French Guiana is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department, located on the northern Atlantic coast of South America. It has borders with two nations, Brazil to the east and south, and Suriname to the west. Unlike Guyana and Suriname, which were once British Guiana and Dutch Guiana respectively, French Guiana is not a fully independent nation-state.
The French settled the area beginning in the 17th century. It became an overseas department of France in 1946. While an independence movement gained some momentum in the 1970s, interest has fallen off considerably, leaving French Guiana the last remaining European colony on the American mainland.
In popular culture, French Guiana is best known for L'Ile du Diable (Devil's Island) just off its coast, which has housed notable high profile prisoners for much of history, the most famous inmate being Alfred Dreyfus.
French Guiana in The Two Georges[]
With the formation of the Holy Alliance, French Guiana became Franco-Spanish Guiana. This tiny sliver of the Holy Alliance's empire was separated from the rest of Alliance's South American holdings by Portuguese Brazil to the east and south. It also bordered Dutch Guiana to the west.[1]
References[]
- ↑ Map The Two Georges, frontispiece.
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