Time Zones in French Guiana

View current local time in French Guiana, check UTC offsets and DST status, and compare or convert time with any other timezone.

Cayenne
French Guiana · -03
Cayenne Standard TimeGMT -03Mon, Apr 6
12AM3AM6AM9AM12PM3PM6PM9PM
UTC
UTC · UTC
Coordinated Universal TimeGMT +00Tue, Apr 7
12AM3AM6AM9AM12PM3PM6PM9PM
Cayenne
Pop. 61,550
Matoury
Pop. 26,350
Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni
Pop. 24,287
Kourou
Pop. 24,029
Rémire-Montjoly
Pop. 19,029
Macouria
Pop. 8,773
Mana
Pop. 5,885
Apatou
Pop. 4,752
Grand-Santi
Pop. 3,941
Sinnamary
Pop. 3,180
Saint-Georges
Pop. 2,742
Roura
Pop. 2,229
Iracoubo
Pop. 1,536
Camopi
Pop. 1,295
Maripasoula
Pop. 0
Régina
Pop. 0
Rémire
Pop. 0

How to Check Time in French Guiana

  1. Open the French Guiana time converter: Go to https://www.xconvert.com/time-converter/french-guiana to load the page with French Guiana pre-focused, typically represented through Cayenne, the capital and main administrative center. This is useful if you are planning a call with a government office in Cayenne, coordinating logistics through the Guiana Space Centre supply chain, or checking local time before contacting partners in French Guiana’s public sector, trade, or transport services.

  2. Add comparison cities with the “+ Add City” button: Click “+ Add City” and search for cities such as Paris, New York, or São Paulo to compare French Guiana with major business and travel hubs. Paris is especially relevant because French Guiana is an overseas department of France and many administrative, legal, and commercial relationships run on mainland French schedules, while New York and São Paulo are useful for finance, aviation, shipping, and regional coordination in the Americas.

  3. Drag on the grid to select a meeting window: Use the Select button if needed, then drag across the colored timeline in the French Guiana row to highlight a time range in purple; you can resize it using the left and right handles or move the whole block by dragging the center. For example, if you drag 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM in Cayenne (UTC−3), that corresponds to 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM in Paris during Northern Hemisphere winter and 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM in Paris during summer, which helps confirm whether a same-day administrative call with mainland France fits normal office hours.

  4. Export the selected time for sharing: Once your range is selected, use the export options for ICS download, Google Calendar, Gmail, Copy to clipboard, or Share link. This is practical when sending a launch-planning slot to international partners, sharing a cross-border operations window with teams in Europe and South America, or making sure everyone sees the meeting automatically converted into their own local time.

Time Zones in French Guiana

French Guiana uses one time zone nationwide: French Guiana Time (GFT), which is UTC−3. There are no separate internal time zones across the territory, so Cayenne, Kourou, Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, and other populated areas all follow the same official clock.

A key practical feature is that French Guiana’s offset is a whole-hour offset, not a half-hour or quarter-hour system like India (UTC+5:30) or Nepal (UTC+5:45). Because the country stays on UTC−3 year-round, scheduling is relatively straightforward compared with countries such as the United States or Russia, which span multiple time zones, or places that shift seasonally for daylight saving time.

For international coordination, French Guiana is 3 hours behind UTC, 1 hour ahead of New York during Eastern Standard Time, and usually 2 hours ahead of New York during Eastern Daylight Time. It is also typically 4 hours behind Paris when France is on standard time and 5 hours behind Paris when metropolitan France is on daylight saving time, so a 9:00 AM meeting in Cayenne is usually 1:00 PM in Paris in January but 2:00 PM in Paris in July.

French Guiana Country Details

French Guiana is an overseas department and region of France located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America, bordered by Brazil to the east and south and Suriname to the west. Its capital is Cayenne, the main administrative and urban center, while Kourou is internationally known for the Guiana Space Centre, Europe’s primary spaceport, which gives the territory strategic importance in aerospace and satellite launch operations.

The territory has a population of 195,506 and an area of 91,000 km², making it one of the least densely populated parts of South America. This low population density matters for travelers and business operators because distances can be significant, infrastructure is concentrated around the coast, and most official, commercial, and transport activity is centered around places such as Cayenne, Kourou, and Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni.

French Guiana uses the euro (EUR), which is unusual in South America and highly relevant for pricing, payroll, procurement, and public administration. The official language listed here is fr-GF, reflecting the French linguistic and administrative framework, and the international dialing code is +594, which you need when calling local numbers from abroad for hotel bookings, government offices, shipping agents, or business contacts.

Daylight Saving Time in French Guiana

French Guiana does not observe daylight saving time. Clocks do not move forward in spring or back in autumn, so the territory remains on UTC−3 throughout the entire year.

That means there are no annual clock change dates to track in Cayenne or elsewhere in French Guiana. This stable offset is useful for remote teams and travelers because local time in French Guiana stays constant even when partner countries such as France, the United States, Canada, or parts of Europe change their clocks seasonally.

There have been no recent DST policy changes for French Guiana, and there are no regional exceptions within the territory. The entire country follows the same non-DST schedule, so the only seasonal differences you need to watch are in the other country you are comparing against; for example, the time gap with Paris changes when mainland France switches between Central European Time (UTC+1) and Central European Summer Time (UTC+2).

Frequently Asked Questions

how many time zones does French Guiana have?

French Guiana has one official time zone across the entire territory. The whole country uses French Guiana Time (GFT), UTC−3, so there is no need to account for internal regional time differences when scheduling calls or travel within French Guiana.

does French Guiana use daylight saving time?

No, French Guiana does not use daylight saving time. Its clocks stay on UTC−3 all year, which makes scheduling easier because there are no local spring or autumn clock changes to manage.

what is the time difference between French Guiana and UTC?

French Guiana is 3 hours behind UTC, written as UTC−3. When it is 12:00 UTC, it is 9:00 AM in Cayenne and elsewhere in French Guiana, and that relationship stays the same in every month because the territory does not observe DST.

what currency does French Guiana use?

French Guiana uses the euro (EUR) as its official currency. This reflects its status as a French overseas department, and it is an important detail for travelers, importers, and businesses because prices, salaries, public contracts, and banking transactions are tied to the euro rather than a separate South American national currency.

what is the dialing code for French Guiana?

The international dialing code for French Guiana is +594. If you are calling a hotel in Cayenne, a freight operator in Kourou, or a local business from outside the territory, you should begin the number with +594 followed by the local number.

what time is used in Cayenne, French Guiana?

Cayenne uses French Guiana Time (GFT), which is UTC−3. Since Cayenne is the capital and the country has only one time zone, the time in Cayenne is the same as the time used throughout French Guiana.

is French Guiana on the same time as France?

No, French Guiana is not on the same local clock time as metropolitan France. French Guiana stays on UTC−3, while mainland France uses UTC+1 in winter and UTC+2 in summer, so French Guiana is typically 4 hours behind Paris in winter and 5 hours behind Paris in summer.

is French Guiana on the same time as Brazil?

Sometimes yes, depending on which part of Brazil you mean, because Brazil has more than one time zone. French Guiana at UTC−3 matches Brasília time and several major Brazilian cities such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro for much of the year, but it does not match western Brazilian regions that use UTC−4 or UTC−5.