French colonization of the Americas From 1851 to 1951 it was the site of a notorious penal colony, Devil's Island ("Île du Diable"). Since 1946, French Guiana has been an overseas department of France. French colonization of the Americas The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued on into the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America. Most colonies were developed to export products such as fish, rice sugar, and furs. As they colonized the New
Christian (given name) name for females, without any feminising word endings. Today the name is popular in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, and Estonia. Today in Europe — though not the United States — it is almost exclusively used as a male name, but in the 17th and 18th centuries it was a popular female first name in Scotland. Female variants of the name include "Christine", "Cristina", "Christiane", "Cristiane", "Kristen", "Kristin", and "Kirsten". Holders of the name "Cristana" may go by