Balaté
Village in French Guiana, France
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Balaté (French pronunciation: [balate]) 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.
Balaté | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Balaté Location in French Guiana | |
| Coordinates: 5.48279°N 54.04390°W | |
| Country | France |
| Overseas region | French Guiana |
| Arrondissement | Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni |
| Commune | Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni |
| Government | |
| • Captain | Sylvio Van der Pijl[1] |
| Population (2017)[2] | |
• Total | ca. 600 |
History
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]
