Territory

The French Southern and Antarctic Lands[6] (French: Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, TAAF) is an overseas territory (French: Territoire d'outre-mer or TOM) of France.

It consists of:

• Adélie Land (Terre Adélie), the French claim on the continent of Antarctica.
• Crozet Islands (Îles Crozet), a group in the southern Indian Ocean, south of Madagascar.
• Kerguelen Islands (Archipel des Kerguelen), a group of volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean, southeast of Africa and southwest of Australia.
• Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands (Îles Saint Paul et Amsterdam), a group to the north of the Kerguelen Islands.
• Scattered Islands (Îles Éparses), a dispersed group of islands around the coast of Madagascar.

The territory is sometimes referred to as the French Southern Lands (French: Terres australes françaises) or the French Southern Territories, usually to emphasize non-recognition of French sovereignty over Adélie Land as part of the Antarctic Treaty System.

French Polynesia (/ˌpɒlɪˈniːʒə/ ⓘ POL-ih-NEE-zhə; French: Polynésie française [pɔlinezi fʁɑ̃sɛːz] ⓘ; Tahitian: Pōrīnetia farāni) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) in the South Pacific Ocean. French Polynesia is associated with the European Union as an overseas country and territory (OCT). The total land area of French Polynesia is 3,521 square kilometres (1,359 sq mi), with a population of 282,596 as of September 2025 of which at least 205,000 live in the Society Islands and the remaining population lives in the rest of the archipelago.

French Guiana, or Guyane in French, is an overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west and Brazil to the east and south, French Guiana covers a total area of 84,000 km2 (32,000 sq mi) and a land area of 83,534 km2 (32,253 sq mi). As of January 2026, it is home to 298,554 people.

The Federal Dependencies of Venezuela (Spanish: Dependencias Federales de Venezuela) encompass most of Venezuela's offshore islands in the Caribbean Sea, excluding those islands that form the State of Nueva Esparta and some Caribbean coastal islands that are integrated with nearby states. These islands, with a total area of 342 square kilometres, are sparsely populated – according to the preliminary results of the 2011 Census only 2,155 people live there permanently, with another hundred from Margarita Island who live there seasonally to engage in fishing. Local government is officially under the authority of Central government in Caracas, although de facto power is often held by the heads of the sparse and somewhat isolated communities that decorate the territories.

The Faroe Islands[b] (/ˈfɛəroʊ/ FAIR-oh), also known as the Faroes, are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and a rigsdel ('autonomous territory') of the Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the Hebrides and Shetland isles of Scotland, the islands have a population of 54,870 as of November 2025 and a land area of 1,393 km2 (538 sq mi). The official language is Faroese, which is partially mutually intelligible with Icelandic. The terrain is rugged, dominated by fjords and cliffs with sparse vegetation and few trees. As a result of their proximity to the Arctic Circle, the islands experience perpetual civil twilight during summer nights and very short winter days; nevertheless, they experience a subpolar oceanic climate and mild temperatures year-round due to the Gulf Stream. The capital, Tórshavn, receives the fewest recorded hours of sunshine of any city in the world at only 840 per year.

The Falkland Islands (/ˈfɔː(l)klənd, ˈfɒlk-/; Spanish: Islas Malvinas [ˈislas malˈβinas]), commonly referred to as The Falklands, is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about 300 mi (500 km) east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and 752 mi (1,210 km) from Cape Dubouzet at the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, at a latitude of about 52°S. The archipelago, with an area of 4,700 sq mi (12,000 km2), comprises East Falkland, West Falkland, and 776 smaller islands. As a British Overseas Territory, the Falklands have internal self-governance, while the United Kingdom takes responsibility for their defence and foreign affairs. The capital and largest settlement is Stanley on East Falkland.