Overseas France

France d'Outre-Mer

Last modified: 2024-01-28 by olivier touzeau
Keywords: overseas france | france d'outre-mer | minister of overseas france |
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Flag of France - Image by Željko Heimer, 22 September 2001

• Status of the French overseas entities
  • Overseas Departments and Regions (Départements d'Outre-Mer - Régions d'Outre-Mer; DOM-ROM)
  • Overseas Collectivities (Collectivités d'Outre-Mer; COM)
  • New Caledonia
  • French Southern and Antarctic Lands
• Flag of the Minister (or Junior Minister) of Overseas France

See also:

• France

Status of the French overseas entities

The French overseas entities are usually known as DOM-TOM (Départements d'Outre-Mer - Territoires d'Outre-Mer); however, this name is now obsolete since the constitutional revision of 28 March 2003 suppressed the TOMs (with the exception of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands).

Overseas Departments and Regions (Départements d'Outre-Mer - Régions d'Outre-Mer; DOM-ROM)

Guadeloupe, French Guyana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion, each being both a Department and a Region, have the same status as the "European" Departments and Regions (with a few local exceptions - generally fiscal).

Overseas Collectivities (Collectivités d'Outre-Mer; COM)

French Polynesia (with the specific name of Pays d'Outre-Mer, Overseas Country), Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna , Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy are Overseas Collectivities, whose status is explained in more detail on their respective pages of this website.

New Caledonia

New Caledonia has the status of Collectivité sui generis.

French Southern and Antarctic Lands

The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises; TAAF) are an Overseas Territory (Territoire d'Outre-Mer).

Ivan Sache, 25 August 2007

Flag of the Minister (or Junior Secretary) of Overseas France

Flag of the Minister of the Overseas France - Image by Ivan Sache, 26 September 2001

The flag of the Minister/Secretary of State of the Overseas France is a square flag derived from the flag used by the Governor-Generals in the former colonial empire which was almost similar (same ratio and design): the only difference is that the Tricolore in canton was then the French naval ensign (blue 30 / white 33 / red 37), while it is today a Tricolore with equal stripes.

Pierre Gay, 16 June 1999