History of French Guiana  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search Carte de la Guyane françoise et
l'isle de Cayenne effectuée en 1793 par Jacques-Nicolas Bellin
(1703–1772) un cartographe affecté au ministère de la Marine
française.  The history of French Guiana spans many centuries.
Before the first Europeans arrived, there was no written history
in the territory. It was originally inhabited by a number of
Native American peoples, among them the Kalina (Caribs), Arawak,
Emerillon, Galibi, Palikur, Wayampi (also known as Oyampi), and
Wayana. The first Europeans arrived in the expeditions of
Christopher Columbus, shortly before 1500.  Beginnings of
European involvement[edit]  In 1498 French Guiana was first
visited by Europeans when Christopher Columbus sailed to the
region on his third voyage and named it the "Land of
pariahs".[citation needed] In 1608 the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
did an expedition to the area in order to create an Italian
colony for the commerce of amazonian products