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
Australia (continent) is most often used for a wider region that includes lands like New Zealand that are not on the same continental shelf. In the early 1970s, the term "Greater Australia" was introduced for the Pleistocene continent. Then at a 1975 conference and consequent publication, the name "Sahul" was extended from its previous use for just the Sahul Shelf to cover the continent. In 1984 W. Filewood suggested the name "Meganesia", meaning "great island" or "great island-group", for both the Pleistocene continent and the present-day lands, and this name has been widely accepted by biologists. Others have used "Meganesia" with different