Reviews: The atlas of Guiana

Summary

Bernard Rouleau reviews La Guyane in the Atlas des Départements Français d’Outre-Mer series, directed by Guy Lasserre following the Réunion and Martinique atlases. Its 36 plates and accompanying texts draw on contributions from more than fifty researchers and specialists; topic selection reflects available research and documentary and statistical sources. Rouleau considers it the most important comprehensive work on French Guiana then available. Fifteen plates cover the natural environment, including geological, geomorphological and soil maps at 1:1,000,000 and more local coastal studies at 1:350,000. Explanatory texts supplement the color maps with additional maps, figures, statistics and discussion. The review highlights disease inventories, the sparsely populated interior and recent coastal population growth, migration mapping, forest and mineral resources, and urban facilities and plans. Rouleau attributes the limited agricultural content to the scarcity of data outside coastal areas. He criticizes the crowded monthly rainfall layouts, initially confusing vegetation colors and overloaded municipal housing map. The project originated at C.E.G.E.T., received approval from the central commission of the Sixth Plan for the overseas departments, and obtained ministerial and administrative support. C.E.G.E.T. retained scientific responsibility, while I.G.N. handled technical production and printing, whose quality Rouleau judges equal to the earlier atlases.