the Potiguar. In 1612 the French tried to settle Equinoctial France at what is now Sao Luis but they were driven out two years later. After a few decades the French were gone, except for French Guiana. See also Colonial Brazil Dutch Brazil French colonization of the Americas France Équinoxiale Jean de Cointac List of French possessions and colonies Notes References Francis Parkman, Pioneers of France in the New World, University of Nebraska Press, 1996. André Thevet, Les singularités de la France antartique, 1558, new ed. (Paul Gaffarel, ed.) 1878. External links French in Brazil: Saint-Alexis, France Antarctique (Rio de Janeiro) and Sao Luis de Maranhao States and territories disestablished in 1567 States and territories established in 1555 1555 establishments in the French colonial empire