French overseas departments and territories
The French Overseas Departments and Territories (often abbreviated DOM-TOM for départements d'outre-mer, territoires d'outre-mer) consist broadly of French-administered territories outside of Europe. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy, although all have representation in the Parliament of France, and the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. Some of them have no permanent inhabitants. They include island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, a territory on the South American coast, and several periantarctic islands as well as an extensive claim in Antarctica.
Each inhabited French territory, metropolitan or overseas, is represented in both the French National Assembly and the French Senate.
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Départements d'outre-mer or Régions d'outre-mer
(Overseas departments (Overseas départements) and since 2003 also additionally Overseas regions (Overseas régions))
- Guadeloupe (since 1946)
- Martinique (since 1946)
- French Guiana (since 1946)
- Réunion (since 1946)
Territoires d'outre-mer
(Overseas territories)
- French Southern and Antarctic Territories (overseas territory of France since 1956)
Collectivités d'outre-mer
(Overseas collectivities)This category was created with the constitutional reform on 28 March 2003. Each collectivity has its own statutory law.
- French Polynesia (1946-2003: Territoire d'outre-mer), since 2003: Collectivité d'outre-mer. Its new status of 2004 gives it the particular designation of Pays d'outre-mer (Overseas country), but the conseil constitutionnel has judged that it was just a designation, not a particular status.
- Mayotte (1976-2003: Collectivité territoriale sui generis, 2001-2003: with the designation Collectivité départementale), since 2003: Collectivité d'outre-mer. Mayotte has kept its particular designation of collectivité départementale, which is not a particular status. In 2010 its population will have the possibility to become a département d'outre-mer.
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon (1976-1985: Département d'outre-mer, 1985-2003: collectivité territoriale sui generis), since 2003: Collectivité d'outre-mer. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is still called collectivité teritoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon.
- Wallis and Futuna (1961-2003: Territoire d'outre-mer), since 2003: Collectivité d'outre-mer. Its status still calls it a territoire (Territoire des îles Wallis et Futuna), but it may be obsolete (as it referred to the category of territoires d'outre-mer).
Nouvelle-Calédonie or New Caledonia
(Collectivity of its own type/unique status)
- New Caledonia (1946-1999: Territoire d'outre-mer):
New Caledonia has a unique status and is even not a collectivité terrioriale, unlike all other French subdivisions. As a result of the 1998 Nouméa Accord, New Caledonians will vote on an independence referendum scheduled between 2014 and 2019. This referendum will determine whether the territory remains a part of the French Republic as a collectivité d'outre-mer, or whether it will become an independent nation. The accords also specify a gradual devolution of powers to the local New Caledonian assembly.
Pays d'outre-mer
(Overseas country)
The status of pays d'outre-mer, projected for French Pacific dependencies, was finally never created. Since its status has no name and since its congress can make lois de pays, New Caledonia is sometimes called a pays d'outre-mer. The 2004 status of French Polynesia gives it this designation, but also recalls that it belongs to the category of collectivités d'outre-mer. The conseil constitutionnel has confirmed the designation of pays d'outre-mer had no legal consequences.
Minor territories
France also claims or controls a number of small, uninhabited islands in the Indian Ocean (Îles Éparses) and one remote island in the Pacific Ocean (Clipperton Island):
Indian Ocean
Îles Éparses
The first four are claimed by Madagascar, and Tromelin Island is claimed by the Seychelles.
Pacific Ocean
List of French overseas territoiries
Inhabited territoiries
| Statut | Population | Land area |
|---|---|---|
| DOM-ROM | 1.854.067 | 91.847 km² |
| COM | 483.769 | 5.057 km² |
| New Caledonia | 232.258 | 19.058 km² |
| Total | 2.570.094 | 115.962 km² |
Uninhabited lands
| Name | Land area | Status | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bassas da India | 1 km² | French state private property | Africa (Mozambique Channel) | Claimed by Madagascar |
| Clipperton | 7 km² | French state private property | West of Mexico | Claimed by Mexico |
| Îles Crozet | 352 km² |  TAAF district | South of Indian Ocean | |
| Europa | 28 km² | French state private property | Africa (Mozambique Channel) | Claimed by Madagascar |
| Glorioso Islands | 5 km² | French state private property | Indian Ocean | Claimed by Comoros, Madagascar and Seychelles |
| Juan de Nova | 4,4 km² | French state private property | Africa (Mozambique Channel) | Claimed by Madagascar |
| Kerguelen Islands | 7.215 km² | TAAF district | South of Indian Ocean | |
| Saint-Paul Island and Amsterdam Island | 66 km² | TAAF district | South of Indian Ocean | |
| Tromelin Island | 1 km² | French state private property | Indian Ocean | Claimed by Mauritius |
Antarctica
| Name | Land area | Status | location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adélie Land | 432.000 km² | TAAF district | Antarctica | Antarctic Treaty System limiting sovereignty |
Further reading
- Frédéric Monera, L'idée de République et la jurisprudence du Conseil constitutionnel - Paris : L.G.D.J., 2004 [1]-[2];
See also
- France
- French colonial empire
- Administrative divisions of France
- Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans
- Commune in France
- Outremer
Robert Aldrich and John Connell, France's Overseas Frontier, Cambride University Press, 1992
External links
- Official site
- past and current developments of France's overseas administrative divisions like pays d'outre-mer (French language)
Categories
French overseas departments, territories and collectivities | Subdivisions of France