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.

This article is about every French colonial possession in history. For the current French overseas possessions, see Overseas France.
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

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.

In the Americas
Further information: List of French forts in North America
See also: Former colonies and territories in Canada and Timeline of the colonization of North America
Map of the northern part and upper southern parts of the Americas, showing the results of the expeditions of Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet (1673) and of Cavelier de la Salle in the Mississippi valley (1681).
Map of New France
This map shows the Louisiana Purchase area, which corresponds approximately with colonial French Louisiana.
Taking up of the Louisiana by La Salle in the name of the Kingdom of France


In Africa
Map of French colonies in Africa (in green)

French North Africa

French West Africa

French Equatorial Africa

East Africa and Indian Ocean

In Asia

In Oceania

In Antarctica
Territory claim by France in Antarctic (Adélie Land)

See also

Notes and references
  1. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-20. Retrieved 2011-02-12.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "BnF - Voyage en Orient". expositions.bnf.fr. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  3. Cheikh Saïd - The territory of Cheikh Saïd was acquired in 1868 by a French company. It is for that reason that it was formerly shown with the French colours on certain atlases. In fact, Cheikh Saïd has been occupied by the Turks since 1870, and by the Yemenis since the First World War., Dictionnaire encyclopédique Quillet, (1985 ed.).
  4. "Drapeau de Rurutu - Tahiti Heritage". www.tahitiheritage.pf. Retrieved 23 September 2017.
  5. "Consulter le sujet - L'Australie serait-elle française ?!... • [Forums". Francedownunder.com. Retrieved 2011-03-26.
  6. Godard, Philippe; Kerros, Tugdual de; Margot, Odette; Stanbury, Myra; Baxter, Sue; Western Australian Museum; Godard, Phillippe; De Kerros, Tugdual; Margot, Odette; Stanbury, Myra; Baxter, Sue (2008), 1772 : the French annexation of New Holland : the tale of Louis de Saint Aloürn, Western Australian Museum, ISBN 978-1-920843-98-4
  7. Philippe Godard, Tugdual de Kerros 2002, "Louis de Saint Aloüarn, un marin breton à la conquête des terres australes", Les Portes du large, Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande, 331-336
  8. "TAAF". Taaf.fr. Archived from the original on 2012-01-20. Retrieved 2012-01-10.
  9. "Kerguelen – yves trémarec – james cook – asia – hillsborough – rhodes". Kerguelen-voyages.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-02.
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