Kourou, coastal town, north-central French Guiana, on the Kourou River. From 1854 to 1944 it served as a French penal colony. In the 1760s about 15,000 settlers from France and Germany, imagining the town to be the legendary El Dorado, arrived there to establish a colony under French sponsorship. Within two years after their arrival, however, a large proportion of the colonists had died, either from disease or starvation, and the remainder returned to Europe. Kourou town assumed some importance after 1970 with the completion nearby of the European Launcher Development Organization’s Equatorial Space Range (subsequently the Guiana Space Centre of the European Space Agency). Available for use by all friendly nations for satellite launchings, it is used for research programs (such as weather studies) and for telecommunications. The surrounding area’s economy is basically agricultural, with coffee, cacao, and tropical fruits being grown. Pop. (2013 est.) 25,793.