Departements et territoires d'Outre-mer

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Départements et Territoires D’outre-mer.

A thousand miles from mainland France, in the heart of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian Oceans, lay amazing and unusual locations: the French overseas territories. Lush vegetation, spectacular panoramic views, beautiful white sandy beaches, mountains and waterfalls await you in this very different aspect of France.
 

The Départements et Territoires D’outre-mer (the overseas Departments and territories) refer collectively to all territories under French sovereignty outside mainland France. They are considered an integral part of France and overall cover 12 time zones. All citizens living in overseas French territories can vote in the elections and have representation in the French parliament.

 

They include:

  • The islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Atlantic Ocean)
  • Reunion Island, Mayotte, The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (indian Ocean)
  • French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna (Pacific Ocean) 

Detailing each area would result in a rather long article but here are some interesting facts:

Les Terres Australes et Antarctiques Françaises are entirely uninhabited and consists mostly of small islands in the Indian Ocean. These islands have no representation in the French legislature (no one lives there).

New Caledonia represents an exception in the overseas territories structure.

The 1980s saw a great deal of violence and political turmoil on the island. My cousin Marc, a gendarme, spent 6 months in Nouméa as part of the peacekeeping forces and came back with many tales about his experience. The unrest culminated in l’ Accord de Nouméa, (the Noumea treaty) which created un statut particulier (a special status) for the territory. Eventually a referendum took place in spring 2019 and New Caledonia voted to stay with France. 

As part of this special status, the people of New Caledonia have their own New Caledonian citizenship, which is held parallel to French citizenship.

French Saint Martin shares half of the Island with the Dutch territory of Sin Maarten. Whilst the island is divided between two countries, the two sides are quite integrated and use the Euro. There is no border control. Although French is the official language, English is spoken more widely there than in any other French territory due to the split nature of the island, and its heavy reliance on tourism.

Guadeloupe is the most populated European territory in the Americas, with a population of just over 400,000. As with all overseas regions, it is considered part of the European Union and it uses the Euro as its currency. Guadeloupe is allocated four deputies in the National Assembly.

Martinique has a slightly smaller population and area than Guadeloupe. Having said that, it also has four deputies in the National Assembly.

French Polynesia is geographically the largest overseas territory of France. Tourism dominates the economy, mainly on the larger islands of Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea. The rest of the smaller islands with little populations receive few, if any, visitors.

Mayotte is one of the two overseas regions in the Indian Ocean. Most of the population is Comorian, which is a mix of people from Arabia, Persia, and Madagascar and over 95% being Muslim. In 2009, unlike some other regions, Mayotte voted strongly in support of political union with France with other 95% votes giving approval to become the 101st department of France.

Main picture: Island of Tahiti


 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 13, 2021 at 8:35 AM

    Very interesting info about the Overseas Territories, merci Nicole! I went on one of my first no-parent holidays to New Caledonia in the 80s (I was brought up in Sydney, so distance-wise it was like travelling to mid-Europe). It was a really beautiful island, so thanks for the update, especially about the politics. I/we can only dream about visiting some of the other Territories one day, too!!

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