Editing Demographics of French Guiana (section)

==Ethnic groups==
{{anchor|Ethnic groups}}
Estimates of the percentages of French Guiana ethnic composition vary, a situation compounded by the large proportion of immigrants.

Creoles, or Mulattoes (people of mixed African and French ancestry), are the largest ethnic group, though estimates vary as to the exact percentage, depending upon whether the large [[Haiti]]an community is included as well. Generally the Creole population is judged to be about 60 to 70% of the total population if Haitians (comprising roughly one-third of Creoles) are included, and 30 to 50% without.

Roughly 41,000 people or 14% of the population of French Guiana is of European ancestry. The vast majority of these are of French heritage, though there are also people of [[Dutch people|Dutch]], [[British people|British]], [[Spaniards|Spanish]] and [[Portuguese people|Portuguese]] ancestry.

The main Asian communities are the [[Overseas Chinese|Chinese]] (about 3-4%, primarily from [[Zhejiang|Zhejiang province]] in [[mainland China]] and Hong Kong) and [[Hmong people|Hmong]]<ref name="metisse"/> from [[Laos]] (1-2%). There are also smaller groups from various [[Caribbean]] islands, mainly [[Saint Lucia]] as well as [[Dominica]]. Other Asian groups include [[Indian people|East Indians]], [[Lebanese people|Lebanese]] and [[Vietnamese people|Vietnamese]].

The main groups living in the interior are the [[Maroon (people)|Maroons]] (formerly called "Bush Negroes") who are from African descent, and [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Amerindians]]. The Maroons, descendants of escaped African slaves, live primarily along the [[Maroni River]]. The main Maroon groups are the [[Saramaka]], [[Ndyuka people|Ndyuka]] (both of whom also live in [[Suriname]]), and Boni ([[Aluku]]).<ref name="metisse"/> The Maroons are the fastest growing ethnic group, and as of 2018 constitute about one-third of the total population with an estimated population of close to 100,000 people.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Price|first1=Richard |title=Maroons in Guyane|journal=New West Indian Guide | url=https://brill.com/view/journals/nwig/92/3-4/article-p275_3.xml|date=2018|publisher=Brill Publishers|series=New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids Volume 92: Issue 3-4|volume=92 |issue=3–4 |pages=275–283 |doi=10.1163/22134360-09203001 |s2cid=134482919 |access-date=5 August 2020|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The main Amerindian groups (estimated population about 10,000<ref name="metisse">{{cite web|url=https://www.guyane-amazonie.fr/une-population-metissee|title=Une population métissée|website=Guyane Amazonie|date=16 February 2015 |access-date=5 August 2020|language=fr}}</ref>) are the [[Arawaks|Arawak]], [[Kalina people|Carib]], [[Teko, tribe|Teko]] (previously called [[Emerillon people|Emerillon]]), [[Galibi]] (now called the [[Kaliña]]), [[Palikur people|Palikur]], [[Wayampi]] and [[Wayana]]. The estimated population for the beginning of the 17th century was 30,000 people.<ref name="amerindian_history"/> Until the middle of the 20th century, there was a sharp decline in population to almost 1,200 people<ref>{{cite thesis|url=https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010010044|title=Un pays sous-développé sous-peuplé : l'exemple de la Guyane|website=Institution française publique de recherche|author=Michotte Jean|publisher=Université de Bordeaux|access-date=5 August 2020|language=fr|page=57}}</ref> in 1961 which was mainly caused by European diseases. Improved health care managed to turn the tide.<ref name="amerindian_history">{{cite journal|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/jsa_0037-9174_1979_num_66_1_3041|title=Les amérindiens de Guyane française aujourd'hui : éléments de compréhension|author=Françoise Grenand and Pierre Grenand|year=1976|series=Journal de la société des américanistes|website=Persée|volume=66 |issue=1 |language=fr|page=363-364|doi=10.3406/jsa.1979.3041 }}</ref>

===Nationality===
On January 1, 2010, 64.5% of the population had French nationality, while 35.5% had a foreign nationality.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.insee.fr/fr/themes/tableau.asp?reg_id=25&ref_id=poptc02501|title=Résultats de la recherche|website=Insee.fr|access-date=1 August 2017}}</ref> Of these, Surinamese (13.8% of the total population), Haitians (8.8%) and Brazilians (8.7%) were the largest groups. Smaller groups included people with nationality of Guyana (1.7%), Colombia (1.0%), China (0.5%), the Dominican Republic (0.4%) and Peru (0.2%).