Time in French Guiana — regions, cities and time zones

Current time in Cayenne

Cayenne, on the Atlantic coast, is the capital of this French overseas department on the South American mainland. Its clock holds at UTC−3 in January and July alike — a fixed offset, despite the department being an integral part of France, which does change its clocks.

That mismatch is the single most useful thing to know here. Because Paris moves and Cayenne does not, the gap between them is four hours for part of the year and five for the rest. Anyone running a standing call between the two will see it drift twice annually unless they anchor it to one side deliberately.

France on the equator

French Guiana is a department of France, uses the euro, and sends deputies to the French parliament — but it lies on the northern coast of South America, bordered by Brazil and Suriname, covered largely by rainforest. Its neighbours on the clock are South American, not European:

Suriname, to the west, sits at UTC−3 as well. Brazil's coastal states, to the south and east, use UTC−3 in their standard arrangement. Paris, four or five hours ahead depending on the season. The zone identifier is America/Cayenne.

A department of France whose working day ends about the time the Paris office is thinking about dinner. Someone has to be the last one online.

Kourou and the launch clock

Kourou is home to the Guiana Space Centre, Europe's spaceport, and the reason many people encounter this time zone at all. Launch times are published for an international audience, and the department's fixed UTC−3 offset is the local reference against which they are quoted.

Because the site serves European programmes while sitting on South American time, launch coverage routinely carries two clocks — local and the European one. If you are following an event from Europe, note which is being used before you set an alarm.

Daylight near the equator

Sitting close to the equator, French Guiana has little seasonal variation in day length. Sunrise and sunset move only slightly through the year, and the day runs near twelve hours in every month. This is part of why a summer-time arrangement would achieve nothing here: there is no long summer evening to extend and no dark winter morning to rescue.

The seasons that matter locally are wet and dry, not light and dark. The clock is indifferent to both.

Towns across the department

The population is concentrated along the coast, with the interior sparsely settled. All of it keeps the same hour: Cayenne — the capital and main port. Kourou — the space centre. Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni — on the Suriname border.

Matoury and Rémire-Montjoly — in the Cayenne urban area. Maripasoula — far inland, on the Maroni river.