Overseas France

All you want to know about Overseas France

French overseas departments and territories
This article is part of the series on
Administrative divisions of France

(incl. overseas regions)

(incl. overseas departments)

Urban communities
Agglomeration communities
Commune communities
Syndicates of New Agglomeration

Associated communes
Municipal arrondissements
Others in Overseas France

Overseas collectivities
Sui generis collectivity
Overseas country
Overseas territory
Clipperton Island

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 the European continent. These territories have varying legal status and different levels of autonomy, although all have representation in the Parliament of France (except those with no permanent inhabitants), and the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. The French Overseas Departments and Territories 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. 2,597,318 people lived in the French Overseas Departments and Territories in January 2008.[1]

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 (which make up the French Parliament). The overseas departments and territories are governed by local elected assemblies and by the French Parlimanent and French Government (where a cabinet member, the Minister of Overseas France, is in charge of issues related to the overseas departments and territories).

Contents

Varying constitutional statuses

Overseas Departments and Overseas Regions

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.
  • 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 territoriale 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).
Jack of the Minister of Overseas France
Jack of the Minister of Overseas France

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.[2] On February 7, 2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both Saint Barthélemy and neighbouring Saint Martin. [3] The new status took effect on 22 February 2007 when the law was published in the Journal Officiel.[4] They remain part of the European Union, as explicitly stated in the Treaty of Lisbon.[5]

Sui Generis Collectivity

The lands making up the French Republic, shown at the same geographic scale.
The lands making up the French Republic, shown at the same geographic scale.

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

As state private property, France also owns Clipperton Island, a remote island in the Pacific Ocean.

Political representation in the French Parliament

With 2,597,318 inhabitants in 2008, the French overseas departments and territories account for 4.0% of the population of the French Republic.[1] They enjoy a corresponding representation in the two chambers of the French Parliament.

Representation in the National Assembly

In the 13th Legislature (2007-2012), the French overseas departments and territories are represented by 22 deputies in the French National Assembly, accounting for 3.8% of the 577 deputies in the National Assembly:

Representation in the Senate

As of August 2008, the French overseas departments and territories are represented by 15 senators in the French Senate, accounting for 4.5% of the 331 senators in the Senate:

List of French Overseas Territories

Inhabited departments and collectivities

Flag Name Capital Population
(Jan. 2007 , unless otherwise indicated)		 Land area (km²) Status Location Notes
French Guiana Cayenne 209,000 83,534 or 91,000[6] Overseas department / region South America
French Polynesia Papeete 259,596 (Aug. 2007) 4,167 Overseas collectivity South Pacific Ocean
Guadeloupe Basse-Terre 451,000 (with St Barth & St Martin)
(ca. 408,000 without St Barth & St Martin)		 1,703 Overseas department / region Antilles
Martinique Fort-de-France 401,000 1,128 Overseas department / region Antilles
Mayotte Mamoudzou 186,452 (July 2007) 374 Overseas collectivity Africa
(Mozambique Channel)		 Will vote on overseas region status in 2009
Also claimed by Comoros
New Caledonia Nouméa 240,390 18,575 Sui generis collectivity South Pacific Ocean Referendum for independence in 2014
Réunion Saint-Denis 793,000 2,512 Overseas department / region Africa
(Indian Ocean)
Saint Barthélemy Gustavia 8,450 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 (Jan. 2006) 242 Overseas collectivity South East of Canada
Wallis and Futuna Mata-Utu 14,944 (July 2003) 274 Overseas collectivity South Pacific Ocean
Overall Summary
Status Population (Jan. 2008) Land area (km²)
Overseas Departments / Regions (incl. St Barth & St Martin) 1,877,318 91,847
Overseas Collectivities & New Caledonia 720,000 23,632
Total 2,597,318 115,479

Uninhabited lands

(Lands generally uninhabited, except by researchers in scientific stations)

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

Further reading

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

See also

References

  1. ^ a b INSEE, Government of France. "Bilan démographique 2007 : des naissances toujours très nombreuses". Retrieved on 2008-04-15. (French)
  2. ^ Staff reporter (2003-12-09). "French Caribbean voters reject change" (HTML) (in english), Caribbean Net News. Retrieved on 2007-02-09. "However voters on the two tiny French dependencies of Saint-Barthelemy and Saint-Martin, which have been administratively attached to Guadeloupe, approved the referendum and are set to acquire the new status of "overseas collectivity"." 
  3. ^ Magras, Bruno (2007-02-16). "Letter of Information from the Mayor to the residents and non-residents, to the French and to the foreigners, of Saint Barthelemy" (PDF) (in english), St. Barth Weekly, p. 2. Retrieved on 2007-02-18. "On February 7 of this year, the French Parliament adopted the law granting Saint Barthelemy the Statute of an Overseas Collectivity." 
  4. ^ Staff reporter (2007-02-09). "Saint-Barth To Become An Overseas Collectivity" (PDF) (in english), St. Barth Weekly, p. 2. Retrieved on 2007-02-09. 
  5. ^ "Treaty of Lisbon, Article 2, points 287 and 293". Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
  6. ^ The estimated area of French Guiana varies from 83,534 to 91,000 kilometres based on the source. Redfield, Peter (2000). Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana. Berkeley: University of California Press, p. 269. ISBN 0-520-21985-6. 

Robert Aldrich and John Connell, France's Overseas Frontier, Cambride University Press, 1992

External links

v • d • e
Overseas departments and territories of France
 
Inhabited areas
Location of French Overseas Territories
Special status
1 Also known as overseas regions.  2 Claimed by Comoros.  3 Claimed by Madagascar.  4 Claimed by Seychelles.  5 Claimed by Mauritius.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_departments_and_territories_of_France"

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