Talking French Guiana

We receive a lot of feedback here at Sporcle HQ about certain quizzes. (Yes, we are aware that the descriptions in Lousy Descriptions of Tom Hanks Movies are lousy)  A lot of the time it’s difficult for us to clear up misconceptions on a user by user basis, but in the past, we’ve tried to address common answers in quizzes that appear controversial. So far we’ve written about the Southern Ocean and Colors of the Rainbow, and now we’re going to talk about French Guiana and exactly why it’s not guessable in the Countries of South America quiz.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Sporcle without facts and trivia, so lets dive into a bit of French Guiana’s history. French Guiana was originally a French colony beginning in the middle of the 17th century (though at times various pieces have been disputed).  In 1946, France made the decision to make French Guiana an official overseas department, along with the island regions of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and most recently Mayotte. These regions are considered integral parts of the French Republic and are officially represented in the French Government.

You can certainly make the comparison that these overseas regions are analogous to U.S. States like Alaska or Hawaii, where each state is not part of the contiguous region of the United States, but have attained full statehood, and wouldn’t be considered as anything but the United States. The only difference being that French Guiana is relatively distant from France, is on another continent and borders both Brazil and Suriname.

We hope that clears up any misconceptions about French Guiana. Of course, we at Sporcle make plenty of mistakes, and the world is always changing, so if you see what you think is a mistake on any of our quizzes, make sure to click the report link, and let us know exactly what’s wrong.