The time zone used in French Guiana has a UTC offset of UTC−3. French Guiana uses this offset throughout the year and does not switch clocks for daylight saving time.
French Guiana is an overseas department and region of France on the northern coast of South America, between Suriname and Brazil. Although it is politically part of France, it is thousands of kilometres from metropolitan France, whose standard clock is UTC+1 and whose summer clock is UTC+2. French Guiana therefore keeps a South American time offset rather than the European one.
The zone is often called French Guiana Time or French Guiana Time (GFT) in time-zone references. Cayenne, the territory’s capital, uses the same UTC−3 offset as Paramaribo in Suriname, much of eastern Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay. These places may share an offset without sharing identical legal time-zone histories.
Another common confusion is UTC−4, used in nearby countries and Caribbean territories such as Guyana and parts of the eastern Caribbean. French Guiana’s official offset remains three hours behind UTC, including during periods when metropolitan France changes its clocks.