He is the director of the Centre de Recherches Caraïbes-Amériques (CERCAM) of Université Paris X-Nanterre.
[1] Oruno D. Lara was born in Basse-Terre, on a street named Rue Baudot close to the ocean.
He spent his childhood in that town, the capital of Guadeloupe, situated at the foot of the Soufrière volcano.
[2] Lara is noted for his unique definition of the Caribbean geographical area which he sees as fluid and situational.
Depending on the situation and the theme being studied, he sometimes includes surrounding continental areas in South, North and Central America such as Brazil, Venezuela and Mexico in the region.