South America the first decade of the 21st century, South American governments have drifted to the political left, with leftist leaders being elected in Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Peru and Venezuela. Most South American countries are making increasing use of protectionist policies, helping local development. All South American countries are presidential republics with the exceptions of Peru, which is a semi-presidential republic, and Suriname, a parliamentary republic. French Guiana is a French overseas department, while the Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands are British overseas territories. It is currently the only inhabited continent in the
Geology of French Guiana the Paramaca series, which corresponds to a series of micaschists, aluminous paragneisses and black quartzites whose total thickness is about 1 km. The central granite massifs consist of granite plutons, granodiorites and quartz diorites dating from 2.05 to 2.15 billion years ago. The north of French Guiana corresponds to a synclinorium composed of the Paramaca series on which sandstone and fluviatile conglomerates lie unconformably. Shield rocks in Guyana are all dated between 1.6 and 2.5 billion years ago. The Quaternary lands are located in the northern part of Guyana, near the coast, unconformably on the Paleozoic lands. The coastal plains