Compte-Rendu: Atlas des départements français d'outre-mer. IV : La Guyane

Summary

This review assesses the fourth volume of the Atlas des départements français d'outremer, devoted to French Guiana, published in 1979 by CNRS/ORSTOM and CEGET. The reviewer situates the atlas in the series and stresses the originality of its joint scientific direction and the territory's paradox of vast size with extreme underpopulation and underdevelopment. He regards the atlas as a magnificent, encyclopedic contribution that reflects the high level of French geographical and historical research on Guiana, even though it does not fully explain the recurring pattern of regional failure as explicitly as earlier work by Hurault. He also notes three omissions or questions: the official designation of the territory, the recent paid border agreement with Suriname, and the absence of Mont Bellevue de l'Inini, the highest point, from the relief map. Overall, the review praises the atlas's scholarly and cartographic value while calling for corrections in future editions.