Overseas France

Overseas France (French: France d'outre-mer, also France ultramarine) is the name for 13 French territories located outside Europe. These are mostly remnants of the former French colonial empire that stayed part of France after decolonization, each with a different legal status. The term is used in everyday conversation but is not an official administrative category. The territories include islands in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans; French Guiana on the South American mainland; several islands near Antarctica; and a territorial claim in Antarctica.

Excluding the Adélie Land claim—where French law asserts sovereignty de jure, but the claim is suspended under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty—Overseas France covers 120,396 square kilometers (46,485 square miles), or 18.0% of the French Republic's total land area. Its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) spans 9,825,538 square kilometers (3,793,661 square miles), which is 96.7% of France's entire EEZ.

There are four broad categories of overseas French administration outside Europe: overseas departments/regions, overseas collectivities, the sui generis territory of New Caledonia, and uninhabited territories. These categories have different legal statuses and levels of autonomy, but all permanently inhabited territories send representatives to both the National Assembly and the Senate of the French Parliament. Six of these territories are classified as Outermost Regions of the European Union; the rest, except Clipperton, are overseas countries and territories that cooperate with the EU.

As of January 2026, about 2,891,000 people lived in Overseas France. Most are citizens of France and of the European Union, allowing them to vote in French and European elections.

**Overseas departments and regions** have the same legal status as mainland French regions. French laws and regulations (civil code, penal code, administrative law, social laws, tax laws, etc.) generally apply to them as in metropolitan France, but can be adapted to local needs. Local administrations cannot pass new laws. These regions are: French Guiana (since 1946), Guadeloupe (since 1946), Martinique (since 1946), Mayotte (since 2011), and Réunion (since 1946). Mayotte was a sui generis overseas territory from 1976 to 2003, then a departmental community from 2001 to 2003, then an overseas community from 2003 to 2011, after a 2009 referendum in which Mahorans voted to become an overseas department.

**Overseas collectivities** (collectivités d'outre-mer, or COMs) were created by a constitutional reform on 28 March 2003. Each has its own statutory laws and can make its own laws, except in areas reserved for the national government (defense, international relations, trade and currency, judicial and administrative law). They are governed by local elected assemblies, the French Parliament, and the French Government, with a Minister of the Overseas overseeing related issues. These collectivities are: French Polynesia (an overseas territory from 1946 to 2003, then an overseas collectivity; designated an "overseas country" in 2004, though France's Constitutional Council ruled this did not create a new political category); Saint Barthélemy (voted in 2003 to become an overseas collectivity; left the European Union in 2012 to become an associated overseas country or territory); Saint Martin (voted in 2003 to separate from Guadeloupe; became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007; remains part of the EU under the Treaty of Lisbon); Saint Pierre and Miquelon (an overseas department from 1976 to 1985, then a sui generis overseas territory until 2003, then an overseas collectivity; officially called the territorial collectivity of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon); and Wallis and Futuna (an overseas territory from 1961 to 2003, then an overseas collectivity; still commonly called a territory).

**New Caledonia** is a sui generis collectivity. It was an overseas territory from 1946 to 1998, then gained special status under the 1998 Nouméa Accord, effective in 1999. A New Caledonian citizenship was created alongside French and European citizenship, and power began transferring from the French state to New Caledonia over 15 to 20 years, subject to approval in referendums. Three independence referendums were held: in 2018 (43.3% yes), 2020 (46.7% yes), and 2021.