evidence: Dense equatorial forests, colonial towns and a major space centre are among the faces of French Guiana, a region of France on the north-east coast of South America. The forests provide the raw material for a timber industry, but many of French Guiana's natural resources defy easy exploitation. Much of the sparsely-inhabited interior is accessible only by river. [...] Another former penal settlement, Kourou, is home to a European Space Agency rocket launch site. The facility has been a boon to the local economy, accounting for a significant slice of GDP, and has given the territory a strategic value.