The overseas departments and regions of France (french: départements et régions d'outre-mer, ; ''DROM'') are
departments of France that are outside
metropolitan France, the European part of
France. They 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.
As integral parts of
France and the
European Union, overseas departments are represented in the
National Assembly,
Senate, and
Economic and Social Council, vote to elect members of the
European Parliament (MEP), and also use the
euro as their currency. The overseas departments and regions are not the same as the
overseas collectivities, which have a semi-autonomous status.
Each overseas department is the sole department in its own overseas region (french: région d'outre-mer) with powers identical to the
regions of metropolitan France. Because of the one-to-one correspondence, informal usage does not distinguish the two, and the French media uses the term french: label=none|département d’outre-mer (''DOM'') almost exclusively.
Since March 2011, the five overseas departments and regions of France are:
*
French Guiana in
South America;
*
Guadeloupe and
Martinique in the
Caribbean;
*
Mayotte and
Réunion in the
Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa.
Guadeloupe and Réunion each have separate departmental and regional councils, while in Mayotte, Guiana and Martinique, the two layers of government are
consolidated so one body wields both sets of powers. The overseas departments acquired these additional powers in 1982, when France's
decentralisation policy dictated that they be given elected
regional councils and other regional powers; however, the term "overseas region" was only introduced with the
French constitutional amendment of 28 March 2003.
History
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 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. As a result of a constitutional revision that occurred in 2003, these regions are now to be called "overseas regions"; indeed the new wording of the Constitution gives no precedence to the terms overseas department or overseas region, though the latter is still virtually unused by the French media.
The
overseas collectivity of
Saint Pierre and Miquelon was an overseas department from 1976 to 1985. All five of France's overseas departments have between 200,000 and 1,000,000 people each, whereas Saint Pierre and Miquelon has only about 6,000, and the smaller collectivity unit therefore seemed more appropriate for the islands.
The overseas collectivity of
Mayotte held a
referendum on 29 March 2009. Of the votes, 95% were in favor of becoming an overseas department.
Mayotte became an overseas department on 31 March 2011.
Demographics
See also
*
2009 Mahoran status referendum
*
Administrative divisions of France
*
Outre-mer
*
Overseas collectivity
*
Overseas France
*
Overseas Territories of France (European Parliament constituency)
*
Overseas territory
*
Special member state territories and the European Union
References
External links
*
Ministry of the overseas departments and territories*
{{Terms for types of country subdivisions
Category:Integral overseas territories