinique, Azores etc.). :D After checking out out the Wikipedia-Article on Reunion I have to say that the population #s are quite stunning. I mean they pretty much doubled their population in a matter of 40 years. So I hope this project will go through. Are any EU-funds available for this?

Are any EU-funds available for this?
Apparently the European Investment Bank, the EU's long-term lending institution, will lend 400 million euros out of the 1.7 billion euros needed to build the tram train. This money will have to be paid back to the bank, it's not some regional subsidy.

See:
- in French: http://www.eib.europa.eu/projects/pipeline/2008/20080418.htm?lang=fr&
- in German: http://www.eib.europa.eu/projects/pipeline/2008/20080418.htm?lang=de&
- in English: http://www.eib.europa.eu/projects/pipeline/2008/20080418.htm?lang=en&

Apart from these loans, the EU has apparently agreed to give 70 million euros for the project in regional subsidies (they don't have to be paid back).

Concerning the central French government, after checking the local newspapers, it seems Sarkozy said nothing about the tram train during his visit there earlier this week. Apparently the tram train has become a toy in the political contest between the Right and the Left who campaign for the regional elections that will take place in March this year. The Réunion region has been ruled by the Communist Party (!) for many years. It's the Reunionese Communist Party and its leader Paul Vergès who are behind the tram train project, and from what I understand the Right is now saying that the tram train is too costly for Réunion, but that seems a political ploy to weaken the Communists before the regional elections. That may explain why the central French government has been less supportive of the project recently (the prime minister François Fillon agreed to back the project if it didn't exceed 1.3 billion euros, but said 1.7 billion was way too much; note that "backing" doesn't mean the French government would finance the whole project, it just means they would give the AAA financial guarantee of the French government for the whole project, but they would finance directly only 435 million euros, the rest coming from the Réunion region, the EU, the European Investment Bank, and private companies who will then receive payments from the Réunion region over many years).

If the Communist Party wins the regional elections in March, probably the stance of the French government will change, they will become more supportive of the project and accept to back the 1.7 billion cost because Sarkozy reportedly needs the neutral attitude of the Reunionese Communists for the 2012 presidential elections. If the Right wins, they may scrap the whole project because it was launched by the Communists, but I think at the end of the day they may come back to their senses and recognize this tram train is necessary for Réunion, so they may finally continue the project, albeit with a few changes (different route here and there, etc.), just to show people it's their project, not the Communists' project.

Politics at its worst you might say! As Churchill used to say, democracy is the worst political system, except for all the other ones. :D

Here you have a website specially dedicated to the traim train of Réunion, notably showing the route that has been selected: http://www.tramtrain.fr/
Here the Wikipedia article in English: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%A9union_Tram_Train

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Some interesting details about the project:
- the line would be 41.5 km long
- there would be 26 stations: from the Réunion international airport, to the University of Réunion, to downtown St Denis (the capital of Réunion), to the international seaport of Réunion (which is separated from St Denis by a huge and ancient lava flow that the tram train would cross through tunnels), to the booming city of St Paul
- the total population in the 5 municipalies along the line is 338,387 inhabitants (in Jan. 2007)
- each tram-train could contain 250 passengers
- it is expected there would be 52,000 passengers per day on the line
- the tram train would have an average speed of 40 km per hour (100 km per hour outside of urbanized areas)
- it would take 40 minutes to go from St Paul to downtown St Denis, and 25 minutes from the international seaport to downtown St Denis
- the tram train would run from 5am to midnight, 7 days a week
- there would be one tram train every 10 minutes in each direction, but in St Denis the frequency would be higher with one tram train every 5 minutes in each direction (I suppose that means there would be some tram trains that would run only from the airport to downtown St Denis, otherwise I don't see how the frequency could be higher in St Denis than in the rest of the line)

Here are the most populated urban areas in overseas France according to the results of the latest census published by INSEE earlier this month. For each urban area I've added a map of the urban area (note that the maps are not at the same scale).

1- Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe): 177,113 inhabitants (in Jan. 2007)
http://i50.tinypic.com/2hrcuv9.png

2- Fort-de-France (Martinique): 172,422 inhabitants (in Jan. 2007)
http://i50.tinypic.com/20st0ys.png

3- Saint-Denis (Réunion): 171,876 inhabitants (in Jan. 2007)
http://i48.tinypic.com/2ryr975.png

4- Nouméa (New Caledonia): 163,723 inhabitants (in Aug. 2009)
http://i47.tinypic.com/xfq6th.png

5- Saint-Pierre (Réunion): 145,804 inhabitants (in Jan. 2007)
http://i46.tinypic.com/2jdmmfm.png

6- Papeete (French Polynesia): 131,695 inhabitants (in Aug. 2007)
http://i48.tinypic.com/260zz1v.png

7- Cayenne (French Guiana): 101,412 inhabitants (in Jan. 2007)
http://i48.tinypic.com/nybvgj.png

8- Saint-Paul (Réunion): 101,023 inhabitants (in Jan. 2007)
http://i47.tinypic.com/4vics7.png

Construction update of the 21-floor office tower at the Pointe Simon, on the seafront of downtown Fort-de-France, Martinique. The structure is now emerging above ground. :banana:

When it's completed, the tower will be 105.5 meters (346 feet) high, the tallest building in the Lesser Antilles and in all of Overseas France too. The pictures here were taken last week.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4354040555_03ec9a947c_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/4354795838_4bcb1033b0_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4072/4354059781_2d776819f2_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4354814996_0b44e1c748_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4024/4354080213_ea0d55c1c5_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4054/4354834910_78a418486b_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4354099173_48f90a4779_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4034/4354106947_9af90ba628_b.jpg

News of the international bridge between France and Brazil over the Oyapock River, separating the French overseas department of French Guiana and the Brazilian state of Amapá. According to what a local Brazilian journalist wrote on his blog, work on the bridge has already started (he visited the bridge this week). They plan to complete the bridge and open it to traffic in October of this year, because president Lula da Silva would very much like to cross the bridge hand in hand with Nicolas Sarkozy before the end of his presidency (Lula's presidency ends on Jan. 1, 2011).

I can't wait for the bridge to open, and to see the first pictures. A Franco-Brazilian border point is going look so surreal... :banana:

Here's what the journalist posted on his blog 3 days ago:
Quinta-feira, Fevereiro 18, 2010
Brasil constrói ponte de R$ 56 milhões para se ligar à Guiana Francesa pelo Oiapoque

É uma jóia da arquitetura, a ponte que ligará o Brasil à França, cruzando o Rio Oiapoque.

Fui ver de perto as obras, que estão começando.

Meta é inaugurar em outubro, pois o presidente Lula quer cruzar os mais de 200 metros de braços dados com o colega Sarkozy.

A construção está a cargo de um consórcio entre a Egesa e a CMT, ambas com sede em Brasília e escritórios em Minas Gerais. A Funcab, Fundação Professor Carlos Augusto Bittencourt, foi contratada para cuidar da Supervisão Ambiental do empreendimento - atentar para que a obra não agrida a natureza.

Depois vou dando mais detalhes, pois sou o coordenador da Comunicação Social do projeto ambiental.

Veja que beleza de imagem.

http://marciog.blogspot.com/2010/02/brasil-constrois-ponte-de-r-56-milhoes.html

Map of the area (the bridge is between the Brazilian town of Oiapoque and the French town of Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock):
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/7582/515pxborderbrazilfrancenr5.png

A render of the bridge:
http://i50.tinypic.com/33y2wz4.png

The municipality of Saint-Georges de l'Oyapock, on the French side of the border, with its new female Black mayor (center of the picture):
http://s1.e-monsite.com/2009/05/12/11/82427558investiture-equipe-muncipale-png.png

Oiapoque, on the Brazilian side of the border ("Here begins Brazil"):
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Kp3PMNdsjlM/SL7FB2cPdZI/AAAAAAAAALU/ZQC1iEV_d34/s400/oiapoque_aquicomeca.jpg

Nice bridge :okay:

Looks a lot better than what Jules Wijdenbosch built on the Suriname river in 2000:

http://www.troon.org/suriname/img/sranangsani.jpg

http://www.troon.org/suriname/img/surinamebridge.jpg

Finances are also better I suppose. Jules financed it by printing extra money :lol:

In any case, having a bridge is better than not having one. With this one nearing completion, and with the East-West road in Suriname being refurbished, I'm thinking about doing a road trip from Paramaribo to Macapá.

The only obstacle then is the Maroni river between Albina and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.

Wanna go for a ride brisavoine? ;)

Report on France 24 (English):

HUq2HN6vDEE

The only obstacle then is the Maroni river between Albina and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.
They have barge services there for people with cars I think. No bridge is currently planned (the Maroni River is much wider than the Oyapock River, and Suriname is not as big a country as Brazil, so people in French Guiana don't seem to care).
Wanna go for a ride brisavoine? ;)
Actually a road trip from Cayenne to the Amazon River would be nice, driving on the bridge when it opens. From Cayenne to the Franco-Brazilian border, the road is now fully paved, European standard, so it takes only 3 to 4 hours. From the Franco-Brazilian border to the Amazon River, the road is still largely unpaved, so it would take at least one day to reach the Amazon River, or maybe two days.

Report on France 24 (English):

HUq2HN6vDEE
That's why we need France 24! I couldn't image the same informative and cliché-free report on an international Anglo-Saxon news channel.

Well it's a bit far fetched to call French Guyana 'France'. Politically and economically maybe, but geographically and culturally no way.

A bridge between France and Brazil would have to cross the Atlantic because France is in Europe.

Furthermore, go there and ask the inhabitants (whatever their background - French-American, Afro-American or Indo-American) if they are in France - they'll just laugh at you.

When you call overseas departments France, you sound like a colonialist. Call them DOM-TOM or whatever like most French people i've met do.

Hopefully now France will invest heavily in Haiti, promote it's language and values and maybe it will become an overseas territory, reaping the political and economic benefits.

Furthermore, go there and ask the inhabitants (whatever their background - French-American, Afro-American or Indo-American) if they are in France - they'll just laugh at you.
Indeed I suggest you go there and you ask them. That will be an eye opener for you. Their reactions won't be exactly as you seem to expect them.
When you call overseas departments France, you sound like a colonialist.
Actually it's you who would sound like a colonialist by not calling them France. People there are very sensitive when it comes to that, they want to be treated like any other part of France, and they don't like to be treated separately, as proven again recently with those autonomy referendums that they unequivocally rejected. Until the 1990s, the French statitical office INSEE used to treat the overseas departments separately from the rest of France (not including them in the French figures for example), and people in the overseas departments resented that, so they became very vocal and asked for their inclusion in the French figures like any other part of France, and that was finally granted in the late 1990s. That's just one example.

Some people in the overseas department go even as far as criticizing the name "Metropolitan France", which they find too colonial (they prefer Metropolitan France to be called "the European territory of France"). And you think they don't consider themselves as part of France? :lol:

They have barge services there for people with cars I think. No bridge is currently planned (the Maroni River is much wider than the Oyapock River, and Suriname is not as big a country as Brazil, so people in French Guiana don't seem to care).

Actually a feasibility study is currently being performed on that bridge, and if you use the island in front of the airport it shouldn't be so hard. With the recent bridge mania in Suriname (Coppename Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppename_Bridge) (1999), Jules Wijdenbosch Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Wijdenbosch_Bridge) (2000), (second) Saramacca Bridge (~2012)) and with the recent reconstruction of the Eastern section of the East-West Link, a bridge doesn't seem too unlikely to me.

The reconstruction of the Eastern part is funded by the Agence Française de Développement (and the European Union, Inter-American Development Bank) by the way, so that indicates that France at least takes an interest in the Surinamese East-West Link.

You can find pretty extensive information in English on this project on this Wikipedia article, if you're interested: East-West Link (Suriname) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East-West_Link_(Suriname))

Actually a road trip from Cayenne to the Amazon River would be nice, driving on the bridge when it opens. From Cayenne to the Franco-Brazilian border, the road is now fully paved, European standard, so it takes only 3 to 4 hours. From the Franco-Brazilian border to the Amazon River, the road is still largely unpaved, so it would take at least one day to reach the Amazon River, or maybe two days.

I want to able to speak Dutch on at least a part of this trip, damnit! ;). I suppose I have to get a Germanic travel buddy to be able to do this :D. Are you in Kampflamm?

and with the recent reconstruction of the Eastern section of the East-West Link, a bridge doesn't seem too unlikely to me.
It takes two to tango, and unfortunately it seems the French Guianese are not really interested in a bridge over the Maroni River. They were already a bit reluctant to the Franco-Brazilian bridge, but the large size of Brazil convinced France to do it nonetheless (although after years of procrastination). For A Franco-Surinamese bridge it's gonna be much more complicated to move things forward...
I want to able to speak Dutch on at least a part of this trip, damnit! ;). I suppose I have to get a Germanic travel buddy to be able to do this :D. Are you in Kampflamm?
Kampflamm never goes west further than Sedan I'm afraid. :D

Why is the Agence Française de Développement then helping to reconstruct if they're not really interested?

The Takatu River Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takutu_River_Bridge) between (British) Guyana and Brazil was opened in September 2009 by the way. It seems like the Guyanas are FINALLY becoming less isolated:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/LethemBridge.jpg/800px-LethemBridge.jpg

Complete with a crossover bridge to change from the left to right side of the road:
http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/21839270.jpg

The Economist about this bridge:

Guyana
Guyana and Brazil
Jan 11th 2007
From The Economist print edition

A PONTOON ferry putters on demand across the Takutu river not far from the small border towns of Lethem in Guyana and Bomfim in Brazil. It is the only surface link between two countries that have traditionally ignored each other. Guyana, though geographically part of South America, has colonial and linguistic links with the English-speaking Caribbean. Most of its 750,000 people live within a few miles of the Atlantic coast. Portuguese-speaking Brazil has looked to its Spanish-speaking neighbours.

This mutual indifference is slowly changing. In December Brazil's government agreed to spend $3m on a bridge over the Takutu; work may start later this month. Or rather restart: an earlier attempt ground to a halt five years ago, when the Brazilian courts detected financial irregularities.

There are bureaucratic hurdles to cross too. A road-transport agreement has not yet yielded a system for insuring vehicles on short cross-border visits. A trade agreement was signed in June 2001, but Bomfim is not yet an official point of entry for goods. While legal Guyanese exports are blocked, illicit cross-border trafficking in guns, drugs and diamonds thrives.

A dirt road links Lethem to Georgetown, Guyana's capital, but carries only five or so vehicles a day each way. Most cross-border travellers are Brazilian garimpeiros, who mine gold and diamonds in Guyana's interior. A Brazilian airline runs a turbo-prop service from Georgetown to the Brazilian town of Boa Vista.

There is potential for much more. A Brazilian company wants to grow sugar cane for ethanol on a large scale in eastern Guyana. Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, a Brazilian mining giant, is interested in Guyanese bauxite, and there is talk of Petrobras getting involved in oil exploration.

The interest is mutual. "More people are looking south. We see it as a huge possibility," says Bharrat Jagdeo, Guyana's president. "We have a deep water harbour. If the road from Boa Vista was upgraded, it would cut three days for traffic from Manaus to the Atlantic." Maybe, though there are environmental objections and the deep water port has yet to be built. But diplomatic ties are growing. Guyana attends the annual South American summit; last year it chaired the Rio Group of Latin American nations. Georgetown is "twinned" with Boa Vista. The bridge may serve a purpose.

source: http://www.economist.com/world/americas/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8525813

I'm sorry to prove you wrong, but it is actually the Frenchies who are the driving force behind the Albina to Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni Bridge project:

In broken English (Google translate):
Merger of Suriname and French Guyana?
WEDNESDAY, 20 AUGUST 2008

Now Suriname prepares for the reconstruction of the East-West corridor between Albina and Meerzorg for 70 million euros, the French want to speed up the construction of a permanent connection. Suriname would therefore make firm agreements with France for freight and passenger traffic when the bridge on the Maroni River might be a fact. Both countries are in agreement that the bridge crossing is necessary.

The first estimates indicate that this project is going to cost more than 50 million U.S. dollars. The bridge is a key role between Suriname and French Guiana, because together with Venezuela and Guyana, part of the northern axis in the ambitious Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure of South American countries on the continent, IIRSA. A few points are therefore the most important commitment to formal negotiations yet to begin. It has little effect, especially if the movement remains the same. Whether there is in the visa facilitation agreements between the countries, or should be completely abolished. Suriname truck drivers would also easily their destination in French Guiana to reach. In Suriname the bridge a great economic importance because trade with eastern neighbors to flourish.

The shallow channel in the Maroni River to the New Haven a crucial role to play in the goods to that country. Soon, the feasibility study started on the possibilities of this infrastructural project. The study should include the bridge construction will specify the exact costs involved with the project, and the exact spot where the crossing will be constructed. Parallel will soon start with the complete rehabilitation of the East-West corridor between Meerzorg and Albina, a key requirement of the French with a view to the (traffic) safety. "Within three years we hope to be driving the first pile," says an optimistic Rick van Ravenswaay, Minister for Planning and Development (Plos). In 2010, namely to Albina wegstrekking are delivered. The crossing will also mean a relief for the 30,000 French tourists who annually visit Suriname. Largely a shop, because Suriname is relatively cheap for them.

Dutch original:
Fusie Suriname en Frans Guyana?
WOENSDAG, 20 AUGUSTUS 2008

Nu Suriname aanstalten maakt om de Oost-Westverbinding tussen Meerzorg en Albina voor 70 miljoen euro te herstellen, willen de Fransen vaart zetten achter de bouw van een vaste oeververbinding. Suriname wil daarom harde afspraken met Frankrijk maken betreffende het goederen- en personenverkeer wanneer de brug over de Marowijnerivier een feit mocht zijn. Beide landen zijn het er in grote lijnen over eens dat de oeververbinding noodzakelijk is.

De eerste schattingen geven aan dat dit project meer dan 50 miljoen US dollar kan gaan kosten. De brug gaat een sleutelrol vervullen tussen Suriname en Frans-Guyana, omdat zij samen met Guyana en Venezuela, onderdeel uitmaken van de noordelijke as in het ambitieus Initiatief voor de Integratie van de Regionale Infrastructuur van de landen op het Zuid-Amerikaans continent, IIRSA. Een paar punten worden dan ook dé belangrijkste inzet bij de officiële onderhandelingen die nog moeten beginnen. Het heeft bijvoorbeeld weinig zin als vooral het personenverkeer hetzelfde blijft. Of er komt versoepeling in de visa-afspraken tussen de landen, of het moet helemaal worden afgeschaft. Ook zouden Surinaamse vrachtwagenchauffeurs zonder moeite hun bestemming in Frans-Guyana moeten kunnen bereiken. Voor Suriname heeft de brug een grote economische betekenis, omdat de handel met de oosterburen kan gaan floreren.

Door de ondiepe vaargeul in de Marowijnerivier kan de Nieuwe Haven namelijk een cruciale rol gaan vervullen in het goederenverkeer naar dat land. Binnenkort wordt de haalbaarheidsstudie gestart over de mogelijkheden van dit infrastructurele project. De studie moet onder meer aangeven welke constructie de brug krijgt, de exacte kosten die met het project gemoeid gaan en de plek waar de oeververbinding precies zal worden aangelegd. Parallel hieraan wordt binnen afzienbare tijd gestart met de complete rehabilitatie van de Oost-Westverbinding tussen Meerzorg en Albina, een belangrijke eis van de Fransen met het oog op de (verkeers) veiligheid. "Binnen drie jaren hopen we dan de eerste paal te kunnen heien", zegt een optimistische Rick van Ravenswaay, minister voor Planning en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking (Plos). In 2010 moet namelijk de wegstrekking naar Albina zijn opgeleverd. De oeververbinding zal ook een opluchting betekenen voor de ruim 30.000 Franse toeristen die Suriname jaarlijks bezoeken. Grotendeels om er inkopen te doen, omdat Suriname voor hen vrij goedkoop is.

Source: http://www.indianfeelings.nl/fusie-suriname-en-franks-guyana?.html

Initiative for the Integration of the Regional Infrastructure of South America (IIRSA) project page: http://www.iirsa.org/proyectos/detalle_proyecto.aspx?h=201

Yikes! A more recent article is even more promising :banana:

Translated by myself this time:
Bridge between Suriname and French Guyana becomes more substantial
Published on Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 om 3:42 am in Economie, Nieuws uit Suriname, Toerisme

PARAMARIBO, 17 jun – The idea to build a bridge spanning the Marowijne River becomes ever more substantial. The European Union allocates money for a feasibility study. This is what was agreed upon on the first Amazonia Conference with French Guyana's two neighbouring countries.

French Guyana and the Brazilian states of Macapa, Para and Amazonas want to cooperate more closely. The feasibility study for a bridge will be one of the first common projects for this group. The EU allocates more than 13 million dollars, the largest part of the money needed. “It is of course aid that is offered. One would be stupid not to accept,” says Surinamese minister Ricardo van Ravenswaay of Planning & Development Cooperation.

Though not a direct priority for Suriname, the project comes in handy. Passenger traffic with French Guyana keeps increasing. “Every your we hand out 30.000-40.000 visas, so the need for a better connection is definately there”, according to Van Ravenswaay. In the meantime the ferry connection is improved. Money is allocated to that project as well.

Dutch original:
Brug Suriname-Frans Guyana krijgt vastere vorm
Geplaatst op Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 om 3:42 am in Economie, Nieuws uit Suriname, Toerisme

PARAMARIBO, 17 jun – Het idee om een brug te bouwen over de Marowijnerivier krijgt steeds meer vorm. De Europese Unie maakt geld vrij voor een haalbaarheidsstudie. Dit is overeengekomen op de eerste Amazonia Conferentie met twee buurlanden.

Frans Guyana en de drie Braziliaanse staten Macapa, Para en Amazonas willen nauwer gaan samenwerken. De studie wordt één van de eerste gemeenschappelijke projecten. De EU geeft ruim dertien miljoen dollar, het grootste deel van wat nodig is. “Uiteraard is het hulp die geboden wordt. Je zou dom zijn te zeggen dat je het niet doet”, zegt minister Ricardo van Ravenswaay van Planning & Ontwikkelingssamenwerking.

Hoewel niet direct een prioriteit komt het project handig uit. Het personenverkeer met oostelijk buurland Frans Guyana wordt steeds intensiever. “Per jaar verstrekken we zeker dertig tot veertigduizend visa. Dus er is behoefte aan een betere verbinding”, aldus Van Ravenswaay. In de tussentijd wordt de veerverbinding aangepakt. Ook daar wordt geld voor uitgetrokken.

Source: http://www.waterkant.net/suriname/2009/06/17/brug-suriname-frans-guyana-krijgt-vastere-vorm/

Bad news for the tram-train in Réunion. The center-right UMP party has won the regional elections in Réunion tonight, which only 2 weeks ago seemed totally impossible. The UMP has said they were opposed to the tram-train, which was the pet project of the Communists who ruled Réunion until now. So it looks like the project, which would have been a good thing for Réunion, has an uncertain status now. However many people believe the UMP opposed the tram-train only for political reasons to make things complicated for the Communists, and now that they have won power they will back the project (albeit with a few changes just to pretend they have dramatically improved upon the initial Communist project). This could nonetheless delay the tram-train project by a few months, or even a year or two, given the length of administrative procedures.

Construction of the international bridge over the Oyapock River between France and Brazil is now in full swing. The bridge should be completed before the end of this year. Here are some pictures taken last March. It will be the southernmost land border crossing of the European Union and the Schengen Area. http://messenger.msn.com/MMM2006-04-19_17.00/Resource/emoticons/shades_smile.gif

http://i49.tinypic.com/2nte1si.png

http://www4.ap.gov.br/jsp/fotos/viewLarge.jsp?cod_imagem=22055

The river may look narrow...
http://www4.ap.gov.br/jsp/fotos/viewLarge.jsp?cod_imagem=22058

... but look at the size of the boat for an idea of scale
http://www4.ap.gov.br/jsp/fotos/viewLarge.jsp?cod_imagem=22499

They unveiled the new ferry terminal in Fort de France

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1236/4732087258_1358783721_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1003/4731452283_714e592cf5_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1312/4731458971_ba252ec6e8_b.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1343/4732108862_a0f9d5ae77_b.jpg

Construction update of Pointe Simon tower in Fort-de-France (Martinique):

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4095/4762108637_6894db5091_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4122/4762099193_60ef00d9c2_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4118/4762089597_af8df094c0_b.jpg

Photos by Skyhig.

Construction of the international bridge over the Oyapock River between France and Brazil is now in full swing. The bridge should be completed before the end of this year. Here are some pictures taken last March. It will be the southernmost land border crossing of the European Union and the Schengen Area. http://messenger.msn.com/MMM2006-04-19_17.00/Resource/emoticons/shades_smile.gif

http://i49.tinypic.com/2nte1si.png

http://www4.ap.gov.br/jsp/fotos/viewLarge.jsp?cod_imagem=22055

The river may look narrow...
http://www4.ap.gov.br/jsp/fotos/viewLarge.jsp?cod_imagem=22058

... but look at the size of the boat for an idea of scale
http://www4.ap.gov.br/jsp/fotos/viewLarge.jsp?cod_imagem=22499

Looks great!

It will be the southernmost land border crossing of the European Union and the Schengen Area.

French Guiana is not in Schengen :|

$$$ (or rather €€€) for French Guiana.
Shell Gets Into the Other South American Offshore Oil Race

Wall Street Journal
November 11, 2009

Ever since oil was discovered offshore Ghana in 2007, the world’s oil explorers have been eyeing Guyana. Non-geologists might find that a bit of a leap.

But for Big Oil, there’s a big connection. Africa and South America were once joined, but were separated tens of millions of years ago by continental shift. So many believe the oil-bearing structures in Ghana’s huge Jubilee field could be replicated on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, in places like Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana.

http://online.wsj.com/media/FrenchGuiana_D_20091111104446.jpg
New frontier, same geology

One company that has bet big on the theory is Tullow Oil PLC, a plucky UK-based explorer that is one of the partners in Jubilee.

Tullow says it has identiified “numerous” Jubilee-type leads offshore French Guiana. It began seismic testing over 3,000 square kilometers of its permit area in September and hopes to drill its first exploration well there by the end of next year. It also has interests in Suriname and Guyana.

Now the big guys are taking the trail blazed by Tullow. Royal Dutch Shell plc announced Wednesday it had acquired a 33% interest in Tullow’s Maritime permit in French Guiana and has an option to buy 12% more later. The purchase, Shell said, “adds quality acreage to our deep water portfolio in the Americas.”

Shell is not the first supermajor to dip its toes in the waters of northern South America. Exxon Mobil Corp. has exploration rights in the huge Stabroek block offshore Guyana, though it’s tight-lipped about what it’s found there. Smaller companies like Canadian independent CGX Energy are also present there.

But the area remains one of the most under-explored in the world. There’s some data from the 1970s, when Elf Aquitaine and Exxon drilled two dry wells. But from then on it was virtually ignored by the majors. That’s changed with the discovery of Jubilee.

The idea that areas on either side of oceans could have the same oil-bearing structures is now well-established. After billions of barrels of oil were found in the “pre-salt” areas offshore Brazil, many began to wonder whether the ultra-deep waters off the coast of Angola, directly across the Atlantic, might bring forth similar treasures.

Meanwhile, for Shell, the Tullow deal makes perfect sense. Like all the majors, it’s struggled to add reserves and increase production as it’s shut out from the more traditional oil-producing areas.

French Guiana might be a leap in the dark– but one that could yield rich returns for a company eager to beef up its exploration portfolio.

http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/11/11/shell-gets-into-the-other-south-american-offshore-oil-race/

projects in the great Nouméa- New Caledonia:
tour pacific plaza (~90m) Nouméa:
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/5695/neapacificplazanb.jpg
http://www.lnc.nc/noumea/centre/centre-ville/228131-cest-reparti-pour-une-tour.html

new 13000m ² shopping mall in central Noumea:
http://img801.imageshack.us/img801/8376/neafacadeballandenb.jpg
http://www.lnc.nc/noumea/noumea/228015-alma--un-centre-commercial-geant-.html

developpement of Nouméa Dock:
http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/679/neaquaiferry2qq.jpg

http://www.lnc.nc/noumea/centre/centre-ville/228067-le-quai-ferry-commercant-fin-2010.html

Project Dumbéa sur Mer will host over 20,000 new residents a term:
http://www.dumbeasurmer.nc/

project of new downtown Mont Dore:
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/7973/montdore.jpg
http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/7214/montdore2.jpg
http://www.mont-dore.nc/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&Itemid=&gid=464

Great Thread! Now I can see my caribbean updates, and see Africa and Oceania at the same time. :cheers:

projects in the great Nouméa- New Caledonia:
tour pacific plaza (~90m) Nouméa:
Ça pousse, ça pousse. Getting some height in Nouméa! That's good news. It would be better, however, if they built towers in the downtown area of Nouméa, Australian style, instead of building towers in the beach suburbs.

The u/c 105.5 meters (346 feet) Tour de la Pointe Simon, the tallest tower in the Lesser Antilles, now dominates the skyline of Fort-de-France, Martinique, and yet it's not even half way up. Photos taken by the French forumer mll on September 15.

http://i52.tinypic.com/123p34j.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/2zebjux.jpg

The tower is now half constructed and the most interesting thing will be to see style,color of the cladding and if it works in the environnement

Latest pictures of the Tour de la Pointe Simon by skyhig. Each new floor now sets a new record for the Lesser Antilles. :banana:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4129/5021556890_754187feee_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4152/5020976431_1a75d7b941_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5020968061_9e23077518_b.jpg

Interesting theme !!!

http://s02.flagcounter.com/count/3Djs/bg=FFFFFF/txt=000000/border=CCCCCC/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=1/pageviews=1/ http://2.s03.flagcounter.com/count/0NBu/bg=FFFFFF/txt=000000/border=CCCCCC/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=1/ http://2.s05.flagcounter.com/count/MECnk/bg=FFFFFF/txt=000000/border=CCCCCC/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=0/ http://2.s02.flagcounter.com/count/3Djs/bg=FFFFFF/txt=000000/border=CCCCCC/columns=1/maxflags=1/viewers=3/labels=1/pageviews=0/

Latest picture by Skyhig of the 105.5 meters (346 feet) Tour de la Pointe Simon under construction in Fort-de-France, Martinique. It's now the tallest building in town. In fact the tallest building in Overseas France, and perhaps also already in the Lesser Antilles.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4106/5193238827_0b6dbb7c11_b.jpg

That is very good.
That a construction is done only for the overseas.

Progress on the Oyapock River Bridge between France and Brazil:

Bazil side

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/P1020970_cle5644cf.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/rte_st-Georges_151_cle5a281b.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/P1020971_cle57adb9.jpg

French side

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSCN3520_cle513fe8.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/70_cle7fc4bc.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01329_cle54e1d9.jpg

^^Your pictures are :ancient:

The bridge is now much more advanced than that. The pylons have almost reached their full height, and the bridge deck will be put into place shortly.

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSCN1907_cle5322eb.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSCN1902_cle514562.jpg

Latest pictures taken yesterday under the tropical rain:

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01482_cle5117ac.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01489_cle5b2b21.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSCN1912_cle5432f1.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01485_cle5c646d.jpg

The border checkpoint between France and Brazil, which will be located on the French side of the river, is also well advanced. :cheers:

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/P1020952_cle5b6cd1.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01234_cle5b1491.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01233_cle5414a2.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01340_cle54dcb4.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01256_cle56e6ff.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/PCF_vue_pont_cle71b851.jpg

Latest pictures taken yesterday:

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01493_cle56b763.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01495_cle5b1f36.jpg

Thanks brisavoine! You navigate the French waves of the internet way better :D

Hi Im from Martinique and Im following this very interesting topic since a long time :) thanks to all of you for sharing photos and pictures.

Yesterday night on RFO Martinique they said that "la tour de la Pointe-Simon" is already the tallest building of Fort-de-France and also of Martinique. Actually they are making the 13th floor, and the building will be able to resist to hurricane's wind, at least 360km/h 223 mph/h

This an other photo of la Pointe-Simon I took it yesterday:

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/CopiedeCopiedePhoto0050.jpg

^^Great! Thanks. Do you know when they'll start putting the cladding on?

For those who want to watch the video of yesterday's evening news on RFO Martinique, here is the link: http://info.francetelevisions.fr/video-info/index-fr.php?id-video=rhozet_martinique_20101125_142_26112010044110_RFO

The news bit about the Tour de la Pointe Simon starts at 9:41 in the video. They are currently completing the 13th storey (14th floor), and in total there'll be 20 storeys.

An article in France-Antilles today.
La tour se dévoile

France-Antilles
26 novembre 2010

http://www.martinique.franceantilles.fr/images/2010/11/26/ff1e6c1bc47d9f655f18fac33738b94f93541_fam_5p.jpg
(Wilfrid Téreau)

Imaginez en 2012, une tour de bureaux de vingt étages qui surplombe la baie des Flamands, un complexe immobilier de 45 appartements de grand standing avec piscine sur huit étages et un troisième immeuble de bureaux, commerces et restaurants... Le pôle d'affaires de la Pointe Simon est plus que sorti de terre. Il est aujourd'hui à hauteur du clocher de la cathédrale et s'affiche face à la mer. Alors les promoteurs de ce complexe s'activent sur la commercialisation du centre. Un pari audacieux, ambitieux, celui de redonner vie à la ville basse et se tourner résolument vers le futur.

153 millions d'euros
Le futur pôle d'affaires de la Pointe Simon prend forme. Treize étages sur vingt sont déjà construits. Le projet d aménagement de la Pointe Simon que Ion doit au cabinet d architecte AR2 Erick Orville et Frank Brière a été conçu en deux phases. La première phase « Presqu'île » , actuellement en cours, a été chiffré à 153 millions d'euros. Une deuxième phase est prévue courant 2013 rive gauche, « Fort-de-France antan lontan » Le programme immobilier prévu en phase 2 sera complémentaire et en continuité avec celui de la phase 1. Il consistera en deux zones distinctes sur la rive gauche. Une première zone prévoit des immeubles de grande hauteur au nord de la presqu'île incluant des bureaux, un hôtel, des commerces et un parking. Les bâtiments de la seconde zone seront de plus petite taille afin de refléter une architecture traditionnelle. Y seront inclus des commerces, un parking et un deuxième plazza.

La tour peut-elle s'effondrer ?
Le centre d'affaires de la Pointe Simon comprend vingt étages d'une surface approximative de 940 m2 parfaitement étudiés et équipés pour satisfaire les besoins des acteurs importants du marché de service, reflets de l'économie de service. Les promoteurs ont assuré qu'en matière, ils ne pouvaient pas faire mieux. Des études spécifiques ont été conduites afin d'assurer que les façades modernes de murs de rideaux, nouvelles en Martinique, résisteraient aux futurs ouragans (des vents de 300 km/h). Des essais et investigations géotechniques poussées ont été réalisés sur le terrain. Les fondations représentent 46 % de la hauteur de la tour. Les premiers appartements du condominium sont à 14 mètres au-dessus du niveau de la mer.

93 mètres de haut
La tour mesurera 93 mètres de haut pour 20 étages. À ses côtés, un bâtiment courbe destiné à héberger des logements « moyen standing » face à la mer (36 mètres de hauteur) et une tour abritant des commerces et des bureaux (38 mètres de hauteur) commencent aussi à sortir de terre.Cela n'a pas été sans mal. Car, comme toute la partie basse de la capitale foyalaise, le site de la Pointe Simon se trouve en zone liquéfiable. Une donnée complexe qui explique l'importance et la durée des travaux de fondation. « Compte tenu des règles PS92 (ndlr : parasis- miques), nous avons dû réaliser un système de fondation spécial pour s'ancrer dans le bon sol » , explique l'architecte Erick Orville.Le mur périphérique en arc de cercle situé derrière les condominiums a son importance. Il va faire 330 mètres de long, entre 30 et 40 mètres de profondeur et 60 cm d'épaisseur. Les efforts que pourrait générer un séisme, ou un événement majeur vont être ramenés sur ce mur complété par des barrettes sous l'élément le plus haut du projet

Un chantier hors norme
Rien que pour les fondations, une enceinte qui descend sur 40 mètres, longue de 330 mètres et large de 80 centimètres a été réalisée. Pour donner un ordre d'idée de ce qui a été coulé en béton, il faut s'imaginer un mur d'1 mètre de long sur 40 centimètres de large qui relierait Fort-de-France à Saint-Pierre. Même chose pour les linéaires en acier, nécessaires au maintien de la structure. Sauf que là, ils représenteraient une distance équivalente à Fort-de-France/Trinidad.

Mister Martin James
http://www.martinique.franceantilles.fr/images/2010/11/26/1ab076dc699b4a9d5f854eec76c9913793541_fam_04.jpg

Il a un CV presque aussi long que certains étages de la tour. Anglais, il a supervisé la construction de buildings dans plusieurs pays du monde, Mister James est le PDG de la société qui gère toute la construction et la commercialisation du pôle d'affaire de la Pointe Simon. Il a été choisi par le pool d'investisseurs trinidadiens qui finance à 70% ce projet, le groupe Monplaisir ayant investi à hauteur de 30%. Pour Martin James, le pari est ambitieux mais il fallait donner un nouveau souffle à Fort-de-France, apporter des équipements nouveaux et modernes. Le site du front de mer offre des perspectives de valorisation qui n'ont pas échappé à Martin James. Il suffit aujourd'hui de les exploiter.

On parle italien et portugais sur le chantier...
1434 créations d emplois dans le secteur du BTP, un chiffre qui suscite des appétits en ces temps de crise. L'arrivée d'étrangers sur le chantier a quelque peu agaçé les entreprises locales. Certaines se sont plaintes d'avoir été supplantées par des sociétés européennes. Il est vrai qu à première vue sur le chantier il y a beaucoup d'ouvriers portugais. Ils sont en ce moment 78 de l'entreprise Cinterex à travailler à l'édification de la tour et des autres bâtiments, pour 20 « locaux » . Et l'entreprise générale en charge de l'ensemble des travaux, INSO, vient d'Italie même si eUe a créé un établissement permanent en Martinique.Pour ce qui est du gros-oeuvre, la société de promotion de la Pointe Simon a donc fait le choix de sociétés européennes. La raison invoquée ? Leur expérience dans l'édification d'immeubles de tour de grande hauteur, des ouvrages qui demanderaient une grande technicité.Toutefois, pour ce qui est des matériaux, ils sont intégralement commandés à des entreprises locales. Ces dernières devraient également intervenir pour le second oeuvre, c'est une demande de la société de promotion de la Pointe Simon à INSO qui se charge des contrats de sous-traitance. On parle là de peinture, électricité, carrelage, plomberie... Au final, sur l'ensemble des 574 emplois créés sur le chantier, 80 % sont des emplois locaux affirme le maître-d'ouvrage, société immobilière de la Pointe Simon.C'est une question à laquelle la mairie de Fort-de-France s'est montrée sensible. Elle l'a d'ailleurs fait savoir au maître-d'ouvrage. Des engagements ont été pris pour accueillir des jeunes en parcours d'insertion, et des intérimaires. La société de promotion de la Pointe de Simon se dit aussi prête à recevoir des artisans désireux de se former à ces techniques de construction pointues des tours de grande hauteur.

Un complexe situé en zone franche
Eh oui, c'est passé presque inaperçu! Le quartier de la Pointe Simon est inclus depuis 2009 dans le périmètre de la zone franche urbaine foyalaise. Les entreprises installées dans le pôle d'affaires de la Pointe Simon pourront bénéficier des avantages fiscaux liés à une implantation en zone franche.Alors va t-on enfin construire un espace de « duty free » pour les touristes, et il ne faut pas aller loin. À l'image de la Pointe Séraphine à Sainte-Lucie. Pour l'instant, on en parle mais sans plus...

La villa de vos rêves : 1,4 million d'euros
Il ne suffit pas d'avoir de l'audace et de l'ambition. Les investisseurs entendent rentabiliser l'opération Pointe Simon. Et il se tourne vers les Martiniquais qui ont de l'argent. Ils ont réuni, mardi soir, un panel d'invités, à l'hôtel La Batelière, pour présenter le pôle d'affaire.Située au 8e et dernier étage du complexe immobilier Condominium Baie des Flamands, la villa de vos rêves de 233 m2 va vous coûter 1,4 millions d'euros. Il n'y en a qu'une. Le plus petit appartement un T3 de 113 m2 est vendu à 400 000 euros. En ce qui concerne les locaux commerciaux, la vue face à la baie a un prix de 30 à 50 euros le m2. Faites vos comptes...

Des quantités astronomiques
La phase 1 du projet, gros oeuvre, fondations comprises, a nécessité des quantités astronomiques de matériaux.42 750 m3 de béton.6 800 000 kg d'acier.La totalité de ces matériaux a été commandée localement, précise (la société de promotion de la Pointe Simon.

http://www.martinique.franceantilles.fr/images/2010/11/26/77bad381c6a44ee84ffefb104dcb76f593541_fam_01.jpghttp://www.martinique.franceantilles.fr/images/2010/11/26/77a80eed3c4c0ba62f68e13500d0059f93541_fam_02.jpg

http://www.martinique.franceantilles.fr/regions/centre/la-tour-se-devoile-26-11-2010-93541.php

The development plan

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5246/5213098420_6d9c0e9f19_b.jpg

^^Great! Thanks. Do you know when they'll start putting the cladding on?

No I don't. I will try to ask to someone ... :poke:

Today the French statistical office has published the population projections for the 4 French overseas departments until 2040.

Population of the 4 French overseas departments at the Jan. 2007 census:
La Réunion: 794,106
Guadeloupe: 400,586
Martinique: 397,728
French Guiana: 213,029

Projected population in Jan. 2040:
La Réunion: 1,061,000
French Guiana: 574,000
Martinique: 423,000
Guadeloupe: 404,000

Growth rate (2007-2040):
French Guiana: +169.3% :nuts:
La Réunion: +33.6%
Martinique: +6.5%
Guadeloupe: +0.8%

Exact size and population density of the 4 French overseas departments in 1999:

http://i53.tinypic.com/mhw02f.png

I have no response about the cladding for the moment :dunno:
Between the last photo you add and today, a new floor was made and actually they are making/building the 15 th
I don't know if they will work during christmas period but I think they will start the last floor in February or March

Today the French statistical office has published the population projections for the 4 French overseas departments until 2040.
[...]
Growth rate (2007-2040):
French Guiana: +169.3% :nuts:
[...]


That's crazy to French Guiana, which have actually the youger population of these deparments

Today the French statistical office has published the population projections for the 4 French overseas departments until 2040.

Population of the 4 French overseas departments at the Jan. 2007 census:
La Réunion: 794,106
Guadeloupe: 400,586
Martinique: 397,728
French Guiana: 213,029

Projected population in Jan. 2040:
La Réunion: 1,061,000
French Guiana: 574,000
Martinique: 423,000
Guadeloupe: 404,000

Growth rate (2007-2040):
French Guiana: +169.3% :nuts:
La Réunion: +33.6%
Martinique: +6.5%
Guadeloupe: +0.8%

Exact size and population density of the 4 French overseas departments in 1999:

http://i53.tinypic.com/mhw02f.png

That's quite a upward calibration when compared to UN data!

Population projection of the Guianas (in 1,000 people)

State 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045 2050
French Guiana 231 261 292 323 354 384 412 438 462
Guyana 761 754 745 732 714 686 648 605 558
Suriname 524 547 568 586 602 614 619 621 619

Source: UN Population Division Revision 2008

Do you happen to know why Guyana is going down the drain by the way?

That's quite a upward calibration when compared to UN data!
INSEE projections are based on more recent data than the UN projections.
Do you happen to know why Guyana is going down the drain by the way?
Emigration probably.

Here are the results of the 2008 French census released last week for the urban areas of overseas France (Jan. 2008 census for the urban areas in the overseas departments; specific censuses on different dates for the urban areas in the overseas collectivities). I've listed the 8 largest urban areas in overseas France, with their population at the last census that was just released, and their yearly population increase since the previous census.

Note that the maps are not at the same scale.

1- Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe): 178,631 inhabitants (in Jan. 2008)
(+0.46% per year since 1999)
http://i50.tinypic.com/2hrcuv9.png

2- Saint-Denis (Réunion): 175,053 inhabitants (in Jan. 2008)
(+1.15% per year since 1999)
http://i48.tinypic.com/2ryr975.png

3- Fort-de-France (Martinique): 171,628 inhabitants (in Jan. 2008)
(+0.09% per year since 1999)
http://i50.tinypic.com/20st0ys.png

4- Nouméa (New Caledonia): 163,723 inhabitants (in Aug. 2009)
(+2.44% per year since 1996)
http://i47.tinypic.com/xfq6th.png

5- Saint-Pierre (Réunion): 148,273 inhabitants (in Jan. 2008)
(+1.56% per year since 1999)
http://i46.tinypic.com/2jdmmfm.png

6- Papeete (French Polynesia): 131,695 inhabitants (in Aug. 2007)
(+0.66% per year since 2002)
http://i48.tinypic.com/260zz1v.png

7- Saint-Paul (Réunion): 103,008 inhabitants (in Jan. 2008)
(+1.85% per year since 1999)
http://i47.tinypic.com/4vics7.png

8- Cayenne (French Guiana): 102,089 inhabitants (in Jan. 2008)
(+2.24% per year since 1999)
http://i48.tinypic.com/nybvgj.png

Last pictures taken yesterday (Jan. 18) of the Franco-Brazilian bridge over the Oyapock River. The new date set for inauguration is sometime this Spring.

http://i53.tinypic.com/2njd6b4.png

http://i51.tinypic.com/f00zmt.png

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01606mini_cle735214.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC01599min_cle6263b3.jpg

Fort-de-France, Martinique:

UPDATE

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5220/5400497226_eccdb4749d_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5131/5399900651_4f410bf608_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5400501950_7e8bfc6c82_b.jpg

Three stories to go:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5251/5447489161_3d8e2a329a_b.jpg

Up, and up, and up...

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5260/5477457742_776ae03ccc_b.jpg

Latest pictures of the bridge over the Oyapock River on the border between France and Brazil taken on March 30.

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC02048_cle54fc16.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC02046_cle56a479.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC02076_cle51d5aa.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/DSC02043_cle52c251.jpg

^^ when it will be finished??

Matoury, French Guiana

Family Plaza

Since february started the building of the "Family Plaza". It will be a "center of life for the families" not a mall. It supposed to be inaugurated on July 2012

Actually there is a French chain store wich will be part of the Family Plaza
Size : 48 000 m2
There will are
-Gymnasium 1 600 m2
-Shops
-Cinema ...

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/general/Matoury-Family-Plaza.jpg

http://www.franceguyane.fr/regions/guyane/un-centre-de-vie-en-construction-a-matoury-18-02-2011-82896.php

Le Lamentin, Martinique

Place Mahault

Le lamentin is a city of the suburb of Fort-de-France. This city is supposed to have a bus and tram stop to welcome the future tramway in 2015...
The area (called Place Mahault) around the tram station will change. The only thing I know is that there will are a kind of arena called "Zénith", which will be a place, I guess for concerts, sports events etc ...

The Zénith is on the left. On the back in yellow it's the downtown of Le lamentin.

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/general/CopiedeSanstitre.jpg

The roads you see with the roundabout in the bottom already exist.

Brazil and France almost joined. Pictures taken on May 4, 2011.

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/IMG_0012a_cle013869.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/IMG_0035a_cle04e282.jpg

French and Brazilian workers standing on the last remaining gap on the border:
http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/IMG_0015a_cle0471a5.jpg

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/IMG_0039_cle51fd92.jpg

The structure of the Pointe Simon tower in Fort-de-France (Martinique) is now completed. Only the cladding and the antenna remain to be installed. The tower will be 97-meter (318 ft) high to the tip of the antenna.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5229/5740335561_15285fa060_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2355/5740883740_2ed774492a_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3020/5740324681_4d207e7d88_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2384/5740318017_518c643541_b.jpg

It's done, France and Brazil are now officially connected by land. :banana:

The junction took place on May 28 at 10:30pm local time. Here are the pictures.

http://i51.tinypic.com/2s7i2ps.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/28tg6zc.jpg

http://i54.tinypic.com/35hgqvq.jpg

http://i56.tinypic.com/11w9dhz.jpg

http://i51.tinypic.com/bdocwp.jpg

^^ Glad to see the EU connected with Brazil :cheers: !!!!

(c'est pas trop tôt ! :D)

oH! great!!

The minister in charge of overseas France said that the French state supports the project of a 6-lane motorway to link the northern and western parts of Réunion, in the Indian Ocean. This will be the first 6-lane motorway in overseas France. :uh:

Source: http://www.lemoniteur.fr/147-transport-et-infrastructures/article/actualite/703620-le-gouvernement-veut-relancer-les-grands-chantiers-a-la-reunion

More information.

Not only will this motorway have 6 lanes, but it will also be built out in the ocean, to protect motorists from rocks falling from the cliffs along the coast. This is massive engineering. Here is a render.

http://www.lexpress.mu/lexpress_cms/newsimages/GifPhoto-reunions.jpg

This 6-lane motorway will be about 12 km in length, built on a viaduct 20 to 60 meters out into the ocean (i.e. 20 to 60 meters off the shore) where the bottom of the ocean is 5 to 14 meters below the surface of the water. The width of the motorway above the viaduct will be 29 meters. There will unfortunately be no standard motorway hard shoulders on boths sides of the motorway (they were scrapped to diminish the cost of this already very expensive motorway). Instead, there will be a BDD, a sort of sub-standard shoulder that will only be about 1 meter wide.

http://i54.tinypic.com/2lj00hz.png

The viaduct will be far enough from the shore to be out of harms way if the entire cliff collapsed. The viaduct is also designed to resist a centennial hurricane with associated mega waves. The hypothesis of a tsunami was also studied. Motorists will drive on average 18 meters above sea-level.

The 12 km of motorway should cost 1.6 billion euros (2.3 billion US dollars). Work is due to start in the end of 2013, and the motorway is due to open to traffic in 2020. Icing on the cake: it will be toll free.

The current road below the cliffs (which the 6-lane motorway is due to replace) has a traffic of 55,000 vehicles per day. Traffic on that road increases by 2% every year.

Thank you Brisavoine :cheers:
It will not be the first 6 lane motorway in the overseas France. There is already one in Martinique and maybe in Guadeloupe or in La Réunion itself...

The road we are talking about is called La route du littoral
This is a video of the project : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqKp-UPjgtE

-La route du littoral today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJNx01Fav4Q

-When it's raining :shocked::
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMsH7M2EThw&feature=related

:eek:

It will be quite the engineering feat.

La Reunion needed it, the island has a lot of potential and France knows it.

Thank you Brisavoine :cheers:
It will not be the first 6 lane motorway in the overseas France. There is already one in Martinique and maybe in Guadeloupe or in La Réunion itself...

The road we are talking about is called La route du littoral
This is a video of the project :

xqKp-UPjgtE

-La route du littoral today
DJNx01Fav4Q

-When it's raining :shocked::
MMsH7M2EThw&feature=related

wow!



have you a map of the place where will be buid the motorway


but I think the project is horrible, in residential areas should build a promenade and make the highway has 0 impact on these areas in relation to the coast. Urban design is horrible

edit

I don't have any map so I put 2 photos from Google Earth.
You can see La route du littoral :

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/La%20Reunion/photo6.jpg

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/La%20Reunion/pphoto1.jpg

^^ ok, thanks!! :)

and what you think about what I say

There is urban areas only at the end and the beginning of the motorway the rest are cliffs (200 m) there is some residential areas on the top of them.
I don't know what you mean exactly by "building a promenade" ... and "no impact", but there is something to notice:
-it's an mountainous and crowded island (more than 300 inh/km²)
-the highway is between the 2 most important urban area of the island (northern and western part)

They just rebuilt a bit furter an already exiting highway.
http://www.mi-aime-a-ou.com/photos_ile_reunion/img/diverses/route_littoral_010001.jpg
The RN1 between Saint Denis and le Possession know as route du Littoral (opened in 1976) is too close the cliffs and many stones are falling in the highway.
So they often close two lanes of this highway.
Today it doesn't pose to much problem but the future the traffic in Reunion will be much higher.

There is urban areas only at the end and the beginning of the motorway the rest are cliffs (200 m) there is some residential areas on the top of them.
I don't know what you mean exactly by "building a promenade" ... and "no impact", but there is something to notice:
-it's an mountainous and crowded island (more than 300 inh/km²)
-the highway is between the 2 most important urban area of the island (northern and western part)

well in the area of la possession they can build a tunnel or meke just something that makes no division between the coast and inhabited area

but I don't know the place, so I can be wrong

Ok I understand. Maybe there will have tensions because with the new highway the town of La Possession will not have access to the sea anymore ... (near La Possession there is the most important port of the island ...)

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/La%20Reunion/lito2-86a3e.jpg

^^ in la possession they could do the same that they will do in the areas with cliffs, the haighway on the sea...

Would you like a viaduct in front of a waterfront (which will be a "viaduct-front" :lol:) ... or lost the sea acces because of a normal highway ?
Moreover it is less expensive to stop the viaduct just before La Possession and the port is just after the residential area you see on the video.
Visit La Réunion island on Google Earth :)

The new highway will not change anything in urban area as it will be connected to the exiting freeway in la Possession.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d107/Vincentthomas/Album%203/Possesssionhighwa.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d107/Vincentthomas/Album%203/PosseHighwayPortarea.jpg

Anyway in this area the seafront is very industrial, it is not attractive.

The cladding is finally going up in Fort-de-France. :naughty:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5155/5913035171_66ca7c6d9b_b.jpg
:

The bridge over the Oyapock River is now almost completed. Here is the latest picture. It comes from an article in a French newspaper that I post below.

http://i54.tinypic.com/2a98969.png

The article:
Un pont en partage entre Guyane et Brésil

La Croix
6 juillet 2011

Le fleuve Oyapock, frontière entre France et Brésil, pourra être bientôt franchi grâce à un pont.

http://www.la-croix.com/var/bayard/storage/images/lacroix/actualite/s-informer/france/un-pont-en-partage-entre-guyane-et-bresil-_eg_-2011-07-06-686301/21801585-1-fre-FR/Un-pont-en-partage-entre-Guyane-et-Bresil_article_main.jpg
Le fleuve Oyapock, frontière entre la France et le Brésil que le pont enjambe, est franchi quotidiennement, dans les deux sens, sur des pirogues.

L’extrême limite de la République, c’est ici, à Saint-Georges-de-l’Oyapock, dans l’est de la Guyane. Cette bourgade de 3500 habitants s’accroche au bord du fleuve Oyapock, qui tient lieu de frontière entre la France et le Brésil. Oui, aux confins, mais sans doute plus pour très longtemps car désormais, non loin de la localité, la construction du pont devant relier les deux rives et promettant le territoire français ultramarin au désenclavement, est sur le point d’être achevée.

Nicolas Sarkozy et son homologue brésilienne, Dilma Rousseff, pourraient inaugurer vers la fin de cette année 2001 l’ouvrage, qui est unique dans la mesure où il crée un passage direct entre un territoire de l’Union européenne et un pays de l’Amérique latine.

Pour autant, la population de Saint-Georges-de-l’Oyapock n’est pas très enthousiaste. À l’instar de Modestine, créole sexagénaire qui tient le plus vieil hôtel-restaurant de la commune, opportunément appelé « Chez Modestine ». « Je ne vois pas ce que le pont peut nous apporter, dit-elle avec une moue ricanante. Les gens vont venir de Cayenne pour passer comme des flèches de l’autre côté. Ils ne s’arrêteront plus à Saint-Georges. C’est sûr, nous aurons une petite ville morte ! »

Un symbole de coopération

Le pont s’élève, avec élégance et majesté, entre deux immensités de la forêt amazonienne. Achevé à la fin du mois de mai dernier, son tablier fait 378 mètres de long et comporte deux voies de 3,5 mètres de largeur, plus deux voies pour cyclistes et piétons. Il est porté par deux pylônes de 83 mètres de hauteur et des faisceaux de haubans.

L’ensemble est construit par le groupement brésilien Egesa/CMT et son coût (plus de 50 millions d’euros) sera partagé entre les deux pays. La décision d’ériger l’ouvrage a été prise en 2005 par les présidents Jacques Chirac et Luiz Inacio Lula, sous la forme d’un accord ratifié par les deux pays dans les mois qui ont suivi. Elle a été confirmée en septembre 2008, lors d’une rencontre de Nicolas Sarkozy et Luiz Inacio Lula à Saint-Georges-de-l’Oyapock, et les travaux ont commencé en septembre 2009.

Le pont – dont on annonce qu’il sera sans péage – est d’abord la consécration symbolique, décidée au plus haut niveau, d’une coopération des diplomaties des deux États. Sur place, les habitants ne le réclamaient pas. Il est vrai que le fleuve n’a jamais été considéré comme une frontière. On le franchit quotidiennement dans les deux sens sur des pirogues. Dans le flux venant du Brésil, se mêlent migrants illégaux et orpailleurs clandestins. Et, pour les originaires de Saint-Georges, il est tentant d’aller en face, au-delà de l’imposant cours d’eau, pour faire son marché, voire pour se loger, en raison de prix plus bas.

Scepticisme des Français

« Cette habitude de recourir aux esquifs ne devrait pas changer de sitôt, tant elle fait partie des habitudes », estime Jacques, un métropolitain retiré depuis des années en ces terres. Il aurait pu ajouter que voguer (cela prend une vingtaine de minutes) de Saint-Georges à Oiapoque, ville brésilienne de l’autre rive, dans l’État de l’Amapá, a un charme fou. De part et d’autre, se dressent des falaises d’arbres géants pleines d’animaux tropicaux. « Le pont est une injure à cette nature », se plaignent inévitablement les rares écologistes de l’endroit.

Du côté français, le scepticisme quant à l’utilité de l’ouvrage existe depuis le début parmi les habitants. Comme si les conséquences économiques à attendre d’une circulation des personnes et des biens ne pouvaient qu’être défavorables à la Guyane. En fait, les conditions du trafic ne sont pas encore complètement déterminées.

La facilité de passage se trouve au centre de deux ultimes conventions discutées entre les deux pays. Concernant les personnes, il est question d’assouplir les règles pour les Brésiliens, qui ne peuvent aujourd’hui entrer légalement en Guyane que s’ils sont munis d’un visa, alors que tout Français entrant au Brésil par la Guyane doit seulement faire viser son passeport à la police en arrivant sur place. Une carte de libre circulation pour les frontaliers brésiliens et français est envisagée.

La peur de l’immigration irrégulière

Les conditions du transport de marchandises devront également être aménagées : les camions brésiliens ne répondant pas aux normes de sécurité européennes, une plate-forme de transit avec transfert des cargaisons à des camions français serait créée près du pont. La mise au point de ces réglementations pourrait retarder l’inauguration. « La Guyane n’a rien à exporter, à la différence du Brésil », complète la restauratrice Modestine.

Ce que d’autres Guyanais, en conformité avec ce constat qui se veut réaliste, traduisent souvent par : « Le Brésil est un vaste pays émergent avec une population importante et un fort dynamisme dans bien des secteurs, à commencer par celui de l’agriculture… » En présence de 193 millions d’habitants (670 000 pour l’État de l’Amapá), que peuvent en effet peser les 250 000 habitants de Guyane et une économie sous perfusion ? Avec la construction de l’ouvrage, la perspective de voir l’immigration irrégulière s’accroître provoque, en outre, un débat en Guyane.

Promouvoir les produits français

Cependant, comme s’ils avaient joué jusqu’à présent à se faire beaucoup peur, les habitants de Saint-Georges-de-l’Oyapock osent rêver un peu, alors que l’ouverture du pont se rapproche. Fabienne Mathurin-Brouard, maire de la bourgade et membre de « Guyane 73 » (parti fondé par l’ancien socialiste Rodolphe Alexandre, président du conseil régional), y est pour quelque chose. Ancien agent de développement local et mère de quatre garçons, cette créole de 37 ans se bat depuis son élection en 2008 pour « la création d’une zone franche du côté français du pont ».

Selon elle, cela permettrait de promouvoir des produits français, voire européens : gastronomie, parfumerie, haute technologie… « Les Brésiliens sont demandeurs », jure-t-elle. Appuyé par la Chambre de commerce et d’industrie de la Guyane, un projet de zone franche a été mis à l’étude. « Il faut être audacieux », insiste l’élue. Et, en écho, Modestine ne voit finalement qu’une issue : « Se prendre en main ! »

http://www.la-croix.com/Actualite/S-informer/France/Un-pont-en-partage-entre-Guyane-et-Bresil-_EG_-2011-07-06-686301#

^^ GREAT :)

Thanks to the bridge it will be easier and faster to join Cayenne and Macapa (capital of Amapa state).

To my mind this bridge will definitely KILL St-Georges de l'Oyapock, the brazilian city (Oiaoque) is economicaly more dynamic because French (or maybe French-guianan?) use to by things in the brazilian town.
The mayor of the town wants to create a free trade zone but I think she forgets that Amapa is one of the poorest brazilian state and Belem is far..

Really great!

the bridge will be great to the region, I'm sure :)

Fort-de-France

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/Projet%20Fort-de-France/CopiedeDSCF5258-1.jpg

I've been looking for a long to on this forum, and now my first post: Some photos taken by and on the bridge over the Oyapock on the first of july:

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m635/jorisbens/IMG_7257-1.jpg
View from the road on the French side to the bridge

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m635/jorisbens/IMG_7258.jpg

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m635/jorisbens/IMG_7259.jpg

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m635/jorisbens/IMG_7264-1.jpg

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m635/jorisbens/IMG_7267.jpg

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m635/jorisbens/IMG_7268.jpg

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m635/jorisbens/IMG_7283.jpg
View to Oiapoque from the bridge

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m635/jorisbens/IMG_7291.jpg

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m635/jorisbens/IMG_7304.jpg
The border post on the French side

Seeing as how the tram-train project in Reunion was abandoned, is it being replaced by a BHNS system?

Pointe Simon Tower, Fort-de-France (Martinique) :



http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k640/skyhig20/DSC03452.jpg?t=1313184782

This had been suspected for some time, but it's now confirmed. It looks like France is finally getting its very own North Sea. $$$$$
Total: Deep Offshore Discovery In French Guiana

Dow Jones Newswires
September 09, 2011

http://s2.lemde.fr/image/2011/09/09/270x270/1570082_4_7a36_le-champ-d-exploration-au-large-de-la-guyane.jpg

French oil major Total SA (TOT) Friday said a major hydrocarbon discovery was made in French Guiana's deep offshore Guyane Maritime license, in which it has a 25% equity interest.

Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) is the operator and owns a 27.5% interest while Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) owns 45% and Northpet 2.5%.

Located around 150 kilometers northeast of Cayenne, the GM-ES-1 well lies in just over 2,000 meters of water and has so far been drilled to a depth of 5,711 meters below sea level.

Measurement while drilling revealed the existence of liquid hydrocarbon-bearing sandstone reservoirs.

After intermediate measurements, drilling will resume shortly to reach the planned total depth. The production potential and the scale of resources will then be determined through delineation drilling, the group said.

Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2011/09/09/total-deep-offshore-discovery-in-french-guiana/#ixzz1XTQWA1A8

Tullow, Shell Discovery Opens New French Guiana Oil Play

Wall Street Journal
September 9, 2011

U.K.-listed oil companies Tullow Oil PLC (TLW.LN) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) said Friday they have opened up a new hydrocarbon basin offshore French Guiana with the discovery of a good quality oil reservoir from their first wildcat well.

Tullow shares soared on the news, trading up 11.3% at GBP13.66 and leading gainers on the FTSE 100 index at 0739 GMT. Shell's B shares were up about 0.5%.

The Zaedyus well was drilled in a geological structure that Tullow believed could be a mirror of the Jubilee play offshore West Africa, where it has discovered 1.4 billion barrels of oil in recent years and transformed itself into one of the U.K.'s largest independent oil companies.

"This shows we are sitting at the top table of exploration," said Angus McCoss, Tullow's exploration director, in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.

"This proves the Jubilee play is mirrored on the South American side of the Atlantic," said McCoss. "This result marks the start of a significant and potentially transformational long-term exploration and appraisal campaign in the region."

The discovery is a "major step" because the geological system offshore Latin America is bigger than that of offshore Ghana, said McCoss. "There are at least half a dozen more of these Zaedyus type traps adjacent," and the chance of finding oil in them has increased, he said.

Tullow Oil has hit a home run with this discovery, said Bank of America Merrill Lynch in a research note. The bank initially gave Tullow a 10% chance of finding 700 million barrels of oil, but the nature of the discovery means the total resources could grow beyond this, it said.

The discovery means Tullow and its partners can now drill with a greater chance of success in licenses they hold offshore Sierra Leone, Liberia, Cote d'Ivoire, Suriname and Guyana, said McCoss.

These areas all have very similar geology because, "if you turn the clock back 100 million years, the Atlantic was just a narrow sea," said McCoss. Plate tectonics have since dragged the continent apart, but the geological structures that trapped the oil have remained intact.

Shell is the largest stake holder, with 45% of the license offshore French Guiana where the discovery was made. Tullow, which is running the drilling operation, has a 27.5% stake. French oil company Total SA (TOT) has 25% and Northpet has 2.5%

"Certainly we've got the financial muscle and strategic mindset to move fast on this," said McCoss.

Tullow and Spain's Repsol SA (REP) will start drilling the Jaguar prospect offshore Guyana in October, he said.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110909-702807.html

great news for guiana

French Guiana is not an autonomous or independent region.
Good news for France.

It's an overseas region.

The newly completed border crossing between Brazil and France:
http://i56.tinypic.com/2nbf5v8.jpg

^^ is there an EU-entry sign in the border such as the ones in Europe?

BTW congrats to France for the oil :)

^^ is there an EU-entry sign in the border such as the ones in Europe?
I don't know, we haven't seen a sign yet. Waiting for pictures to come...

French Guiana is not an autonomous or independent region.
Good news for France.

I know, but obviously, this find will benefit the region a lot

Latest views of the Tour de la Pointe Simon in Fort-de-France.

http://www.brierearchitectes.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/0421-pointe-simon-31-400x275.jpg

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/Projet%20Fort-de-France/ptDSCF6471.jpg

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/Projet%20Fort-de-France/DSCF6033.jpg

http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k640/skyhig20/DSC03815.jpg?t=1316377601

It's an overseas region.

The newly completed border crossing between Brazil and France:
image

How is the diplomatic relationship between France (Guiana) and Suriname?

President Bouterse (Suriname) said he wants to have a strong and intensive relationship with Sarkozy (France).

Since their (Sur.) independence of the Netherlands, diplomatic intercourse (Sur. - Neth.) has come to a stop. Maybe France can profit of this situation.

^^I don't think France "profits" from the situation. Suriname is more interested in France than France is interested in Suriname.

New container terminal project in the port of Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe. It could become the container hub for the Caribbean.

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/Ports/jarry.jpg

http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/Ports/Plan-Jarry2010_Page_2.jpg

The port today:
http://i725.photobucket.com/albums/ww258/Gaetandu972/Ports/papprt2.jpg

Not really THE hub of the carribean ... every company will have it's own hub Maersk in Costa-Rica, MSC in the Bahamas ... due to the future expansion of Panama Canal so there will are bigger container ships.
The French group CMA-CGM wanted to make its one in Guadeloupe finally they chose Jamaica ...

But Guadeloupe wants to be a secondary hub I think for the lesser Antilles so CMA-CGM decided to keep the project but to change it because it's too disproportionate and expensive ...Yesterday they show on TV two projects:
-The one shown on the first picture is what the PAG (Port Autonome de la Guadeloupe) still wants (400 millions euros)
-CMA CGM disagree for the reason above and wants to delete the south extension that you see on the left of the pictures. (100-80 millions euros)

So actually PAG disagree with CMA-CGM and to crown it all, Martinique the other French island have it's own project (65 millions euros) and wants to have its hub ... so actually there is a kind of rivalry between the two French island and Martinique is ahead of PAG since there is the disagreement in Guadeloupe.

The interest of having a hub :
import will become cheaper but to the other island there will are additional cost

Not really THE hub of the carribean ... every company will have it's own hub Maersk in Costa-Rica, MSC in the Bahamas ... due to the future expansion of Panama Canal so there will are bigger container ships.
The French group CMA-CGM wanted to make its one in Guadeloupe finally they chose Jamaica ...

But Guadeloupe wants to be a secondary hub I think for the lesser Antilles so CMA-CGM decided to keep the project but to change it because it's too disproportionate and expensive ...Yesterday they show on TV two projects:
-The one shown on the first picture is what the PAG (Port Autonome de la Guadeloupe) still wants (400 millions euros)
-CMA CGM disagree for the reason above and wants to delete the south extension that you see on the left of the pictures. (100-80 millions euros)

So actually PAG disagree with CMA-CGM and to crown it all, Martinique the other French island have it's own project (65 millions euros) and wants to have its hub ... so actually there is a kind of rivalry between the two French island and Martinique is ahead of PAG since there is the disagreement in Guadeloupe.

The interest of having a hub :
import will become cheaper but to the other island there will are additional cost
Ok.

Tour de la Pointe Simon in Fort-de-France is nearing completion. :cheers:

Pictures from Skyhig.

http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k640/skyhig20/DSC04059.jpg

http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k640/skyhig20/DSC04070.jpg

seems great!

nice thanks

:banana:

Latest pictures of the Tour de la Pointe Simon in Fort-de-France, by Skyhig.

http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k640/skyhig20/DSC04100.jpg

http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k640/skyhig20/DSC04111.jpg

amazing pictures!!

Bridge over the Oyapok River, completed

http://www.guyane.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/IMG/jpg/Pont_Oyapock_48.jpg

^^ oh great!

Does anyone have pictures of the French side roads, as well as the border structure?

It would be nice to see a border crossing between the European Union and Brazil!


One of the few pictures of the Brazilian side:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Oiapoque2.jpg

The border river can be seen in the background, thus France and Brazil in one picture :cheers:

Latest view of the Tour de la Pointe Simon in Fort-de-France by Skyhig.

http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k640/skyhig20/DSC04254.jpg?t=1324326119

http://i1119.photobucket.com/albums/k640/skyhig20/DSC04234.jpg?t=1324326119

A quick view of the tower to the left in the beginning of this video:
-GFn5rseGJE