Americas · South America · Dependency
Current time in French Guiana
A single time zone at UTC-03:00.
Sunday, May 31, 2026
About French Guiana's time
A single time zone.
French Guiana uses a single time zone, UTC-3, and doesn't observe daylight saving time. The territory follows the same time system as its neighbor Suriname and much of Brazil's northern coast.
Major cities
Cities of French Guiana.
History
How French Guiana keeps time.
French Guiana has maintained a straightforward timekeeping history due to its status as an overseas department of France. In 1911, France standardized time across its territories, and French Guiana adopted a time offset aligned with its geographic position in South America. The territory has used UTC-3 as its standard time since 1967, when it formally abandoned an earlier UTC-3:30 offset. Unlike mainland France, which switched to UTC+1 and observes Central European Time year-round (with DST), French Guiana's timekeeping is governed by its location rather than European conventions. As an integral part of France and the European Union, French Guiana represents the EU's westernmost timezone.
Did you know?
Things about French Guiana's time.
French Guiana is home to the Guiana Space Centre (Centre Spatial Guyanais), one of the world's most important space launch facilities, located near Kourou. The facility's proximity to the equator provides a significant boost for launching satellites into geostationary orbit, as the Earth's rotational speed is greatest at the equator. The space center operates on UTC-3 time, which means mission control in Toulouse, France (UTC+1/UTC+2) must coordinate across a 4-5 hour time difference during launches.
The territory's position at UTC-3 means it shares the same time as parts of eastern Brazil, including cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro (during standard time) and the entire country of Argentina. French Guiana's location illustrates the unusual relationship between France and South America — being politically and administratively European while geographically South American.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about French Guiana's time zone, daylight saving rules, and how to handle it in software. Can't find what you need? Email [email protected].
- What time zone is French Guiana in?
- French Guiana uses UTC-3 year-round. This time is sometimes referred to as French Guiana Time or simply as UTC-3, and the timezone identifier is America/Cayenne.
- Does French Guiana observe daylight saving time?
- No, French Guiana does not observe daylight saving time. The time remains UTC-3 throughout the entire year.
- How does French Guiana time compare to Paris time?
- French Guiana is 4 hours behind Paris during standard time (winter) and 5 hours behind Paris during summer when France observes daylight saving time (CEST, UTC+2).
- Is French Guiana in the same time zone as Brazil?
- French Guiana shares UTC-3 with several Brazilian states, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasília during Brazil's standard time period. During Brazil's daylight saving period, some Brazilian states move to UTC-2.
- What time is it in French Guiana when it's noon in London?
- When it's 12:00 PM in London (GMT/UTC), it's 9:00 AM in French Guiana, which is 3 hours behind Greenwich Mean Time.
- How do I schedule a call between French Guiana and the United States?
- French Guiana at UTC-3 is 2 hours ahead of New York during EST (UTC-5) and 1 hour ahead during EDT (UTC-4). It shares the same time as Buenos Aires, Argentina, which can simplify scheduling across South America.
Free · Developer API
Time, as JSON.
Every IANA time zone with live offsets, DST status, and the countries and cities that use them — clean, dependable JSON. Sign up free and get an API key in seconds.
countries, cities, convert, DST transitions coming next.
Get your free API key →