Avala Yalimapo

The commune is located in the very north-west of French Guiana. It is part of the canton of Mans and the district of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni . It occupies the territory between the mouth of the rivers Mana and Maroni . In the north it borders with the Atlantic Ocean . In the west, the Maroni River borders Suriname . In the south and east bordered by the commune of Mana .

The climate is tropical. The municipality consists of two villages - Avala, on the banks of the Mana River near the mouth of the river Maroni, and Yalimapo, at the mouth of the Maroni, and also the settlement of Possoli.

The name "avala" is derived from the name of the fruit of the local plant Avar . Discovered here in the late 1950s, the burial ground and a number of other artifacts already in our time indicate that an ancient Indian settlement existed at this place. ^[2]

The commune was founded on December 31, 1988 in a part of the territory of the commune of Mans, at the request of the Indian viburnum, residents of the villages of Aouara and Atte, where the camp was once assigned to the prison in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni .

During the armed conflict in Suriname, which lasted from 1982 to 1990, a stream of refugees, mainly Kaliban Indians from the city of Albin , poured into the commune from a neighboring country.

In 2011, the population of the commune was 1305 people. By ethnicity, this is, first of all, the Viburnum Indians. In 2000, about 60% of the population was younger than 20 years.

In the commune there is an elementary school - School group Yamanale. You can continue your studies only in neighboring communes: at the school in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni and at the Otilie Leo College in Man.

Of great importance in the commune is committed to preserving the culture and language of the Indian viburnum. Here is open and operates the center of culture and art of the Indian viburnum. Traditional crafts remain, for example, weaving items of clothing and articles. Traditional festivals are held in July and December and ceremonies in July – August. Every year, in May, the day of cassava is celebrated, and the traditional dish, the cassava cake, is especially popular with locals.

One of the local attractions is the ruins of a prison camp at Kosuen Creek.

In the commune there is the famous Atte beach, 5 kilometers long, where from February to July leatherback turtles lay their eggs. This beach is one of the last large nesting areas of leatherback and green turtles. The Amana National Reserve has been created on this territory. In Yalamapa there is a center for the study and protection of sea turtles, and also with the assistance of the World Wide Fund for Nature, a museum has been opened, where the main exhibition is the sea turtles incubator.

• Site de la mairie ( Unsolved ) . Awala-yalimapo.fr. - The official site of the commune of Avala Yalimapo. (fr.)
• Awala-Yalimapo. (Neopr.) Guyane-guide.com. - Avala-Yalimapo. (fr.)
• Reserve naturelle de l'Amana. (Neopr.) Reserveamana.com. - The reserve of Haman. (fr.)