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Concept
Overseas departments and regions of France
Summary
The overseas departments and regions of France (départements et régions d'outre-mer, depaʁtəmɑ̃ e ʁeʒjɔ̃ d‿utʁəmɛʁ; DROM) are departments of the Republic of France which are outside the continental Europe situated portion of France, known as "metropolitan France". The distant parts have exactly the same status as mainland France's regions and departments. The French Constitution provides that, in general, French laws and regulations (France's civil code, penal code, administrative law, social laws, tax laws, etc.) apply to French overseas regions the same as in metropolitan France, but can be adapted as needed to suit the region's particular needs. Hence, the local administrations of French overseas regions cannot themselves pass new laws. On occasion referendums are undertaken to re-assess the sentiment in local status.
Since March 2011, the five overseas departments and regions of France are:
French Guiana in South America;
Guadeloupe in the Caribbean;
Martinique in the Caribbean;
Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa;
Réunion in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa.
France's earliest, short-lived attempt at setting up overseas departments was after Napoleon's conquest of the Republic of Venice in 1797, when the hitherto Venetian Ionian Islands fell to the French Directory and were organised as the departments of Mer-Égée, Ithaque and Corcyre. In 1798 the Russian Admiral Fyodor Ushakov evicted the French from these islands, and though France regained them via the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, the three departments were not revived.
Under the 1947 Constitution of the Fourth Republic, the French colonies of Algeria in North Africa; Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean; French Guiana in South America; and Réunion in the Indian Ocean were defined as overseas departments. Algeria became independent in 1962 while the others are still French departments.
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.
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