Devil's island

Devil's Island is the smallest of the Salvation Islands, an island group in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately 14 km (9 mi) off the coast of French Guiana in South America just north of the town of Kourou. It has an area of 14 ha (34.6 acres). The island was a part of a French penal colony located in French Guiana for 101 years, from 1852 to 1953. Although it was the smallest part of the penal colony, it is notorious for being used for internal exile of French political prisoners during that period. The most famous political prisoner on Devil's Island was Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who was wrongfully accused and convicted of being a German spy and imprisoned before eventually being exonerated.

Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Updated Nov 12, 2025.