France • Overseas
Overseas France
14 places France holds beyond Europe, across three oceans: its overseas departments, its collectivities, and islands far out where no one lives for good. They are spread round the world, so here they are ocean by ocean.
The Caribbean
Guadeloupe and Martinique, in the Lesser Antilles with Dominica between them. Farther north, Saint Martin, which shares its island with Sint Maarten, and Saint-Barthélemy, just to its southeast.
French Guiana and the North
French Guiana, on the South American mainland between Suriname and Brazil, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, two small islands far to the north, off the south coast of Newfoundland.
The Indian Ocean
Réunion, east of Madagascar beside Mauritius. Far to the south, west to east: the Crozet Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, the biggest, and Saint-Paul and Amsterdam, alone to the northeast.
The Pacific
New Caledonia, east of Australia; Wallis and Futuna, west of Samoa; French Polynesia, its islands spread over an area the size of Western Europe; and Clipperton, a lone atoll off Mexico.
Where You'll Start
You'll start with the anchors, a few places to hang the rest on: French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Réunion, New Caledonia, and French Polynesia.