French overseas departments and territories

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).

Overseas Departments and Overseas Regions

• Guadeloupe (since 1946)
• Martinique (since 1946)
• French Guiana (since 1946)
• Réunion (since 1946)

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 2009 its population will vote on becoming a DOM-TOM.

• 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

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.

• 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.

• French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises; 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 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.

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

Uninhabited lands

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

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 http://www.fnac.com/Shelf/article.asp?PRID=1601897&Mn=2&Ra=-1&To=0&Nu=2&Fr=3 http://www.lgdj.fr/rech_rapide.php?_Sess=c22f5de9dee93f9554d169596caad970&_Mots=monera&_TypeCode=;

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

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)

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