Balaté

Balaté
Village
Balaté is located in French Guiana
Balaté
Balaté
Location in French Guiana
Coordinates: 5°28′58″N 54°02′38″W / 5.48279°N 54.04390°W / 5.48279; -54.04390
CountryFrance
Overseas regionFrench Guiana
ArrondissementSaint-Laurent-du-Maroni
CommuneSaint-Laurent-du-Maroni
Government
 • CaptainSylvio Van der Pijl[1]
Population
 (2017)[2]
 • Total
ca. 600

Balaté is a village of Lokono Amerindians[3] in the commune of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni at the confluence of the Maroni River and the Balaté River in French Guiana.

History

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Balaté was founded in 1946[3] near the town of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni. The village had a population of about 600 people as of 2017.[2] In 1987, Jacques Chirac as Prime Minister established Zones of Collective Use Rights (ZDUC).[4] Since 1993, the village has 3,710 hectares of communal land located about 10 kilometres from the village to be used for fishing, hunting and subsistence farming.[5]

In 2006, Léon Bertrand, who was both Mayor of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and Delegate Minister of Tourism, developed plans for a large tourist resort with a luxury hotel and casino in the village of Balaté. Captain Brigitte Wyngaarde, the traditional village chief, successfully opposed the plans.[6]

References

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  1. ^ "Coronavirus : inquiétudes au village de Balaté de Saint-Laurent du Maroni". France TV (in French). 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  2. ^ a b "L'État s'engage en Guyane" (PDF). Government of French Guiana (in French). 23 March 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  3. ^ a b Demenois & Wyngaarde 2006, p. 8.
  4. ^ "Un atlas des Zones de droits d'usage collectifs en Guyane". Confins. Revue Franco-Brésilienne de Géographie / Revista Franco-Brasilera de Geografia (in French) (21). 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
  5. ^ Demenois & Wyngaarde 2006, p. 10.
  6. ^ "La parole étouffée de Brigitte Wyngaarde". Blada (in French). Retrieved 11 February 2020.

Bibliography

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