List of French Possessions and Colonies
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List of French possessions and colonies From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over 10,000,000 km2 (3,900,000 sq mi), the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial empire was the second largest colonial empire in the world only behind the British Empire; it extended over 13,500,000 km2 (5,200,000 sq mi) of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s. In terms of population however, on the eve of World War II, France and her colonial possessions totaled only 150 million inhabitants, compared with 330 million for British India alone. France began to establish colonies in North America, the Caribbean and India, following Spanish and Portuguese successes during the Age of Discovery, in rivalry with Britain. A series of wars with Britain during the 18th century and early 19th century, which France finally lost, almost ended its colonial ambitions in these regions, and without it what some historians term the "first" French colonial empire. In the 19th century, starting with the conquest of Algiers in 1830, France began to establish a new empire in Africa and Southeast Asia. The following is a list of all countries that were part of the French colonial empires in the last 500 years, either entirely or in part, either under French sovereignty or as mandate. Contents In the Americas In Africa French North Africa French West Africa French Equatorial Africa East Africa and Indian Ocean In Asia In Oceania In Antarctica See also Notes and references External links In the Americas Present-day Dominican Republic (1795–1809) Canada New France (1534–1763), and nearby lands: Acadia (1604–1713) Newfoundland Hudson Bay Saint Lawrence River Great Lakes Lake Winnipeg Quebec Present-day United States The Fort Saint Louis (Texas) (1685–1689) Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands (1650–1733) Fort Caroline in French Florida (occupation by Huguenots) (1562–1565) Vincennes and Fort Ouiatenan in Indiana Map of the northern part and upper southern parts of the Americas, French Louisiana (22.3% of the current territory) (1764– showing the results of the 1804) (sold by Napoleon I) (also see: Louisiana (New expeditions of Father Marquette and Spain)) Louis Jolliet (1673) and of Cavelier Lower Louisiana de la Salle in the Mississippi valley Upper Louisiana (1681). Louisiana (New France) (1672–1764) Present-day Brazil France Équinoxiale (Bay of São Luis) (1610–1615) The island of Saint Alexis (1531) The Territory of Amapá (1897) (disputed Franco- Brazilian territory resolved in favour of Brazil)[1] The city of Viçosa-Ceará (Territory of Ibiapaba) (1590– 1604) France Antarctique, to Fort Coligny ( Rio de Janeiro Bay; intended as a haven for Huguenots) (1555–1567) Map of New France Île Delphine's island (1736–1737) Haiti (1627–1804) Present-day Suriname Tapanahony (District of Sipaliwini) (Controversial Franco-Dutch in favour of the Netherlands) (25.8% of the current territory) (1814) Îles des Saintes (1648–present) Marie-Galante (1635–present) la Désirade (1635–present) This map shows the Louisiana Guadeloupe (1635–present) Purchase area, which corresponds approximately with colonial French Martinique (1635–present) Louisiana. French Guiana (1604–present) Saint Pierre and Miquelon (1604–1713, 1763–present) Collectivity of Saint Martin (1624–present) Saint Barthélemy (1648–1784, 1878–present) Dominica (1625–1763, 1778–1783) Nevis (1782–1784) Grenada (1650–1762, 1779–1783) Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (1719–1763, 1779– 1783) Saint Christopher Island (1628–1690, 1698–1702, 1706, 1782–1783) Antigua (briefly in 1666) Saint Lucia (1650–1723, 1756–1778, 1784–1803) Present-day Guyana (1782–1784) Tobago (1666–1667, 1781–1793, 1802–1803) In Africa Taking up of the Louisiana by La Salle in the name of the Kingdom of France French North Africa French Morocco (1912–1956) (protectorate) (89% of the current territory) (now Morocco) French Algeria (1830–1962) French Tunisia (1881–1956) (protectorate) (Tunisia) French West Africa Ivory Coast (1843–1960) Dahomey or French Dahomey (now Benin) (1883–1960) Independent of Dahomey, under French protectorate in 1889 Porto-Novo (protectorate) (1863–1865, 1882) Cotonou (protectorate) (1868) Map of French colonies in Africa (in green) French Sudan (now Mali) (1883–1960) Senegambia and Niger (1902–1904) Guinea or French Guinea (1891–1958) Mauritania (1902–1960) Adrar emirate (protectorate) (1909) The Taganit confederation's emirate (protectorate) (1905) Brakna confederation's emirate (protectorate) Emirate of Trarza (protectorate) (1902) Niger (1890–1960) Sultanate of Damagaram (Zinder) (protectorate) (1899) Senegal (1677–1960) French Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) (1896–1960) French Togoland (1918–1960) (formerly a German colony, mandate became a French colony) (now Togo) Nigeria The Enclaves of Forcados and Badjibo (territory under a lease of 30 years) (1900–1927) The Emirate of Muri (Northeast of Nigeria) (1892–1893) Gambia Albreda (1681–1857) Kunta Kinteh Island (1695–1697, 1702) French Equatorial Africa Chad (1900–1960) Oubangui-Chari (currently Central African Republic) (1905–1960) Dar al Kuti (protectorate) (1897) (in 1912 its sultanate was suppressed by the French) Sultanate of Bangassou (protectorate) (1894) Present-day The Republic of Congo, then French Congo (1875–1960) Gabon (1839–1960) French Cameroon (91% of current Cameroon) (1918–1960) (formerly a German colony, Mandate, Protectorate then French Colony) São Tomé and Príncipe (1709) East Africa and Indian Ocean Madagascar (1896–1960) Kingdom of Imerina (protectorate) (1896) Isle de France (1715–1810) (now Mauritius) Djibouti (French Somaliland) (the French Territory of the Afars and the Issas) (French Somalia) (1862–1977) Mayotte (1841–present) Seychelles (1756–1810) Chagos Archipelago (1721–1745, 1768–1814) The Scattered Islands (Banc du Geyser, Bassas da India, Europa Island, Juan de Nova Island, Glorioso Islands, Tromelin Island) Comoros (1866–1975) Réunion (1710–present) In Asia French Indochina French Indochinese Union (1887–1954) Laos (protectorate) (1893–1953) Cambodia (protectorate) (1863–1953) Vietnam Cochinchina (Southern Vietnam) (1858–1949) Annam (protectorate) (Central Vietnam) (1883–1949) Tonkin (protectorate) (Northern Vietnam) (1884–1949) State of Vietnam (1949–1954) Spratly Islands (1933–1939) Paracel Islands (1933–1939) India and Sri Lanka French India French Establishments of India, composed of Pondichéry (1765–1954); Karikal (1725– 1954); Mahé (1721–1954) Yanaon (1723–1954); Chandernagor (1673–1952) Taiwan The city/port of Keelung (1884–1885) Pescadores Islands (1885) Basilan (1845) China The territory of Kouang-Tchéou-Wan, a dependency of French Indochina) (1898–1945) The foreign concessions : French Concession of Shanghai (1849–1946), Tianjin (1860– 1946) and Hankou (1898–1946) The Spheres of French influence officially recognized by China on the provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, Hainan, Guangdong Shamian Island (1859–1949) (a fifth of the island) Palestine Syria or French Syria (1920–1946) (French Mandate of Syria) Alawite State (1920–1936) State of Aleppo (1920–1924) State of Jabal Druze (1921–1936) State of Damascus (1920–1924) Sanjak of Alexandretta (now part of Turkey) State of Greater Lebanon (now it is Lebanon) (1920–1946) Lebanon or French Lebanon (1920–1946) (French Mandate of Lebanon) Mount Lebanon (An international protocol fixes the autonomy of the mount Lebanon under the protection of France)[2] Yemen Cheikh Saïd (Some French atlases and history books claimed the territory was French, but France never occupied it and never claimed jurisdiction or sovereignty over the territory, which therefore was never French, remaining under Turkish, then Yemeni control.[3]) In Oceania Clipperton Island (1858–present) French Polynesia Society Islands (became a French protectorate in 1843 and a colony in 1880) Otaheiti, known as Tahiti (protectorate) (1842–1880) Raiatea and Tahaa (protectorate) (1880) Tuamotu Archipelago Marquesas Islands (under French control in 1870, and later incorporated into the territory of French Polynesia) Gambier Islands Mangareva (protectorate) (1844/1871) Austral Islands Rurutu (Austral Islands) (protectorate) (1858–1889)[4] Papua New Guinea New Ireland (1880–1882) (attempt at colonization, unofficial) New Caledonia Chesterfield Islands Matthew and Hunter Islands Loyalty Islands Île des Pins Hawaiian Islands (1837) (at the beginning of French presence there; however, the United States persuaded the local Queen to negotiate with them instead, by means of the strength of a company of U.S. Marines) The New Hebrides (Vanuatu) French protectorate (1887–1906) Anglo-French condominium (1906–1980) Australia Dirk Hartog Island (1772) (made an unofficial annexation for all Australia)[5][6][7] Wallis and Futuna (1887–present) Kingdom of Uvea (Wallis and Futuna) (declared to be a protectorate by King of Uvea and Captain Mallet in 1842. Officially in a treaty becomes a French protectorate in 1887 until annexed in 1917) Kingdom of Sigave (signed a treaty establishing a French protectorate in 1888 until annexed in 1917) Kingdom of Alo (Wallis and Futuna) (signed a treaty establishing a French protectorate in 1888 until annexed in 1917) In Antarctica French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) Crozet Islands (24 January 1772[8]– present) Kerguelen Islands (13 February 1772[9]– present) Île Amsterdam (in 1843 but abandoned) (1892–present) Île Saint-Paul (in 1843 but abandoned)