These are a legacy of its colonial past and of the journeys made by French explorers. In all, they cover an area of some 120,000 km 2 . While they are home to only 2.3 million people, they provide France with a presence in all the oceans and are a source of tropical fruits and drinks, as well as of minerals. It has extremely varied plant and animal life, as well as mineral and energy resources such as the polymetallic nodules covering some parts of the continental plateau around these islands.
Little space is left for the plains.
Much of the coastline of these islands is very irregular, and is made up of cliffs and beaches of black volcanic sand or white sand in alluvial areas. Some islands are surrounded by coral reefs. The slopes which are exposed to the trade winds have high rainfall figures, whilst those downwind, in the lee of the mountains, seem to be drier and more suitable for holiday-makers. In late summer, these islands may be swept by fearsome tropical storms or cyclones which wreak terrible damage. French Guiana, in South America, is an overseas department dotted with hills less than 600 m. high and almost entirely covered by the dense Amazonian rainforest which flourishes in a climate of constant high temperatures and high rainfall.