Overseas departments and territories of France
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Administrative divisions of France |
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Overseas departments and territories
Overseas collectivities |
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.
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[edit] Overseas Departments or Overseas Regions
- Guadeloupe (since 1946)
- Martinique (since 1946)
- French Guiana (since 1946)
- Réunion (since 1946)
[edit] Overseas territories
- French Southern and Antarctic Territories (overseas territory of France since 1956). According to new law 2007-224 of February 21, 2007 Scattered Islands constitute the 5th district of TAAF.
[edit] 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).
[edit] 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]
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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 congress can make local laws, New Caledonia is sometimes incorrectly termed an overseas country.
[edit] Minor territories
France also claims a remote island in the Pacific Ocean called Clipperton Island.
[edit] List of French overseas territories
[edit] Inhabited departments and collectivities
| Flag | Name | Capital | Population (Jan. 2006 , unless otherwise indicated) |
Land area (km²) | Status | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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French Guiana | Cayenne | 202,000 | 86,504 | Overseas department/region | South America | |
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French Polynesia | Papeete | 256,200 | 4,167 | Overseas collectivity | South Pacific Ocean | |
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Guadeloupe | Basse-Terre | 447,000 (with St Barth & St Martin) (ca. 405,000 without St Barth & St Martin) |
1,703 | Overseas department/region | Antilles | |
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Martinique | Fort-de-France | 399,000 | 1,128 | Overseas department/region | Antilles | |
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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 |
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New Caledonia | Nouméa | 236,528 | 18,575 | Sui generis collectivity | South Pacific Ocean | Referendum for independence in 2014 |
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Réunion | Saint-Denis | 784,000 | 2,512 | Overseas department/region | Indian Ocean | |
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Saint-Barthélemy | Gustavia | 6,852 (March 1999) | 21 | Overseas collectivity | Antilles | Detached from Guadeloupe on 22 February 2007 |
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Saint Martin | Marigot | 33,102 (Oct. 2004) | 53 | Overseas collectivity | Antilles | Detached from Guadeloupe on 22 February 2007 |
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Saint Pierre and Miquelon | Saint-Pierre | 6,125 | 242 | Overseas collectivity | South East of Canada | |
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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 |
[edit] Uninhabited lands
| Flag | Name | Land area (km²) | Status | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Bassas da India | 1 | French state private property | Africa (Mozambique Channel) |
Claimed by Madagascar |
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Clipperton | 7 | French state private property | West of Mexico | Claimed by Mexico |
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Crozet Islands | 352 | TAAF district | South Indian Ocean | |
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Europa | 28 | French state private property | Africa (Mozambique Channel) |
Claimed by Madagascar |
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Glorioso Islands | 5 | French state private property | Indian Ocean | Claimed by Comoros, Madagascar and Seychelles |
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Juan de Nova | 4,4 | French state private property | Africa (Mozambique Channel) |
Claimed by Madagascar |
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Kerguelen Islands. | 7,215 | TAAF district | South Indian Ocean | |
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Saint-Paul Island and Amsterdam Island |
66 | TAAF district | Indian Ocean | |
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Tromelin Island | 1 | French state private property | Indian Ocean | Claimed by Mauritius |
[edit] Antarctica
| Flag | Name | Capital | Land area (km²) | Status | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Adélie Land | Dumont d'Urville Station | 432,000 | TAAF district | Antarctica | Antarctic Treaty System limiting sovereignty |
[edit] 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)
[edit] Further reading
- Frédéric Monera, L'idée de République et la jurisprudence du Conseil constitutionnel - Paris : L.G.D.J., 2004 [1] [2];
[edit] 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
[edit] References
- ^ Staff reporter. "French Caribbean voters reject change" (HTML), Caribbean Net News, 2003-12-09. Retrieved on 2007-02-09. (in english) “However voters on the two tiny French dependencies of Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin, which have been administratively attached to Guadeloupe, approved the referendum and are set to acquire the new status of "overseas collectivity".”
- ^ Magras, Bruno. "Letter of Information from the Mayor to the residents and non-residents, to the French and to the foreigners, of Saint Barthelemy" (PDF), St. Barth Weekly, 2007-02-16, p. 2. Retrieved on 2007-02-18. (in english) “On February 7 of this year, the French Parliament adopted the law granting Saint-Barthélemy the Statute of an Overseas Collectivity.”
- ^ Staff reporter. "Saint-Barth To Become An Overseas Collectivity" (PDF), St. Barth Weekly, 2007-02-09, p. 2. Retrieved on 2007-02-09. (in english)
Robert Aldrich and John Connell, France's Overseas Frontier, Cambride University Press, 1992
