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The 'French Overseas Departments and Territories' (French: ''départements d'outre-mer'' and ''territoires d'outre-mer'' or ''DOM-TOM'') 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.
From a legal and administrative standpoint, departments are very different from territories: according to the French constitution, French laws and regulations generally apply (civil code, penal code, administrative law, social laws, tax laws et cetera), in departments as in the mainland. However, specific laws and regulations can be adapted to their specific situation. In territories, the principle is the opposite: territories are governed by autonomy statutes that allow them to make their own laws, except for some specific areas (like defense, international relations, international trade and currency, courts and administrative law), as provided in the autonomy statute, that are reserved to the central government and its local appointee.
Each inhabited French territory, metropolitan or overseas, is represented in both the French National Assembly and the French Senate.
== Overseas Departments or Overseas Regions==

★ Guadeloupe (since 1946)

★ Martinique (since 1946)

★ French Guiana (since 1946)

★ Réunion (since 1946)
== Overseas territories ==

★ French Southern and Antarctic Lands (overseas territory of France since 1956). According to new law 2007-224 of February 21, 2007 Scattered Islands constitute the 5th district of TAAF.
== Overseas collectivities ==
This category was created with the constitutional reform on 28 March 2003. Each collectivity has its own statutory laws.

★ French Polynesia (1946-2003: overseas territory), since 2003: Overseas collectivity. Its new status of 2004 gives it the particular designation of overseas country (French: ''pays d'outre-mer''), but the Constitutional Council of France judged that it was just a designation, not a particular status.

★ Mayotte (1976-2003: ''sui generis'' overseas territory, 2001-2003: with the designation departmental community), since 2003: Overseas community. Mayotte has kept its particular designation of departmental community, which is not a particular status. In 2010 its population will have the possibility to become an overseas department.

★ Saint Pierre and Miquelon (1976-1985: overseas department, 1985-2003: ''sui generis'' overseas territory, since 2003: Overseas collectivity. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is still called ''collectivité teritoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon''.

★ Wallis and Futuna (1961-2003: overseas territory, since 2003: Overseas collectivity. It is still commonly referred as a ''territoire'' (''Territoire des îles Wallis et Futuna'').

===Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy===
In 2003 the population of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy voted in favour of secession from Guadeloupe in order to form separate overseas collectivities of France. ^[1] On February 7, 2007 ^[2] , the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both Saint-Barthélemy and neighbouring Saint-Martin. The new status took effect on 22 February 2007 when the law was published in the ''Journal Officiel''. ^[3]

Contents

''Sui generis'' collectivity

Overseas country

Minor territories

List of French overseas territories

Inhabited departments and collectivities

Uninhabited lands

Antarctica

Largest cities in overseas France

Further reading

See also

References

External links

''Sui generis'' collectivity

★ New Caledonia (1946-1999: overseas territory )
New Caledonia has a unique status and is not even a territorial collectivity, 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 an overseas collectivity, or whether it will become an independent nation. The accords also specify a gradual devolution of powers to the local New Caledonian assembly.

Overseas country

The status of overseas country (French: ''Pays d'outre-mer''), projected for French Pacific dependencies, was finally never created. The 2004 status of French Polynesia gives it this designation, but also recalls that it belongs to the category of overseas communities. The Constitutional Council of France confirmed that the designation of overseas country had no legal consequences. Since its status has no name and since its parliament can make local laws, New Caledonia is sometimes incorrectly termed an overseas country.

Minor territories

France also claims a remote island in the Pacific Ocean called Clipperton Island.

List of French overseas territories

Inhabited departments and collectivities

Flag	Name	Capital	Population (Jan. 2006 , unless otherwise indicated)	Land area (km²)	Status	Location	Notes
	French Guiana	Cayenne	202,000	86,504	Overseas department/region	South America
	French Polynesia	Papeete	256,200	4,167	Overseas collectivity	South Pacific Ocean
	Guadeloupe	Basse-Terre	447,000 (with St Barth & St Martin) (ca. 405,000 without St Barth & St Martin)	1,703	Overseas department/region	Antilles
	Martinique	Fort-de-France	399,000	1,128	Overseas department/region	Antilles
	Mayotte	Mamoudzou	160,265 (July 2002) (ca. 182,000 in Jan. 2006)	374	Overseas collectivity	Africa (Mozambique Channel)	Will obtain overseas region status in 2011 Also claimed by Comoros
	New Caledonia	Nouméa	236,528	18,575	''Sui generis'' collectivity	South Pacific Ocean	Referendum for independence in 2014
	Réunion	Saint-Denis	784,000	2,512	Overseas department/region	Indian Ocean
	Saint-Barthélemy	Gustavia	6,852 (March 1999)	21	Overseas collectivity	Antilles	Detached from Guadeloupe on 22 February, 2007
	Saint-Martin	Marigot	33,102 (Oct. 2004)	53	Overseas collectivity	Antilles	Detached from Guadeloupe on 22 February, 2007
	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Saint-Pierre	6,125	242	Overseas collectivity	South East of Canada
	Wallis and Futuna	Mata-Utu	14,944 (July 2003)	274	Overseas collectivity	South Pacific Ocean

Overall Summary
Statut	Population (Jan. 2007)	Land area (km²)
Overseas Departments/Regions (incl. St Barth & St Martin)	1,853,818	91,847
Overseas Collectivities & New Caledonia	710,000	23,632
Total	'2,563,818'	'115,479'

Uninhabited lands

Flag	Name	Capital	Land area (km²)	Status	Location	Notes
	Bassas da India	-	1	TAAF district	Africa (Mozambique Channel)	Claimed by Madagascar
	Clipperton	-	7	French state private property	West of Mexico	Claimed by Mexico
	Crozet Islands	Alfred Faure	352	TAAF district	South Indian Ocean
	Europa	-	28	TAAF district	Africa (Mozambique Channel)	Claimed by Madagascar
	Glorioso Islands	-	5	TAAF district	Indian Ocean	Claimed by Comoros, Madagascar and Seychelles
	Juan de Nova	-	4,4	TAAF district	Africa (Mozambique Channel)	Claimed by Madagascar
	Kerguelen Islands	Port-aux-Français	7,215	TAAF district	South Indian Ocean
	Saint-Paul Island and Amsterdam Island	Martin-de-Viviès	66	TAAF district	Indian Ocean
	Tromelin Island	-	1	TAAF district	Indian Ocean	Claimed by Mauritius

Antarctica

Flag	Name	Capital	Land area (km²)	Status	Location	Notes
	Adélie Land	Dumont d'Urville Station	432,000	TAAF district	Antarctica	Antarctic Treaty System limiting sovereignty

Largest cities in overseas France

Ranked by population in the urban area:

★ Pointe-à-Pitre–Les Abymes (Guadeloupe): 171,773 inhabitants (in 1999)

★ Saint-Denis (Réunion): 158,139 (in 1999)

★ Nouméa (New Caledonia): 146,245 (in 2004)

★ Fort-de-France (Martinique): 134,727 (in 1999)

★ Saint-Pierre (Réunion): 129,238 (in 1999)

★ Papeete (French Polynesia): 127,635 (in 2002)

★ Saint-Paul (Réunion): 87,712 (in 1999)

★ Cayenne (French Guiana): 66,149 (in 1999)

Further reading

★ Frédéric Monera, L'idée de République et la jurisprudence du Conseil constitutionnel - Paris : L.G.D.J., 2004 [1] [2];

See also

★ French colonial empire

★ Administrative divisions of France

★ Government of France

★ Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans

★ Communes in France

★ Outremer

References

1. French Caribbean voters reject change
2. Letter of Information from the Mayor to the residents and non-residents, to the French and to the foreigners, of Saint Barthelemy Bruno Magras
3. Saint-Barth To Become An Overseas Collectivity

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)