Inini

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Inini ( French Territoire de l'Inini ) was a French colony in South America, which was separated from French Guiana in 1930 . In 1946 the two areas were reunited and have since formed a French overseas department .

Map of Inini and the French Guiana colony, which was reduced to a stretch of coast between 1930 and 1946.

history

By resolution of May 1930, the French National Assembly divided the territory of French Guiana into two parts. A 40-kilometer-wide strip along the Atlantic coast and the offshore islands continued to be administered under the name of French Guiana , the entire interior of the country became an independent administrative area on July 6, 1930 under the name Territoire de l'Inini , named after the Inini , a tributary of the Maroni . Saint-Élie became the capital . Both areas were under a common governor. The division was intended to promote the development of the interior, especially the mining of mineral resources, and to bring new French settlers into the country, which had previously been prevented by the negative image of French Guiana as a penal colony .

20 centimes postage stamp from 1932, made by printing the country's name on a French Guyanese stamp

The newly created, approximately 70,000 km² territory was very sparsely populated. The indigenous population consisted of the Aluku or Boni , descendants of black slaves who had run away since the 18th century and who spoke an English Creole. Convicts were not wanted in the colony, so Vietnamese and Laotians from French Indochina were recruited as workers for the construction of roads and a railway connection from Saint-Élie to Gare Tigre . In 1937 there were riots among the workers due to poor living and working conditions, which were suppressed by the security forces. In 1941 there were about 5,000 residents in the colony.

From April 1932, Inini formed a postal area with its own stamp issues. The first issues were created by printing the words TERRITOIRE DE L'ININI on stamps of French Guiana, later some special stamps with joint designs for all French colonies (so-called omnibus issues) and the country name Inini were issued .

On March 19, 1946, Inini and the coastal strip were reunited and have since formed the overseas department of French Guiana . A special statute, combined with separate administrative facilities for Inini, continued until March 17, 1969.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Inini at www.worldstatesmen.org , accessed December 7, 2010
  2. ↑ Article in Time magazine of November 30, 1931 , accessed December 7, 2010
  3. ↑ Frenchguiana1604-1946 , accessed 7 December 2010
  4. ^ Jean Hurault: Français et Indiens en Guyane. Union Générale d'Editions, Paris, 1972, pp. 300–337.
  5. ^ Hy V. Luong: Revolution in the Village: Tradition and Transformation in North Vietnam . University Press of Hawaii, 1992, pp. 120-124.
  6. ↑ Images of the Inini stamps 1932–35 , accessed on September 19, 2012
  7. ↑ images of the stamps Ininis 1935-39 , accessed on September 20, 2012