French overseas departments and territories
From Freepedia
The French Overseas Departments and Territories (often abbreviated DOM-TOM for départements d'outre-mer, territoires d'outre-mer) consist broadly of French-administered or -claimed 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.
All 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)
- Mayotte (although strictly speaking Mayotte is in fact a "departmental collectivity", not an overseas collectivity, with the possibility to become a full-status French département in 2010, but for the sake of clarity it is most often classified as overseas collectivity: additional designation as a "departmental collectivity" (Collectivité départementale or Collectivité départementale d'outre-mer (Overseas Departmental Collectivity))
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon (1976-1985: Département d'outre-mer, since 1985: Collectivité d'outre-mer or Collectivité territoriale d'outre-mer (Overseas Territorial Collectivity) or Collectivité territoriale à statut particulier)
- Wallis and Futuna (1961-2003: Territoire d'outre-mer), since 2003: Collectivité d'outre-mer or Collectivité territoriale d'outre-mer (Overseas Territorial Collectivity)
Collectivité sui generis
(Collectivity of its own)
- New Caledonia (1946-1999: Territoire d'outre-mer):
If New Caledonia, currently a collectivité sui generis, chooses to remain part of France in a referendum scheduled for 2014, it will also become a pays d'outre-mer.
Pays d'outre-mer
(Overseas country)
A 1998 administrative reform created the pays d'outre-mer as a new administrative status for French overseas territories. This accorded them significantly greater local autonomy than had previously been allowed.
- French Polynesia (1946-2003: Territoire d'outre-mer)
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
Many of these islands are contested with Madagascar.
Pacific Ocean
See also
- France
- French colonial empire
- Administrative divisions of France
- Islands controlled by France in the Indian and Pacific oceans
- Commune in France
External links
- Official site
- past and current developments of France's overseas administrative divisions like pays d'outre-mer (French language)
