Grand-Santi

Grand-Santi (French pronunciation: [ɡʁɑ̃ sɑ̃ti]; French Guianese Creole: Gransanti) is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Most of the inhabitants are Ndyuka Maroons and Surinamese immigrants.^[3]

Grand-Santi
Commune
Church of Grand-Santi
Location of the commune (in red) within French Guiana
Location of Grand-Santi
Coordinates: 4°16′26″N 54°22′58″W
Country	France
Overseas region and department	French Guiana
Arrondissement	Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni
Intercommunality	Ouest Guyanais
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Felix Dada[1]
Area 1	2,112 km2 (815 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	9,390
• Density	4.4/km2 (12/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−03:00
INSEE/Postal code	97357 /97340
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

The commune was originally called Grand-Santi-Papaichton and included the now independent communes of Apatou and Papaichton. On 12 November 1976 Apatou was detached from Grand-Santi-Papaichton and became an independent commune. On 1 January 1993 Papaichton was also detached from Grand-Saint-Papaichton and became an independent commune.^[4] On that occasion, the name of the commune was shortened into Grand-Santi.^[3] The commune mainly lives from small-scale agriculture and fishing.^[5] The commune also contains other villages like Belikampoe [nl].^[6]

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1967	723	—
1974	1,041	+5.35%
1982	754	−3.95%
1990	1,786	+11.38%
1999	2,862	+5.38%
2007	3,427	+2.28%
2012	6,029	+11.96%
2017	7,918	+5.60%
2021	9,120	+3.60%
Source: INSEE[7]

Transport

Canoes on the Maroni River

The commune can only be reached by boat or airplane.^[3] The Grand-Santi Airport is located 1 km (0.54 NM) northeast of Grand-Santi.^[8]

See also

• Communes of French Guiana