Guiana Shield is equally rich and 13,367 species of vascular plants have been found, approximately 40% of which is considered endemic. The shield is overlain by the largest expanse of tropical forest on any Precambrian shield area in the world. Guianan rain forest is similar in nature to Amazonian rain forest and known protected areas include the Iwokrama Forest of central Guyana, Kaieteur, Kanuku National Park of southern Guyana, the UNESCO World Heritage Site Central Suriname Nature Reserve of Suriname, the Guiana Amazonian Park in French Guiana and the Tumucumaque National Park in the Amapá State of Brazil. In Venezuela the forests
Indians in French Guiana Indians in French Guiana Indians in French Guiana are mostly descendants of Tamil indentured labourers from India who live in the French Overseas Department of French Guiana. Between 1838 and 1917 there were 19,276 Indian immigrants to French Guiana. Labour from India began to enter French Guiana beginning in 1862. By the mid-1880s, however, the British stopped shipments of Indians in response to allegations that the French were ill-treating indentured to the Indian workers under their employ. In recent years, immigrants of East Indian origin have been arriving from French Guiana's neighbouring countries such as Guyana, Suriname, and Trinidad and