1.
Administrative divisions of France
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The administrative divisions of France are concerned with the institutional and territorial organization of French territory. There are many divisions, which may have political, electoral. The French republic is divided into 18 regions,13 in metropolitan France and 5 in overseas France, the regions are subdivided into 96 departments. The departments are subdivided into 322 arrondissements, the arrondissements are subdivided into 1,995 cantons. The cantons are subdivided into 36,529 communes, three urban communes are further divided into municipal arrondissements. There are 20 arrondissements of Paris,16 arrondissements of Marseille, the city of Marseilles is also divided into 8 municipal sectors. Each sector is composed with two arrondissements. 4% of the population of metropolitan France living in them, each overseas region is coextensive with an overseas department, again with the same status as departments in metropolitan France. The first four departments were created in 1946 and preceded the four overseas regions. For elections it is divided into 6 electoral districts which differ slightly from the 5 administrative subdivisions, the 5 administrative subdivisions are divided into 48 communes. There also exist some associated communes as in metropolitan France, Saint-Barthélemy is a new overseas collectivity created on February 22,2007. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe department, the commune structure was abolished and Saint-Barthélemy is now one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no commune structure. There are no cantons and arrondissements either, Saint-Martin is also a new overseas collectivity created on February 22,2007. It was also previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe department, the commune structure was abolished and Saint-Martin is now one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no commune structure. There are no cantons and arrondissements either, saint-Pierre and Miquelon is divided into 2 communes with no arrondissements or cantons. These 3 districts are, Uvea, Sigave, and Alo, Uvea is the most populous and is further divided into 3 wards, Hahake, Mua, and Hihifo. Wallis and Futuna is one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no communes and it also has no arrondissements or cantons. 1 overseas territory, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, which have no permanent population, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands are divided into 5 districts,1. Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island 4, the Scattered Islands, a collection of six non permanently inhabited islands in the Indian Ocean, Banc du Geyser, Bassas da India, Europa, Juan de Nova, Glorioso, and Tromelin
Administrative divisions of France
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Regions and departments of France.
2.
Regions of France
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France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and they levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools, in March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
Regions of France
3.
Departments of France
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In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, they were called general councils, the departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity, the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after geographical features rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of dArgenson and they have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a number, the Official Geographical Code. Some overseas departments have a three-digit number, the number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as the 45 and this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René dArgenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration, before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces, during the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. Their boundaries served two purposes, Boundaries were chosen to break up Frances historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences, Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a days ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of rural areas far from any centre of government. The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments, most were named after an areas principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine, the number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleons defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size, in 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice, the 89 departments were given numbers based on their alphabetical order. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following Frances defeat in the Franco-Prussian War
Departments of France
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Geometrical proposition rejected
Departments of France
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The 101 departments of France
Departments of France
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The three Algerian departments in 1848
4.
Overseas department
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An overseas department is a department of France that is outside metropolitan France. The overseas departments should not be confused with the overseas collectivities, each overseas department is also an overseas region. In 1798 the Russian Admiral Ushakov evicted the French from these islands, and though France regained them in 1802, since 1982, following the French government’s policy of decentralisation, overseas departments have elected regional councils with powers similar to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Following a yes vote in a referendum held on March 29,2009, the overseas collectivity Saint Pierre and Miquelon was an overseas department from 1976 to 1985
Overseas department
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Overseas departments 1
5.
Communes of France
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The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
Communes of France
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Road sign marking the end of the village of
Y in the
Somme department of
Picardy
Communes of France
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Map of the 36,569 communes of metropolitan France
Communes of France
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Mittelhausbergen in
Alsace
Communes of France
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Vacqueyras in
Provence, showing double French/
Provençal name
6.
Municipal arrondissements of France
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In France, a municipal arrondissement is a subdivision of the commune, and is used in the countrys three largest cities, Paris, Lyon and Marseille. It functions as a lower administrative division, with its own mayor. Although usually referred to simply as arrondissements, they should not be confused with departmental arrondissements, there are 45 municipal arrondissements in France,20 in Paris, nine in Lyon, and 16 in Marseille. However, a law in 1987 assigned the 16 arrondissements of Marseille to eight secteurs, thus, in effect, Marseille can be more properly described as being divided into eight secteurs, the sixteen arrondissements having been made merely units of demarcation. Area The largest arrondissement is the arrondissement of Marseille,63.21 km², which is 26 percent of the size of the city of Marseille. It contains the Luminy Park, which is a park. The smallest arrondissement is the arrondissement of Paris,0.992 km². Population The most populous arrondissement is the arrondissement of Paris. If the 15th arrondissement of Paris were a commune, it would be the ninth most-populous commune of France, larger than the cities of Bordeaux, Lille, the least populous arrondissement is the 16th arrondissement of Marseille, with only 16,574 inhabitants. However, the 16th arrondissement is part of the eighth secteur of Marseille, thus, the least populous arrondissement in France is the first arrondissement of Paris, with 16,888 inhabitants at the 1999 census. Density The arrondissement with the highest population density is the 11th arrondissement of Paris, the arrondissement with the lowest population density is the ninth arrondissement of Marseille, with 1,151 residents per km² in 1999. Municipal arrondissements have names only in Paris and are used even there. In Paris, residents are familiar with the arrondissements and. In Lyon, three arrondissements – Vieux Lyon, la Croix Rousse and Vaise – are generally referred to by names. In Marseille, it is common for people to refer to the names of the neighborhoods, anne or Mazargues, but also to the number of the arrondissements. Municipal arrondissements are used in the postal codes of France. The arrondissements of Paris form a spiral or snail pattern beginning from the first in the centre. In Marseille, they form a path from the first down through the southwest, to the southeast, northeast
Municipal arrondissements of France
7.
Overseas France
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Overseas France consists of all the French-administered territories outside of the European continent. Their citizens have French nationality and vote for the president of France and they have the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. From a legal and administrative standpoint, overseas regions are different from overseas collectivities. Overseas regions have exactly the same status as mainland Frances regions, in the French overseas regions, laws cannot be adapted whereas the overseas collectivities are empowered to make their own laws, except in certain areas. The overseas collectivities are governed by elected assemblies and by the French Parliament. Overseas France has an economic zone of 9,821,231 km². Guadeloupe French Guiana Martinique Réunion Mayotte 1976–2003, sui generis overseas territory, 2001–2003, with the designation departmental community, 2003–2011, in the 2009 Mahoran status referendum, Mahorans voted to become an overseas department in 2011, which occurred on March 31,2011. The category of overseas collectivity was created by Frances constitutional reform of March 28,2003, each overseas collectivity has its own statutory laws. French Polynesia In 2004 it was given the designation of overseas country, despite being given the political status of overseas collectivity, Saint Pierre et Miquelon is called collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, literally territorial collectivity. It is still referred to as a territoire. Saint Martin, In 2003, the populations of St. Martin, on February 7,2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both jurisdictions. The new status took effect on February 22,2007 when the law was published in the Journal Officiel and they remain part of the European Union, as stated in the Treaty of Lisbon. It is currently the only overseas territory, according to law 2007-224 of February 21,2007, the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean constitute the 5th district of TAAF. New Caledonia was classified as an overseas territory beginning in 1946, a New Caledonian citizenship was established, and a gradual transfer of power from the French state to New Caledonia itself was begun, to last from 15 to 20 years. Clipperton Island is a 9 km2 coral atoll located 1,280 km south-west of Acapulco, Mexico and it is held as state private property under the direct authority of the French government, and is administered by Frances Overseas Minister. With 2,691,000 inhabitants in 2013, Overseas France account for 4. 1% of the population of the French Republic and they enjoy a corresponding representation in the two chambers of the French Parliament. In the 13th Legislature, Overseas France is represented by 27 députés in the French National Assembly,2004, Official website Overseas France at DMOZ
Overseas France
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Gustavia in
Saint Barthélemy
Overseas France
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Flag
Overseas France
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A street in
Saint-Pierre, capital of
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Overseas France
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Route des Tamarins motorway near
Saint-Paul,
Réunion
8.
Overseas collectivity
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The French overseas collectivities, like the French regions, are first-order administrative divisions of France. The COMs include some former French overseas territories and other French overseas entities with a particular status, the COMs should not be confused with the overseas regions and overseas departments, which have no particular status. As integral parts of France, overseas collectivities are represented in the National Assembly, Senate and Economic, only one COM, Saint Martin, is part of the European Union and can vote to elect members of the European Parliament. The Pacific COMs use the CFP franc, a currency pegged to the euro, as of 31 March 2011, there were five COMs, French Polynesia became a COM in 2003. Its statutory law of 27 February 2004 gives it the designation of overseas country inside the Republic, French Polynesia has a great degree of autonomy, two symbolic manifestations of which are the title of the President of French Polynesia and its additional designation as a pays doutre-mer. Legislature, Assembly of French Polynesia since 2004, Saint Barthélemy, an island in the Lesser Antilles. It has a council and executive council since 2007. Saint Martin, the part of the island of Saint Martin in the Lesser Antilles. Saint Martin remains part of the European Union, both it and St. Barthelemy were separated from the overseas department of Guadeloupe in 2007 and made into their own collectivities. It has a council and executive council since 2007. Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland and it is the last remaining part of New France not ceded by France. Wallis and Futuna, three islands in the Pacific Ocean. Has a high administrator and territorial assembly, mayotte was a COM from 1976 until 31 March 2011, when it became an overseas department. New Caledonia was classified as an overseas territory beginning in 1946, a New Caledonian citizenship was established, and a gradual transfer of power from the French state to New Caledonia itself was begun, to last from fifteen to twenty years
Overseas collectivity
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Overseas departments 1
9.
New Caledonia
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New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean,1,210 km east of Australia and 16,136 km east of Metropolitan France. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea, locals refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou. New Caledonia has an area of 18,576 km2. Its population of 268,767 consists of a mix of Kanak people, people of European descent, Polynesian people, the capital of the territory is Nouméa. The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the Lapita period, the Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific. British explorer Captain James Cook was the first European to sight New Caledonia, on 4 September 1774 and he named it New Caledonia, as the northeast of the island reminded him of Scotland. The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, from then until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. Contacts became more frequent after 1840, because of the interest in sandalwood from New Caledonia, the trade ceased at the start of the 20th century. The victims of this trade were called Kanakas, like all the Oceanian people, the first missionaries from the London Missionary Society and the Marist Brothers arrived in the 1840s. In 1849, the crew of the American ship Cutter was killed, cannibalism was widespread throughout New Caledonia. On 24 September 1853, under orders from Napoleon III, Admiral Febvrier Despointes took formal possession of New Caledonia, a few dozen free settlers settled on the west coast in the following years. New Caledonia became a colony, and from the 1860s until the end of the transportations in 1897, about 22,000 criminals. Among the convicts were many Communards arrested after the failed Paris Commune, including Henri de Rochefort, between 1873 and 1876,4,200 political prisoners were relegated in New Caledonia. Only 40 of them settled in the colony, the rest returned to France after being granted amnesty in 1879 and 1880. In 1864, nickel was discovered on the banks of the Diahot River and with the establishment of the Société Le Nickel in 1876, mining began in earnest. The French imported labourers to work in the mines, first from neighbouring islands, then from Japan, the Dutch East Indies, the French government also attempted to encourage European immigration, without much success. The indigenous population was excluded from the French economy, even as workers in the mines, and they were ultimately confined to reservations. This sparked a violent reaction in 1878 as High Chief Atal of La Foa managed to unite many of the central tribes, the Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox and measles
New Caledonia
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Flags of New Caledonia
New Caledonia
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Chief "King Jacques" and his Queen
New Caledonia
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Jean Lèques during a ceremony honoring U.S. service members who helped ensure the freedom of New Caledonia during World War II
10.
Overseas country of France
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Overseas country is the designation for the overseas collectivity of French Polynesia. French Polynesia was formerly a territory until the constitutional reform on 28 March 2003 created the overseas collectivities. Then, on 27 February 2004 a law was passed giving French Polynesia the particular designation of overseas country while recalling that it belongs to the category of overseas collectivities. However, the Constitutional Council of France ruled that this description was merely a designation and not a legal status, the territorys new status meant a certain autonomy for French Polynesia in the Pacific region. This translated into the transfer of new areas of responsibility while protecting existing autonomy in the fields of health, development and town planning. In addition, French Polynesia gained the power to oppose the application of laws voted by the French Parliament which do not respect these areas of responsibility, furthermore, it established French Polynesian citizenship based on permanent residency - a requirement for the right to vote in regional elections. However, France maintains control over justice, security and public order, currency, defence, New Caledonia, which has the unique status of a sui generis collectivity, is also sometimes incorrectly referred to as an overseas country. However, if the people of New Caledonia choose to remain part of France in a referendum on independence scheduled for 2014 or later, pays Outre-mer Frédéric Monera, Lidée de République et la jurisprudence du Conseil constitutionnel - Paris, L. G. D. J. 2004 -, Official website past and current developments of Frances overseas administrative divisions like pays doutre-mer
Overseas country of France
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Overseas departments 1
11.
Clipperton Island
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Clipperton Island is an uninhabited 6 km2 coral atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Central America. It is an overseas territory of France. The atoll is 1,080 km south-west of Mexico,2,424 km west of Nicaragua,2,545 km west of Costa Rica and 2,260 km north-west of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, at 10°18′N 109°13′W. It is an uninhabited overseas territory of France, under direct authority of the Minister of Overseas France. It is low-lying and largely barren, with scattered grasses. A small volcanic outcrop rising to 29 m on its south-east side is referred to as Clipperton Rock, Clipperton has had no permanent inhabitants since 1945. It is visited on occasion by fishermen, French Navy patrols, scientific researchers, film crews and it has been a popular site for transmissions by ham radio operators. Clipperton is about 945 km south-east of Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Archipelago and its ring-shaped atoll completely encloses a stagnant freshwater lagoon, and is 12 km in circumference. The rim averages 150 m in width, reaching 400 m in the west and narrows to 45 m in the north-east, land elevations average 2 m, though Clipperton Rock, a barren 29 m volcanic outcrop in the south-east, is considerably higher and is the highest point. The surrounding reef is exposed at low tide, the lagoon is devoid of fish, and contains some deep basins with depths of 43 and 22 m, including a spot known as Trou-Sans-Fond, or the bottomless hole, with acidic water at its base. The water is described as being almost fresh at the surface, seaweed beds cover approximately 45 percent of the lagoons surface. While some sources have rated the water as non-potable, testimony from the crew of the tuna clipper M/V Monarch, stranded for 23 days in 1962 after their boat sank. Their report reveals that the water, while not tasting very good, was drinkable, though muddy. Several of the castaways drank it, with no apparent ill effects, survivors of an ill-fated Mexican military colony in 1917 indicated that they were dependent upon rain for their water supply, catching it in old boats they used for this purpose. Aside from the lagoon and water caught from rain, no other sources are known to exist. It has a oceanic climate, with average temperatures of 20–32 °C. The rainy season occurs from May to October, when it is subject to tropical storms, surrounding ocean waters are warm, pushed by equatorial and counter-equatorial currents. It has no natural resources
Clipperton Island
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Coconut palms on Clipperton. The lagoon is visible beyond the trees.
Clipperton Island
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Clipperton Island with lagoon, showing depths in metres.
Clipperton Island
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Mexican survivors from Clipperton Island, 1917
Clipperton Island
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A
brown booby
12.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
French language
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The
"arrêt" signs (French for "stop") are used in
Canada while the international stop, which is also a valid French word, is used in France as well as other French-speaking countries and regions.
French language
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Regions where French is the main language
French language
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Town sign in
Standard Arabic and French at the entrance of
Rechmaya in
Lebanon.
French language
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An obsolete 100
Lebanese pound note with the French language inscriptions "Banque du Liban" and "Cent livres".
13.
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
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The French Southern and Antarctic Lands is an overseas territory of France. It consists of, Kerguelen Islands, a group of islands in the southern Indian Ocean, southeast of Africa. The territory is called the French Southern Lands or French Southern Territories. The latter excludes Adélie Land, where French sovereignty is not widely recognized, the lands are not connected to France Antarctique, a former French colony in Brazil. The territory has no permanent civilian population and those resident consist of visiting military personnel, officials, scientific researchers and support staff. The French Southern and Antarctic Lands have formed a territoire doutre-mer of France since 1955, the territory is divided into five districts, a According to new law 2007-224 of February 21,2007, the Scattered Islands constitute the TAAFs fifth district. The TAAF website does not mention their population, the data are not included in the totals. b The Îles Éparses principal station is on Tromelin. The headquarters of the district chief lies beyond the TAAF, in Saint Pierre on Réunion Island. c The Territorys principal station is Martin-de-Viviès on Île Amsterdam, the capital and headquarters of the Territorial administrator lies beyond the TAAF, in Saint Pierre on Réunion Island. Each district is headed by a chief, who has powers similar to those of a French mayor. Because there is no permanent population, there is no elected assembly, Adélie Land and the islands, totaling 7,781 km2, have no indigenous inhabitants, though in 1997 there were about 100 researchers whose numbers varied from winter to summer. Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul are extinct volcanoes and have been delineated as the Amsterdam, the highest point in the territory is Mont Ross on Île Kerguelen at 1,850 m. There are very few airstrips on the islands, only existing on islands with weather stations, the islands in the Indian Ocean are supplied by the special ship Marion Dufresne sailing out of Le Port in Réunion Island. Terre Adélie is supplied by Astrolabe sailing out of Hobart in Tasmania and this register, however, is to vanish, replaced by the International French Register. The territory contains the land mass that is antipodal to the Contiguous United States. Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul lie antipodal to two areas in south-eastern Colorado, near the cities of Lamar and Cheyenne Wells, respectively. The territorys natural resources are limited to fish and crustaceans, economic activity is limited to servicing meteorological and geophysical research stations and French and other fishing fleets. The main fish resources are Patagonian toothfish and spiny lobster, both are poached by foreign fleets, because of this, the French Navy and occasionally other services patrol the zone and arrest poaching vessels. Such arrests can result in heavy fines and/or the seizure of the ship, France used to sell licenses to foreign fisheries to fish the Patagonian toothfish, because of overfishing, it is now restricted to a small number of fisheries from Réunion Island
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
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Kerguelen cabbages on Mayes Island,
Kerguelen.
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
–
Flag
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
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Kerguelen Islands - The Volcan du Diable.
14.
British Overseas Territories
–
The 14 British Overseas Territories are territories under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of the United Kingdom. They are the parts of the British Empire that have not been granted independence or have voted to remain British territories. These territories do not form part of the United Kingdom and, with the exception of Gibraltar, are not part of the European Union, though the Cyprus SBAs are subject to EU law and use the Euro. Most of the territories are internally self-governing, with the UK retaining responsibility for defence. The rest are either uninhabited or have a population of military or scientific personnel. They share the British monarch as head of state, the term British Overseas Territory was introduced by the British Overseas Territories Act 2002, replacing the term British Dependent Territory, introduced by the British Nationality Act 1981. Prior to 1 January 1983, the territories were referred to as British Crown Colonies. With the exceptions of the British Antarctic Territory and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and the British Indian Ocean Territory, the Territories retain permanent civilian populations. Permanent residency for the 7,000 or so living in the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri. Collectively, the Territories encompass a population of about 250,000 people, the vast majority of this,660,000 square miles, constitutes the British Antarctic Territory. The current minister responsible for the Territories excluding the Falkland Islands, Gibraltar and the Sovereign Base Areas is Baroness Anelay, Minister of State for the Commonwealth, the other three territories are the responsibility of Sir Alan Duncan MP, Minister of State for Europe and the Americas. The first, unofficial, colony was Newfoundland, where English fishermen routinely set up camps in the 16th century. It is now a province of Canada known as Newfoundland and Labrador and it retains strong cultural ties with Britain. English colonisation of North America began officially in 1607 with the settlement of Jamestown, st. Georges town, founded in Bermuda in that year, remains the oldest continuously inhabited British settlement in the New World. Bermuda and Bermudians have played important, sometimes pivotal, but generally underestimated or unacknowledged roles in the shaping of the English and British trans-Atlantic Empires. These include maritime commerce, settlement of the continent and of the West Indies, separate self-governing colonies federated to become Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Rhodesia. These and other large self-governing colonies had become known as Dominions by the 1920s, the Dominions achieved almost full independence with the Statute of Westminster. Through a process of following the Second World War, most of the British colonies in Africa, Asia
British Overseas Territories
British Overseas Territories
British Overseas Territories
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Tristan da Cunha on 6 February 2013, as seen from space. The population was temporarily evacuated to the UK in 1961 because of an eruption. Postal code TDCU 1ZZ
British Overseas Territories
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Coastline at Little Bay, the site of the new capital of Montserrat replacing
Plymouth. The project is funded by the UK's
Department for International Development.
15.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
United Kingdom
–
Stonehenge, in
Wiltshire, was erected around 2500 BC.
United Kingdom
–
Flag
United Kingdom
–
The
Bayeux Tapestry depicts the
Battle of Hastings, 1066, and the events leading to it.
United Kingdom
–
The
Treaty of Union led to a single united kingdom encompassing all Great Britain.
16.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
France
–
One of the
Lascaux paintings: a horse –
Dordogne, approximately 18,000 BC
France
–
Flag
France
–
The
Maison Carrée was a temple of the
Gallo-Roman city of Nemausus (present-day
Nîmes) and is one of the best preserved vestiges of the
Roman Empire.
France
–
With
Clovis ' conversion to Catholicism in 498, the
Frankish monarchy,
elective and
secular until then, became
hereditary and of
divine right.
17.
French India
–
French India, formally the Établissements français dans lInde, was a French colony comprising geographically separate enclaves on the Indian subcontinent. The possessions were acquired by the French East India Company beginning in the second half of the 17th century. The French establishments included Pondichéry, Karikal and Yanaon on the Coromandel Coast, Mahé on the Malabar Coast and Chandernagor in Bengal. French India also included several loges in other towns, but after 1816, the loges had little commercial importance, by 1950, the total area measured 510 km2, of which 293 km2 belonged to the territory of Pondichéry. In 1936, the population of the colony totalled 298,851 inhabitants, France was the last of the major European maritime powers of the 17th century to enter the East India trade. Historians have sought to explain Frances late entrance in the East India trade, in 1604 a company was granted letters patent by King Henry IV, but the project failed. Fresh letters patent were issued in 1615, and two went to India, only one returning. From 1658, François Bernier, a French physician and traveller, was for years the personal physician at the court of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. La Compagnie française des Indes orientales was formed under the auspices of Cardinal Richelieu and reconstructed under Jean-Baptiste Colbert, in 1667 the French India Company sent out another expedition, under the command of François Caron, which reached Surat in 1668 and established the first French factory in India. In 1669, Marcara succeeded in establishing another French factory at Masulipatam, in 1672, Saint Thomas was taken but the French were driven out by the Dutch. Chandernagore was established in 1692, with the permission of Nawab Shaista Khan, in 1673, the French acquired the area of Pondicherry from the qiladar of Valikondapuram under the Sultan of Bijapur, and thus the foundation of Pondichéry was laid. By 1720, the French had lost their factories at Surat, on 4 February 1673, Bellanger, a French officer, took up residence in the Danish Lodge in Pondichéry, thereby commencing the French administration of Pondichéry. In 1674 François Martin, the first Governor, initiated ambitious projects to transform Pondichéry from a fishing village into a flourishing port-town. The French, though, found themselves in conflict with the Dutch. In 1693 the Dutch captured Pondichéry and augmented the fortifications, the French regained the town in 1699 through the Treaty of Ryswick, signed on 20 September 1697. From their arrival until 1741, the objectives of the French, during this period, the French East India Company peacefully acquired Yanam in 1723, Mahe on Malabar Coast in 1725 and Karaikal in 1739. In the early 18th century, the town of Pondichéry was laid out on a grid pattern, able governors like Pierre Christophe Le Noir and Pierre Benoît Dumas expanded the Pondichéry area and made it a large and rich town. Under the command of the Marquis de Bussy-Castelnau, Dupleixs army successfully controlled the area between Hyderabad and Cape Comorin, but then Robert Clive arrived in India in 1744, a British officer who dashed the hopes of Dupleix to create a French empire India
French India
–
A portrait of
Ananda Ranga Pillai.
French India
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French India after 1815
French India
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Dupleix meeting the Soudhabar of the
Deccan,
Murzapha Jung.
French India
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Suffren meeting with ally
Hyder Ali in 1782, J.B. Morret engraving, 1789.
18.
Puducherry
–
Puducherry, formerly known as Pondicherry, is a union territory of India. It was formed out of four exclaves of former French India, namely Pondichéry, Karikal, Mahé and it is named after the largest district, Puducherry. Historically known as Pondicherry, the changed its official name to Puducherry on 20 September 2006. Puducherry lies in the part of the Indian Peninsula. Puducherry is the 29th most populous and the third most densely populated territory in India. It has a GDP of ₹0.21 lakh crore and ranks 27th in India, the earliest recorded history of Puducherry can be traced to the 2nd century CE. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mentions a marketplace named Poduke, huntingford suggested this might be a site about 2 miles from the modern Puducherry, which was possibly the location of Arikamedu. Huntingford noted that Roman pottery was found at Arikamedu in 1937, in addition, archaeological excavations between 1944 and 1949 showed that it was a trading station to which goods of Roman manufacture were imported during the first half of the 1st century CE. In 1674, Pondicherry became a French colony of the French colonial empire, the union territory of Puducherry consists of four small unconnected districts, Puducherry district, Karaikal district and Yanam district on the Bay of Bengal and Mahé district on the Arabian Sea. Puducherry and Karaikal have the largest areas and population, and are both enclaves of Tamil Nadu, Yanam and Mahé are enclaves of Andhra Pradesh and Kerala respectively. Some of Puducherrys districts are themselves amalgamations of non-contiguous enclaves, often called pockets in India, the Puducherry district is made of 11 such pockets, some of which are very small and entirely surrounded by the territory of Tamil Nadu. Mahé district is made up of three pockets and this unusual geography is a legacy of the colonial period with Puducherry retaining the borders of former French India. All four districts of Puducherry are located in the coastal region, five rivers in Puducherry district, seven in Karaikal district, two in Mahé district and one in Yanam district drain into the sea, but none originates within the territory. Other religions include Christianity and Islam, Puducherry is a Union Territory of India rather than a state, which implies that governance and administration falls directly under federal authority. The Centre is represented by the Lieutenant Governor, who resides at the Raj Nivas at the Park, the central government is more directly involved in the territorys financial well-being unlike states, which have a central grant that they administer. Consequently, Puducherry has at times, enjoyed lower taxes. According to the Treaty of Cession of 1956, the four territories of former French India territorial administration are permitted to make laws with respect to specific matters, in many cases, such legislation may require ratification from the federal government or the assent of the President of India. Article II of the Treaty states, The Establishments will keep the benefit of the administrative status which was in force prior to 1 November 1954
Puducherry
–
Sri Potti Sri Ramulu Yanam Bridge
Puducherry
–
Seal of Puducherry
Puducherry
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French architectural styles are common, a reminder of the years that the territory was part of
French India.
Puducherry
–
Consulate of France located at Goubert Avenue, White Town, Puducherry
19.
Overseas departments and territories of France
–
Overseas France consists of all the French-administered territories outside of the European continent. Their citizens have French nationality and vote for the president of France and they have the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. From a legal and administrative standpoint, overseas regions are different from overseas collectivities. Overseas regions have exactly the same status as mainland Frances regions, in the French overseas regions, laws cannot be adapted whereas the overseas collectivities are empowered to make their own laws, except in certain areas. The overseas collectivities are governed by elected assemblies and by the French Parliament. Overseas France has an economic zone of 9,821,231 km². Guadeloupe French Guiana Martinique Réunion Mayotte 1976–2003, sui generis overseas territory, 2001–2003, with the designation departmental community, 2003–2011, in the 2009 Mahoran status referendum, Mahorans voted to become an overseas department in 2011, which occurred on March 31,2011. The category of overseas collectivity was created by Frances constitutional reform of March 28,2003, each overseas collectivity has its own statutory laws. French Polynesia In 2004 it was given the designation of overseas country, despite being given the political status of overseas collectivity, Saint Pierre et Miquelon is called collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, literally territorial collectivity. It is still referred to as a territoire. Saint Martin, In 2003, the populations of St. Martin, on February 7,2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both jurisdictions. The new status took effect on February 22,2007 when the law was published in the Journal Officiel and they remain part of the European Union, as stated in the Treaty of Lisbon. It is currently the only overseas territory, according to law 2007-224 of February 21,2007, the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean constitute the 5th district of TAAF. New Caledonia was classified as an overseas territory beginning in 1946, a New Caledonian citizenship was established, and a gradual transfer of power from the French state to New Caledonia itself was begun, to last from 15 to 20 years. Clipperton Island is a 9 km2 coral atoll located 1,280 km south-west of Acapulco, Mexico and it is held as state private property under the direct authority of the French government, and is administered by Frances Overseas Minister. With 2,691,000 inhabitants in 2013, Overseas France account for 4. 1% of the population of the French Republic and they enjoy a corresponding representation in the two chambers of the French Parliament. In the 13th Legislature, Overseas France is represented by 27 députés in the French National Assembly,2004, Official website Overseas France at DMOZ
Overseas departments and territories of France
–
Gustavia in
Saint Barthélemy
Overseas departments and territories of France
–
Flag
Overseas departments and territories of France
–
A street in
Saint-Pierre, capital of
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Overseas departments and territories of France
–
Route des Tamarins motorway near
Saint-Paul,
Réunion
20.
French Polynesia
–
It is composed of 118 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over an expanse of more than 2,000 kilometres in the South Pacific Ocean. Its total land area is 4,167 square kilometres, among its 118 islands and atolls,67 are inhabited. Tahiti, which is located within the Society Islands, is the most populous island and it has more than 68% of the population of the islands in 2012. Although not a part of its territory, Clipperton Island was administered from French Polynesia until 2007. Following the Great Polynesian Migration, European explorers visited the islands of French Polynesia on several occasions, traders and whaling ships also visited. In 1842, the French took over the islands and established a French protectorate they called Etablissements des français en Océanie, in 1946, the EFOs became an overseas territory under the constitution of the French Fourth Republic, and Polynesians were granted the right to vote through citizenship. In 1957, the EFOs were renamed French Polynesia, French Polynesia as we know it today was one of the last places on Earth to be settled by humans. Scientists believe the Great Polynesian Migration happened around 1500 BC as Austronesian people went on a journey using celestial navigation to find islands in the South Pacific Ocean, the first islands of French Polynesia to be settled were the Marquesas Islands in about 200 BC. The Polynesians later ventured southwest and discovered the Society Islands around AD300, European encounters began in 1521 when Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, sailing at the service of the Spanish Crown, sighted Puka-Puka in the Tuāmotu-Gambier Archipelago. Over a century later, British explorer Samuel Wallis visited Tahiti in 1767, French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville also visited Tahiti in 1768, while British explorer James Cook arrived in 1769. A short-lived Spanish settlement was created in 1774, and for a time some maps bore the name Isla de Amat after Viceroy Amat, in 1772, Dutchman Jakob Roggeveen came across Bora Bora in the Society Islands. Christian missions began with Spanish priests who stayed in Tahiti for a year, protestants from the London Missionary Society settled permanently in Polynesia in 1797. King Pōmare II of Tahiti was forced to flee to Moorea in 1803, he, French Catholic missionaries arrived on Tahiti in 1834, their expulsion in 1836 caused France to send a gunboat in 1838. In 1842, Tahiti and Tahuata were declared a French protectorate, the capital of Papeetē was founded in 1843. In 1880, France annexed Tahiti, changing the status from that of a protectorate to that of a colony, the island groups were not officially united until the establishment of the French protectorate in 1889. In the 1880s, France claimed the Tuamotu Archipelago, which belonged to the Pōmare Dynasty. Having declared a protectorate over Tahuata in 1842, the French regarded the entire Marquesas Islands as French, in 1885, France appointed a governor and established a general council, thus giving it the proper administration for a colony. The islands of Rimatara and Rūrutu unsuccessfully lobbied for British protection in 1888, postage stamps were first issued in the colony in 1892
French Polynesia
–
A two-franc
World War II emergency-issue banknote (1943), printed in
Papeete, and depicting the outline of
Tahiti on the reverse.
French Polynesia
–
Flags of French Polynesia
French Polynesia
–
The French frigate
Floréal in November 2002, stationed in
Bora Bora lagoon.
French Polynesia
–
The
Assembly of French Polynesia.
21.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
–
It is the only remnant of the former colonial empire of New France that still remains under French control, with an area of 242 km2 and a population of 6,080 at the January 2011 census. The islands are situated at the entrance of Fortune Bay, which extends into the southwestern coast of Newfoundland and they are 3,819 kilometres from Brest, the nearest point in Metropolitan France, but only 25 kilometres from the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland. Saint-Pierre is French for Saint Peter, the saint of fishermen. The present name of Miquelon was first noted in the form of Micquelle in the Basque sailor Martin de Hoyarçabals navigational pilot for Newfoundland and it has been claimed that the name Miquelon is a Basque form of Michael, Mikel and Mikels are usually named Mikelon in the Basque Country. Therefore, from Mikelon it may have written in the French way with a q instead of a k. It appears that this is a common form in that language. The adjoined islands name of Langlade is said to be an adaptation of lîle à lAnglais, the first European encounter with Saint-Pierre and Miquelon was in 1520, by the Portuguese João Álvares Fagundes. They were made a French possession in 1536 by Jacques Cartier on behalf of the King of France, in 1670, during Jean Talons tenure as Intendant of New France, a French officer annexed the islands when he found a dozen French fishermen camped there. The British Royal Navy soon began to harass the French, pillaging their camps and ships, by the early 1700s, the islands were again uninhabited, and were ceded to the British by the Treaty of Utrecht which ended the War of the Spanish Succession in 1713. Under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, which put an end to the Seven Years War, France ceded all its North American possessions, France also maintained fishing rights on the coasts of Newfoundland. With France being allied with the Americans during the American Revolutionary War, Britain invaded and razed the colony in 1778, in 1793, the British landed in Saint-Pierre and, the following year, expelled the French population, and tried to install British settlers. The British colony was in turn sacked by French troops in 1796, the Treaty of Amiens of 1802 returned the islands to France, but Britain reoccupied them when hostilities recommenced the next year. The Treaty of Paris gave them back to France, though Britain occupied them yet again during the Hundred Days War, France then reclaimed the then uninhabited islands in which all structures and buildings had been destroyed or fallen into disrepair. The islands were resettled in 1816, the settlers were mostly Basques, Bretons and Normans, who were joined by various other elements, particularly from the nearby island of Newfoundland. Only around the middle of the century did increased fishing bring a certain prosperity to the little colony, during the early 1910s, the colony suffered severely as a result of unprofitable fisheries, and large numbers of its people emigrated to Nova Scotia and Quebec. The draft imposed on all inhabitants of conscript age after the beginning of World War I crippled the fisheries, which could not be processed by the older people. About 400 men from the served in the French military during World War I. The increase in the adoption of steam trawlers in the fisheries also contributed to the reduction in employment opportunities, smuggling had always been an important economic activity in the islands, but it became especially prominent in the 1920s with the institution of prohibition in the United States
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
–
Saint-Pierre aerial photo, 2013.
Saint-Pierre Airport is at lower right. Original photo has extensive annotations.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
–
Unofficial flag
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
–
St Pierre, Le Quai La Roncière, 1887
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
–
Saint-Pierre in 1921
22.
Wallis and Futuna
–
Though both French and Polynesian, Wallis and Futuna is distinct from the entity known as French Polynesia. Its land area is 142.42 km2 with a population of about 12,000, Mata-Utu is the capital and biggest city. Since 2003, Wallis and Futuna has been a French overseas collectivity, between 1961 and 2003, it had the status of a French overseas territory, though its official name did not change when the status changed. Polynesians settled the islands that would later be called Wallis and Futuna around the year 1000 AD/CE, the original inhabitants built forts and other identifiable ruins on the islands, some of which are still partially intact. Pierre Chanel, canonized as a saint in 1954, is a patron of the island of Futuna. The Wallis Islands are named after the British explorer, Samuel Wallis, on 5 April 1842, the missionaries asked for the protection of France after the rebellion of a part of the local population. On 5 April 1887, the Queen of Uvea signed a treaty establishing a French protectorate. The kings of Sigave and Alo on the islands of Futuna, the islands were put under the authority of the French colony of New Caledonia. In 1917, the three kingdoms were annexed to France and turned into the Colony of Wallis and Futuna. During World War II the islands’ administration was pro-Vichy until a Free French corvette from New Caledonia deposed the regime on 26 May 1942, units of the US Marine Corps landed on Wallis on 29 May 1942. In 1959, the inhabitants of the islands voted to become a French overseas territory, effective in 1961, in 2005, the 50th King of Uvea, Tomasi Kulimoetoke II, faced being deposed after giving sanctuary to his grandson who was convicted of manslaughter. The King claimed his grandson should be judged by tribal law rather than by the French penal system, there were riots in the streets involving the Kings supporters, who were victorious over attempts to replace the King. Two years later, Tomasi Kulimoetoke died on 7 May 2007, the state was in a six-month period of mourning. During this period, mentioning a successor was forbidden, on 25 July 2008, Kapiliele Faupala was installed as King despite protests from some of the royal clans. As an overseas collectivity of France, it is governed under the French constitution of 28 September 1958, the head of state is President François Hollande of France as represented by the Administrator-Superior Michel Jeanjean. The President of the Territorial Assembly is Petelo Hanisi since 11 December 2013, the Council of the Territory consists of three kings and three members appointed by the high administrator on the advice of the Territorial Assembly. The legislative branch consists of the unicameral Territorial Assembly or Assemblée territoriale of 20 seats, Wallis and Futuna elects one senator to the French Senate and one deputy to the French National Assembly. Justice is generally administered under French law by a tribunal of first instance in Mata-Utu, the Court of Appeal is in Nouméa, New Caledonia
Wallis and Futuna
–
Ruins of the
Talietumu fort
Wallis and Futuna
–
Flag
Wallis and Futuna
–
Lake Lalolalo on ʻUvea
23.
Mayotte
–
Mayotte is an insular department and region of France officially named Département de Mayotte. It consists of an island, Grande-Terre, a smaller island, Petite-Terre. The archipelago is located in the northern Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeast Africa, the department status of Mayotte is recent and the region remains the poorest in France. Mayotte is nevertheless much more prosperous than the countries of the Mozambique Channel. Mayottes area is 374 square kilometres and, with its 212,645 people, is densely populated at 569 per km². The biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou on Grande-Terre, however, the Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport is located on the neighbouring island of Petite-Terre. The territory is part of the Comoro Islands. The territory is known as Maore, the native name of its main island. The language of the majority is Shimaore, a Bantu language variety closely related to the varieties in the neighbouring Comoros islands, the second most widely spoken native language is Kibushi, a Malagasy language variety most closely related to the Sakalava dialect of Malagasy with influences from Shimaore. The vast majority of the population is Muslim, the island was populated from neighbouring East Africa with later arrival of Arabs, who brought the Islamic religion. A sultanate was established in 1500, the people of Mayotte voted to remain politically a part of France in the 1974 referendum. The term Mayotte may refer to all of the islands, of which the largest is known as Maore and includes Maores surrounding islands, most notably Pamanzi. The main island, Grande-Terre, geologically the oldest of the Comoro Islands, is 39 kilometres long and 22 kilometres wide, because of the volcanic rock, the soil is relatively rich in some areas. A coral reef encircling much of the island ensures protection for ships, Dzaoudzi was the capital of Mayotte until 1977. It is situated on Petite-Terre, which at 10 square kilometres is the largest of several islets adjacent to Maore, in 1500, the Maore or Mawuti sultanate was established on the island. In 1503, Mayotte was observed by Portuguese explorers, but not colonized, in 1832, Mayotte was conquered by Andriantsoly, former king of Iboina on Madagascar, in 1833, it was conquered by the neighbouring sultanate of Mwali. On 19 November 1835, Mayotte was again conquered by the Ndzuwani Sultanate, however, in 1836 it regained its independence under a last local Sultan. Mayotte was purchased by France in 1841 and it was the only island in the archipelago that voted in referendums in 1974 and 1976 to retain its link with France and forgo independence
Mayotte
–
Beach scenery in Mayotte.
Mayotte
–
Flag
Mayotte
–
Sea near
Mamoudzou.
Mayotte
–
A view of
Sada including mosque.
24.
Outremer
–
During the Renaissance, the term was later often equated to the area of the Levant. The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia originated before the Crusades, but it was granted the status of a kingdom by Pope Innocent III and it later became fully westernised by the French House of Lusignan. In general, the French used this term to refer to any land overseas, for example, King Louis IV of France was called Louis dOutremer, as he was raised in England. In the Chanson de Roland, Outremer is used as the name of a fictional Muslim country and it is identified as one of the many countries participating in the general mobilization of the Muslim World against Christianity at the climax of the plot. The modern term outre-mer, spelled with a hyphen and equally meaning overseas, is used by the French government for the overseas departments. In Monsieur, or The Prince of Darkness, Lawrence Durrells first novel of The Avignon Quintet, david Nicolle, Knight of Outremer 1187-1344 AD, Warrior No.18. Robert E. Howard, Hawks of Outremer, West Kingston, Rhode Island, holy Land Timeline of the name Palestine Helen Nicholson. The French of Outremer, Medieval Studies, Fordham University
Outremer
–
Illustration from the
Old French translation of
Guillaume de Tyr 's Histoire d'Outremer
Outremer
–
The Near East in 1135, with the Crusader states of Outremer marked with red crosses.
