Geography Part Two: How and Why is the Developing Chapter 5: Development of Overseas French Territory

Key ideas

French overseas territory is spread around all the continents and oceans. This means that has the second largest exclusive economic zone in the world after the USA. An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is the maritime zone that extends 200 nautical miles (370km) from the coast of a territory and is reserved for the exclusive use of that territory.

The Different Status of Overseas Territory

Translations Metropole Department and Overseas Region Overseas Collectivity Specific Status

D.N.L. Vocabulary

H.D.I. (Human Development Index): IDH-Indice de development humain) an indicator which gives a score between 0 and 1, created by the United Nations, to evaluate the level of development in a country against three criteria: the GNP per inhabitant, life expectancy from birth and level of education. 0 indicates a weak HDI and 1 an excellent HDI.

G.N.P. per inhabitant (PIB) Gross National Product: the value of all goods and services produced in a country during one year, divided by the number of inhabitants.

Overseas French

Legend Legend (Translations)

EU 28 excluding RUP * RUP = Ultra Peripheral Regions located outside the continental EU

DROM = Overseas Department or Region

COM = Overseas Collectivity

TAAF = French Southern and Antarctic Territories

ZEE = Exclusive Economic Zone

Relief (in metres)

Case Study: a new coastal road for Reunion Island

The relief of Reunion makes communications difficult between the two sides of the island. To promote the development of the island a project has been started to better connect the various towns and villages of the island.

1) Major routes across Reunion

Translations Relief (altitude in metres) Main routes (Large red dot) Towns Tamarins Route (opened 2009) Principal Ports Current coastal road (between 50 000 and 60 000 vehicles per day) 2) The new coastal road

Work began on this new project in 2013 and is scheduled to end in 2020. It is being built by Vinci, Bouygues and Demathieu and 9% of the cost, 151 million , is being financed by the .

3) The Tamarins Route

The Tamarins Route opened in 2009 and received 15% of its cost from the EU with the remainder coming from the region. It is composed of 3 viaducs such as the Grand Ravine, shown above, in 2013.

Case Study: The Integration of in the American Region

Martinique is one of the islands of the West Indies. It is a French region and because of its location it is also an ultra peripheral region of the EU.

Translation:

1) A Weak Regional Integration Translations

Metropolitan France

EU (excluding France)

Caribbean outside ACP (excluding countries which have signed agreements with the EU)

2) Air Passenger Connections from Martinique, 2014

How is development managed in the Overseas Territories?

French overseas territories are spread out across the planet. They all face very specific challenges because they are very far from France and often very dependent on France. Mountainous relief (e.g. Reunion) a harsh climate (e.g. Saint-Pierre-et Miquelon with an average annual temperature of 5 degrees) and fragile ecosystems (e.g. Guyane) all pose a challenge for development. To improve their economic autonomy, all overseas regions also receive funds from the European Union

4) Nickel Mining in

Unlike most other French overseas territories whose economies depend principally on tourism, New Caledonia has an important industrial sector involving the exploitation of nickel.

Despite their many difficulties, notably due to their poor HDI figures in relation to mainland France, the overseas regions are often far more developed than the areas in which they are located. Their higher quality of life and services attracts numerous migrants. However, they are not well integrated into their surrounding regions and their links with neighbouring states remain weak since 60% of their commercial exchanges take place with mainland France.

Human Development Index of Overseas Territories

Translations

IDH: HDI

Rang mondial: Global rank

France hexagonale: Mainland France

IDH seuil des pays à niveau d’IDH très élevé: HDI threshold of countries considered to have a very high HDI score

HDI threshold of countries considered to have a high HDI score