Which country shares the longest border with France?
I think most people would say Spain. Spain is right next to France in Europe. Or perhaps you might have said Belgium, Switzerland, or Italy.
But the answer is actually Brazil. Yes, Brazil. France and Brazil share a border of more than 700 kilometres. The reason is French Guiana, a territory on the northeastern coast of South America which is officially part of France.
French Guiana isn’t the only surprising part of France. France has territories and departments in the Caribbean, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific, and South America. People living in many of these places are French citizens. They can vote in French elections, use the euro, and in some cases are part of the European Union.
How did France end up with territory on several different continents? Why are these places still part of France, while many former British colonies became independent countries? And do the people living in these territories want to be French?
In this episode, we’re going to explore Overseas France and learn some new English vocabulary along the way!
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Vocabulary
- territory (n): an area of land controlled by a country or government
- French Guiana is a French territory in South America.
- overseas (adj): located in another country or across the sea
- France has several overseas territories around the world.
- citizenship (n): the legal status of being a citizen of a country
- People in French Guiana have French citizenship.
- autonomy (n): the right or ability to govern yourself
- French Polynesia has a high degree of autonomy.
- independence (n): freedom from political control by another country
- Many former French colonies gained independence in the 1960s.
- decolonisation (n): the process of colonies becoming independent
- Decolonisation changed the political map of Africa and Asia.
- assimilation (n): the process of becoming part of another culture or society
- France once promoted the assimilation of some colonial populations.
Metropolitan vs Overseas
France is bigger than you think. I’m sure most of you listening know where France is. You know where it is located on a map.
It is a country in Western Europe. It has coastlines on the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. It has the Alps mountain range and major cities like Paris. It borders Spain, Andorra, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, and Monaco.
[00:04:00] This part of France is called Metropolitan France. It includes the European mainland and the island of Corsica in the Mediterranean.
But legally and politically, France is bigger than this.
The Republic of France also includes a collection of territories and islands located thousands of kilometers away from Europe. Some of these are in the Caribbean, some in the Indian Ocean, one is in South America, and others are scattered across the Pacific Ocean.
Some of these places are officially part of France itself. They’re not a territory of France. They’re not owned by France. They are France.
For example, French Guiana is an overseas department of France. Martinique and Guadeloupe in the Caribbean are also overseas departments. Rรฉunion, an island in the Indian Ocean, is another [00:05:00] one.
This means that these places are parts of the French Republic. Someone born in French Guiana is a French citizen. They use the euro as their currency. People in French Guiana can vote in French presidential elections, and they also elect representatives to the French Parliament. The same is true for people in places like Martinique and Rรฉunion.
Colonial Roots Explained
Why? Why is France stretched across territories thousands of kilometers away from Paris?
The answer to this question is colonialism. To be honest, whenever we talk about the history of Europe, colonialism is often the answer to questions.
From around the 17th century onwards, France became one of the world’s major colonial powers. Just like Britain, Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands, France had colonies and trading posts around the world. The French Empire controlled enormous areas of [00:06:00] territory. There were French colonies in North and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific.
We’ve talked about some French colonies relatively recently when I discussed the history of Canada and the US Declaration of Independence. Both of those topics were connected to the battle between Britain and France over control of North America.
But after the Second World War, this system of colonialism began to collapse. Not just for France, of course, for all European empires. Across Asia and Africa, people were demanding independence.
European countries had been weakened by the two world wars, and these huge overseas empires were becoming uncontrollable. Keeping them was really difficult.
Britain, for example, gradually granted independence to almost all of its colonies. India became independent in [00:07:00] 1947, Nigeria in 1960, Jamaica in 1962, many others in that same period as well.
France went through a similar process. It lost Vietnam after the First Indochina War. Algeria became independent after a violent war in 1962. In fact, during the 1950s and 60s, most of France’s other African colonies also became independent.
Departments and Assimilation
But France didn’t believe that every territory or every place had to become an independent country.
In 1946, France made a constitutional change. Several of its colonies, or former colonies, including Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, and Rรฉunion, became overseas departments.
A department is a administrative division of France. [00:08:00] Metropolitan France, so mainland France, is also divided into departments. I guess it’s a bit like a state or a prefecture or a province. In France, they’re called departments.
Legally, these territories, like Guadeloupe in the Caribbean or French Guiana in South America, became parts of France.
The French Republican model, the ideology, the belief system behind France, emphasizes a few key ideas. One of these is the idea of one nation, and connected to that is the idea of one citizenship and equality before the law.
Based on these principles, France made people in these new overseas departments French citizens and made these departments part of France. The people there should have the same rights as French citizens in Paris.
This was quite different from other European empires, like the [00:09:00] UK. The UK still has some overseas territories, famously still has overseas territories, but they are not part of the United Kingdom.
They are almost all self-governing, and they are not part of Great Britain or the UK. They are protected by the UK, but they are not part of the UK. Places like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands and Gibraltar have their own local parliaments and they are internally self-governing. They make their own laws. But they are not part of the UK.
The people living there cannot vote in UK elections unless they are living in the UK. But if you’re living in Gibraltar, you can’t vote in the UK election, and there are no members of Parliament for Gibraltar in the UK Parliament.
France did something different to Britain, though. France did something closer to assimilation. Rather than France owning territories, France considered the territories to be French. France expanded its [00:10:00] borders. It grew.
Was this a genuine attempt to create equality, or was it just another form of colonialism? Maybe we’ll talk about that a bit later in the episode.
Types of Overseas France
But first, we should probably take a look at some of these overseas departments, overseas territories, overseas collectivities.
I just mentioned three different types of thing… departments, territories, and collectivities. And that should tell you that Overseas France is not one single place.
Some of these places are legally almost identical to mainland France. Others have more autonomy. Some strongly identify as being French. Others are a bit more independence-minded.
There are overseas departments and regions. These places are fully part of the French Republic, and they are part of the EU as well. Then there are [00:11:00] overseas collectivities that have a different level of self-rule, so they can make their own laws. They don’t rely on the French Parliament just to make laws.
I believe that all residents of Overseas France are citizens of France, which means they can all vote in French elections. But not all parts of Overseas France are in the EU. Most of the overseas collectivities are not in the EU, with, I think, one exception. And then there is also one overseas territory of France as well.
I should also mention that I will be using the English pronunciation and names of all of these places. In France, in French, they’re different, but this is an English learning podcast, so let’s learn the English names for these places.
French Guiana is on the northeastern coast of South America, between Brazil and Suriname. It is larger than a country like Austria, and most of French Guiana [00:12:00] is covered by rainforest, the Amazon rainforest.
French Guiana perhaps is best known outside of France for being home to the European Space Center. The Guiana Space Center is Europe’s most important space launching facility.
And because French Guiana is an overseas department, the people living there are French citizens. They can use the Euro, participate in elections. They’re French. You can travel from French Guiana to Paris without leaving France.
Guadeloupe and Martinique are two French islands in the Caribbean. Politically, they’re also departments of France, and they are also part of the European Union.
Both of these islands have histories that was heavily dominated by the sugar industry and slavery. Large numbers of enslaved Africans were taken to the Caribbean to work on plantations, to work on [00:13:00] sugar plantations, and these islands have a legacy of slavery that I guess continues to influence their society.
For example, people in Guadeloupe and Martinique speak French, but there are also Caribbean Creole languages as well, and some different unique traditions are common.
Rรฉunion is an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. It is a tropical and volcanic island known for its mountains and forests and volcanoes.
Once again, Rรฉunion is officially part of France, but it is more than 9,000 kilometers away from Paris. Culturally, Rรฉunion is extremely diverse. It has influences from Africa, Europe, India, China, and other parts of the Indian Ocean. The closest places to Rรฉunion are Madagascar and Mauritius, I think.
Mayotte is another French island in the Indian Ocean, this time in the [00:14:00] Comoros Archipelago. The Comoros Islands is an independent country. When the Comoros Islands became independent from France in 1975, Mayotte chose to remain French. It eventually became an overseas department in 2011.
However, the neighboring country of Comoros continues to claim Mayotte as its territory.
Mayotte is one of France’s poorest departments. So despite being part of this wealthy European country, Mayotte has a high level of poverty.
French Polynesia is different, very different. It includes famous islands like Tahiti.
Politically, French Polynesia isn’t an overseas department like French Guiana or Martinique. It has a greater degree of autonomy or self-control. Since 2004, it has been given the title of “overseas country” by the French government, but this has no [00:15:00] different meaning from “overseas collectivity” in practice.
Collectivity was one of the other terms the French government uses to describe Overseas France.
As a overseas collectivity, French Polynesia can make its own laws. France still controls things like defense and foreign affairs, but French Polynesia has its own government, has its own parliament, and manages most of its own issues.
The relationship between French Polynesia and France has been a bit complicated historically due to nuclear testing. France conducted nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific Ocean in the region of French Polynesia from the 1960s until the 1990s. These tests have had major health consequences and environmental consequences for the region, and they remain quite a controversial part of this relationship between French Polynesia and France.
But of course, people in French [00:16:00] Polynesia are French citizens, and they can vote in French elections. They’re not in the EU, though.
And you might remember that during the Paris Olympics, the surfing competitions were hosted in French Polynesia in Tahiti
New Caledonia is another French territory in the Pacific and probably the most politically complicated example.
New Caledonia has a special status. It is an overseas collectivity, but it’s got a special status. This has allowed New Caledonia to gain more power and perhaps eventually become independent from France if that’s what the people there want.
It is located thousands of kilometers away from France, of course. It’s in the Pacific. And it has significant deposits of nickel, which is an important mineral used in various industries.
New Caledonia has a large Kanak population. The Kanaks are the indigenous [00:17:00] peoples of the islands, and most Kanak people have supported independence from France for a long time.
This desire for independence has led to decades of political tension between the Kanak people and settlers on the island, often European settlers. There have been lots of protests and outbreaks of violence over the years.
New Caledonia has held several referendums on independence recently. The majority of New Caledonia has voted to remain part of France in those three referendums between 2018 and 2021, although the final vote in 2021 was boycotted by the pro-independence movement, which means most of them didn’t vote.
The other parts of Overseas France are Saint Barthรฉlemy or St. Barts, which is an island in the Caribbean that became an overseas collectivity in 2003 and is not part of the EU.
Saint Martin, which is also in the Caribbean [00:18:00] and was once part of Guadaloupe, but voted to become a separate place in 2003 and is part of the EU. I think it’s the only overseas collectivity that is in the EU.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon are islands that are very close to Canada, right next to Canada, that used to be a department of France, but since 2003 has been a self-ruling collectivity.
And then there is also the Wallis and Futuna Islands in the Pacific.
France also has one overseas territory, legally speaking. We can describe all of these as territories in a general sense because they’re land, but in a legal sense, France has one overseas territory, which is the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. And then there is also Clipperton Island, where no one lives and is off the coast of Mexico.
So in total, there are 13 parts of Overseas France. French [00:19:00] Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Rรฉunion, Mayotte, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Saint Barthรฉlemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, and Clipperton Island.
Why Keep Them
All of these places are far away from Paris. Some are on the other side of the world in the Pacific Ocean, really far away. Maintaining life and society in these places isn’t cheap for France. France has to invest a lot in public services and infrastructure.
France has territory that is scattered across the Atlantic, Caribbean, Indian Ocean, and the Pacific. So that gives France a global presence.
The French military has bases in quite a few of these overseas territories. Having military bases around the world gives France strategic power and allows France to respond quickly to events in different parts of the world.
This is important for France [00:20:00] because France sees itself as a global power. France sees itself as being particularly influential, of course in Europe, but also in the Indo-Pacific region. France’s territories in Rรฉunion and Mayotte are in the Indian Ocean, and French Polynesia and New Caledonia are in the Pacific, so France considers itself to be a power in this region.
There’s another huge advantage for France that comes from all of these islands. France has one of the largest Exclusive Economic Zones in the world. An Exclusive Economic Zone is an area of ocean which extends up to 200 nautical miles from a country’s coast. Within this zone, a country has the special rights to explore and use marine resources. Within the area around your country, you are allowed to exclusively fish, use the resources in the ocean.
Because France has so many islands and so [00:21:00] many territories across the world, its maritime territory is enormous.
Some of these territories have really valuable natural resources. New Caledonia has enormous deposits of nickel, and the surrounding oceans provide fishing resources and other marine resources as well.
Places like Martinique, Guadeloupe, Rรฉunion, French Polynesia have lots of tourists from around the world. And French Guiana, of course, has the space industry.
I guess what this means is that these territories provide France with economic opportunities and resources.
They’re not just empty islands. They’re not just expensive wastes of resources. They’re opportunities for France.
There’s something even more fundamental here. The overseas departments and overseas collectivities are parts of France. French Guiana isn’t a French colony. French Guiana is France, technically, legally right now.
A lot [00:22:00] of people living in these territories genuinely identify as French. They have French citizenship. They can move to the mainland if they want to. They have French passports.
People, of course, have strong local identities. Someone from New Caledonia might have a strong Kanak identity. Someone from Rรฉunion might feel Rรฉunionese and French.
Costs, Inequality, & Identity
But this doesn’t mean that everyone in Overseas France is happy all the time. Most people in Overseas France consider themselves French, but there are significant independence movements.
Being part of France, of course, brings advantages to the people living there. You can receive French healthcare, get French citizenship, move to France if you wish, attend French schools and universities, benefit from some of the support from the French government. Most of the overseas departments can benefit from being in the EU, [00:23:00] for example.
But there are also downsides.
The cost of living in Overseas France is really high. Part of this is due to import dependency. Most of the islands and territories are remote and isolated. They’re small, and they don’t have the land or the resources to grow all the food they need or to make all of the things they use.
This means they have to import food and import necessities from France and other EU countries, and this is expensive. You have to ship things across the world via expensive boats.
Some French territories have luxury tourism industries like Saint Barthรฉlemy, Saint Barts, I think I’ve heard it called before, and it’s very popular for luxury tourism, but that doesn’t necessarily benefit the local people. The hotels are probably owned by people not from the island.
The cost of living [00:24:00] in some of these islands is higher than living in parts of mainland France.
Overseas departments like Guadeloupe typically have twice as much poverty as the mainland, while Mayotte has up to five times more poverty. I think 70% of people on Mayotte are considered to be living in poverty. The GDP per capita there is just 12,000 euros compared to being closer to 30,000 euros in mainland France.
People in these overseas departments and collectivities are legally citizens of a wealthy, powerful European country, but they live in a place with lower incomes and fewer opportunities.
There are higher rates of unemployment on these islands, and people from Overseas France are far less likely to go to university than someone from mainland France.
All of this leads to frustration.
And then there is the question of identity. French identity can feel like a [00:25:00] reminder of colonialism for some of the indigenous peoples in Overseas France.
Independence and New Caledonia
Now, like I said before, most people in Overseas France probably feel French, but not everyone does, and New Caledonia is the clearest example. The indigenous Kanak population has a long history of opposing French rule, and New Caledonia has held several independence referendums.
In the 2018 referendum, about 57% of New Caledonia voted to remain part of France. In 2020, the result was closer. About 53% voted to stay part of France.
Then in 2021, another referendum was held, but during this referendum, the pro-independence movement, the movement calling for New Caledonia to be a country not part of France, boycotted the vote due to disagreements about COVID-19. Basically, quite a few of the Kanak [00:26:00] indigenous groups refused to vote.
In New Caledonia, the population is quite divided over the issue of French independence. I said that 53% voted to stay part of France, which means 47% voted for independence. But if you look at who is voting, the division becomes even clearer.
The indigenous Kanak people make up about 40% of the population and overwhelmingly support independence. Some surveys suggest over 90% of Kanak people want to be independent.
But the rest of the population, especially the people living in the large towns tend to be Europeans or descendants of Europeans who settled on the islands in the past or other Pacific Islanders now living in New Caledonia. These kinds of people tend to support being part of France.
There are also independence or autonomy movements in other parts of Overseas France, in the French [00:27:00] Caribbean and French Polynesia too.
But of course, not everyone in Overseas France wants independence. Outside of New Caledonia, the movements are relatively small. And remember Mayotte. When the Comoros Islands became independent, Mayotte chose to remain French.
Future of Overseas France
So, what does the future look like for France and for Overseas France? The different territories, the different islands, the different departments all have different relationships with France, and their populations have different opinions on what to do in the future.
For places like Guadeloupe, Martinique, Rรฉunion, French Guiana, independence isn’t something that seems to be discussed very often or seems likely. People there are quite happy or seem relatively happy with being French and have the benefits of the EU.
There are some small independence movements, but I think the people there value being part of France. So these territories are likely to remain French for the foreseeable [00:28:00] future.
Some people there do want greater autonomy. Maybe they want more control over their education systems or taxation or immigration, while still remaining part of France.
The thing about the French political system is you don’t necessarily have to choose between being completely controlled by Paris or becoming an independent country. There are possible arrangements in between. The French collectivities like French Polynesia, for example, already have quite a lot of autonomy, and they are still part of the French Republic.
The biggest unknown issue for the future of Overseas France, though, is New Caledonia. In 2024, recently, there were deadly riots after France introduced a policy to change electoral rules. The new policy made indigenous peoples angry because it was going to give more people the right to vote in New Caledonia.
The [00:29:00] French government has tried for a long time to create some kind of political compromise that recognizes the Kanak people and also keeps New Caledonia as part of France. But finding a solution to this issue is really difficult, especially as the Kanak population is a large part of New Caledonia.
France likes to think of itself as more than a European country. France is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. It has nuclear weapons. It has territories and citizens across the world. So Overseas France is a really important part of France’s global identity.
Final Thought
Thanks to its overseas territories, France isn’t really just a European country. It has land across the Caribbean, South America, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific.
[00:30:00] Like I mentioned at the beginning of this episode, France’s longest border is with Brazil. That’s such an incredible fact. You’d think it’s Spain, maybe Italy. No, Brazil, because of French Guiana.
Hopefully, in in this episode, you have learned a little bit about French identity and the history of Overseas France, as well as thinking about some of the issues, problems, and debates around these places.
Most of Overseas France seems very happy being French, but not everywhere does. And New Caledonia is perhaps the biggest unknown question over the future of France.
But what do you think? Have you ever been to any of these parts of Overseas France?
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