ABSTRACT

With the independence of Belize in 1981, Guyane (also known as French Guiana) is today the last continental country in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, with a considerable surface area (91, 000 sq. km) still politically dependent upon a European state. Through it, French sovereignty extends to the mainland of South America, complementing the French presence in other regions of the world: its overseas departments (DOM) and its overseas territories (TOM), plus its ‘territorial collectivity’, Mayotte.2 The possession of overseas islands is, of course, not a phenomenon limited to France; it also embraces the United States and Great Britain, although in varying forms. The ‘continental case’ of Guyane, however, has become unique in the Third World.3