Matoury is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. Matoury is a southern suburb of Cayenne, the préfecture and largest city of French Guiana. Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport, the main international airport of French Guiana, is located in the commune of Matoury. Air Guyane Express has its head office on the grounds of the airport.

Geography

Location

Matoury is located in French Guiana situated in South America. It is bordered by 5 communes: The city used to be called "Tour de l'Isle" because it is bordered by water :

Town planning

The town planning of Matoury is very uneven. Outside the town-centre there are some urbanized areas along the road leading to Cayenne, Macouria and Cayenne – Félix Eboué Airport. PROGT, the professional lyceum in Balata is surrounded by forests. The city is urbanizing quickly as a suburb of Cayenne The main neighbourhoods of Matoury are:

Population

The commune of Matoury experienced a rapid suburbanisation in the late 20th century, and grew from 567 people in 1967 to 31,956 in 2017. Matoury is a cosmopolitan town. It is home to Amerindians (located in Sainte-Rose-de-Lima, Cécilia and Petit-la-Chaumière), to Afro–French Guianans, Metropolitans, Haïtians, Brazilians, Surinamese, Javanese, Chinese, Maroon and people from British West Indies such as Saint Lucia.

History

In 1838, during the colonial era, the District of Matoury was the third of the French Guiana colony thanks to its large and diversely cultivated areas. The main productions were sugarcane, cotton, clove, achiote and pepper. Matoury is also home to remains of the past:

Administration

Gabriel Serville was Mayor of the city between 2014 and 2020, and deputy to the French National Assembly since 2012.

Nature

The Mirande trail is located in Matoury. The trail gives access to the Mont Grand Matoury Nature Reserve on the eponymous mountain.

Notable people