Montsinéry-Tonnegrande

Montsinéry-Tonnegrande is a commune of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America.

Montsinéry-Tonnegrande
Commune
A view of the town hall of Montsinéry
Coat of arms
Location of the commune (in red) within French Guiana
Location of Montsinéry-Tonnegrande
Coordinates: 4°53′31″N 52°29′36″W
CountryFrance
Overseas region and departmentFrench Guiana
ArrondissementCayenne
IntercommunalityCentre Littoral
Government
 • Mayor (2020–2026) Patrick Lecante[1]
Area
1
634 km2 (245 sq mi)
Population
 (2017-01-01)[2]
2,589
 • Density4.1/km2 (11/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−03:00
INSEE/Postal code
97313 /97356
Elevation0–112 m (0–367 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Montsinéry-Tonnegrande is to the south-west of Cayenne. It contains a botanical garden,[3] and various walking trails. Camp Crique Anguille, an internment camp for Indochinese prisoners, was located 38 km outside of town, and connected with a railroad. The camp was operation between 1930 and 1945.[4]

The commune was previously known as Tonnegrande-Montsinéry, but on 27 March 1969 the name was officially changed into Montsinéry-Tonnegrande.

Montsinéry is home to a shortwave transmission facility operated by the TDF Group that is designed to target listeners in the Americas and West Africa. The site is capable of DRM digital shortwave transmissions. An image of the rotatable curtain array antenna in Montsinéry can be found by searching Flickr for "Montsinery antenne". One of their broadcasting frequencies is the 7335 kHz slot that CHU (Canada) recently abandoned.

Recently the Voice of Russia began transmitting to North America from Montsinéry — its first transmissions from the western hemisphere since the early 1990s (it previously broadcast from Havana).

Geography

The city has 2 burgs spaced by 22 km:

It used to be isolated to the close main city of French Guiana, Cayenne, but now the RD5 road opens up the city.[5]

Montsinéry is surrounded by rivers and inundated fields. It is located at the convergence of Timouthou and Montsinéry rivers. Life is peaceful in this burg. Tonnegrande, located on the right border of the Tonnegrande River is also peaceful.

History

Montsinéry-Tonnegrande used to be occupied by settlers. They used to run the sugar cane industry and to farm a spices plantation. Amerindians are also present in the city.

The 2 burgs developed with creole houses. In 1836, the population was made up of 1102 slaves and 167 free inhabitants feeding mainly on fishing. In 1878, Montsinnéry and Tonnegrande were gathered in a single municipal entity. In 1941 the Montsinnéry-Tonnegrande city was officially created.

Montsinéry-Tonnegrande is also known for its prisons. Indeed, in 1848, a first penitentiary was built and then closed at the end of the 19th century. In 1930, a new prison was built, called "Bagne des Anamites", in order to receive Indochinese opponents to the French presence in Indochina. These 330 men performed manual work and built in particular the road towards Cayenne.[4] In 1945, the camp was closed.[4]

Activities

Montsinéry is the only space in French Guiana where you can find oysters. It is also possible to make eco tourism with a pedalo visit on the river and even ride a horse.

See also

References
  1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
  2. "Populations légales 2017". INSEE. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  3. "IONOPSIS - LE JARDIN BOIS DE ROSE". Petit Futé (in French).
  4. "Prison Railways in French Guiana, 2014". International Steam. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  5. "Guite Montsinéry-Tonnegrande". Petit Futé (in French). Retrieved 2 July 2020.
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