This article is about every French colonial possession in history. For the current French overseas possessions, see
Overseas France
.
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 km
2
(3,900,000 sq mi), the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the
Spanish Empire
.
[1]
[2]
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the
French colonial empire
was again the second largest colonial empire in the world only behind the
British Empire
; it extended over 13,500,000 km
2
(5,200,000 sq mi)
[3]
[4]
of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s. However, on the eve of World War II, France and her colonial possessions totalled only 150 million inhabitants, in terms of population compared with 330 million for British India alone. The total area of the French
colonial empire
, with the first (mainly in the
Americas
and
Asia
) and second (mainly in
Africa
and
Asia
), the French colonial empires combined, reached 24,000,000 km
2
(9,300,000 sq mi), the
second largest empire
in the world and human history (the first being the
British Empire
).
[5]
[6]
The
French colonial empire
had an enormous impact on
world history
.
France
had about 80 colonies throughout its
history
, the second most colonies in the world behind only the
British Empire
.
[7]
Around 34 countries gained independence from
France
throughout its history, the second most in the world behind only the
British Empire
.
[8]
Over 40% of the world’s borders today, were drawn as a result of British and French imperialism.
[9]
[10]
[11]
In
Stuart Laycock
’s book, All the Countries We've Ever Invaded: And the Few We Never Got Round To, he cites that 90% of the world's countries have suffered a British invasion at some point in their history, with only 22 spared. France is the nearest rival to Britain's record with 80% of the world’s countries invaded by France with only 43 spared.
[12]
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 from 1534
; 490 years ago
(
1534
)
to the present, either entirely or in part, either under French sovereignty or as mandate.
In the Americas
[
edit
]
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 the territories having been controlled by France in North America.
This map shows the
Louisiana Purchase
area, which corresponds approximately with the western half of colonial French Louisiana, the part not ceded to English-speaking peoples in
1763
.
Taking up of the
Louisiana
by
La Salle
in the name of the
Kingdom of France
New France at its greatest extent in 1710.
- Present-day
Canada
- Present-day
United States
- Present-day
Brazil
- Present-day
Haiti
- Present-day
Dominican Republic
(1795?1809)
- Present-day
Suriname
- Present-day
Saint Kitts and Nevis
- Present-day
Antigua and Barbuda
- Present-day
Trinidad and Tobago
- Tobago
(1666?1667, 1781?1793, 1802?1803)
- Dominica
(1625?1763, 1778?1783)
- Grenada
(1650?1762, 1779?1783)
- Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
(1719?1763, 1779?1783)
- Saint Lucia
(1650?1723, 1756?1778, 1784?1803)
- Montserrat
(1666, 1712)
- Falkland Islands
(1504, 1701, 1764?1767)
- Iles des Saintes
(1648?present)
- Marie-Galante
(1635?present)
- la Desirade
(1635?present)
- Guadeloupe
(1635?present)
- Martinique
(1635?present)
- French Guiana
(1604?present)
- Saint Pierre and Miquelon
(1604?1713, 1763?present)
- Collectivity of Saint Martin
(1624?present)
- Saint Barthelemy
(1648?1784, 1878?present)
- Clipperton Island
(1858?present)
In Africa
[
edit
]
Map of French colonies in Africa (in green)
East Africa and Indian Ocean
[
edit
]
In Asia
[
edit
]
In Oceania
[
edit
]
In Antarctica
[
edit
]
Territory claim by France in Antarctic (
Adelie Land
)
See also
[
edit
]
Notes and references
[
edit
]
- ^
"Western colonialism - European expansion since 1763"
.
Encyclopedia Britannica
. Retrieved
2021-08-20
.
- ^
Havard, Vidal, Histoire de L’Amerique francaise, Flammarion, 2003, p. 67.
- ^
Robert Aldrich,
Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion
(1996) p 304
- ^
Melvin E. Page, ed. (2003).
Colonialism: An International Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia
. ABC-CLIO. p. 218.
ISBN
9781576073353
.
Archived
from the original on 19 November 2021
. Retrieved
23 December
2021
.
- ^
Robert Aldrich,
Greater France: A History of French Overseas Expansion
(1996) p 304
- ^
Melvin E. Page, ed. (2003).
Colonialism: An International Social, Cultural, and Political Encyclopedia
. ABC-CLIO. p. 218.
ISBN
9781576073353
.
Archived
from the original on 19 November 2021
. Retrieved
23 December
2021
.
- ^
Shillington, Kevin (2005). Encyclopedia of African history. New York: CRC Press, p. 878
- ^
David Armitage
,
The Declaration of Independence in World Context
,
Organization of American Historians
,
Magazine of History
, Volume 18, Issue 3, Pp. 61?66 (2004)
- ^
Manning, Patrick (1990).
Slavery and African Life: Occidental, Oriental, and African Slave Trades
. London: Cambridge University Press.
- ^
Lovejoy, Paul E. (2012). Transformations of Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa. London: Cambridge University Press.
- ^
Martin Klein, "Slave Descent and Social Status in Sahara and Sudan", in
Reconfiguring Slavery: West African Trajectories
, ed. Benedetta Rossi (Liverpool:
Liverpool University Press
, 2009), 29.
- ^
Seymour, Richard,
"The British have invaded 90% of the world's countries. Ha ha?"
, The Guardian (London), 6 November 2012
- ^
"Drapeau de Rurutu - Tahiti Heritage"
.
www.tahitiheritage.pf
. Archived from
the original
on 10 October 2014
. Retrieved
23 September
2017
.
- ^
"Consulter le sujet - L'Australie serait-elle fran?§aise ?!... ? [Forums"
. Francedownunder.com
. Retrieved
2011-03-26
.
- ^
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 Alourn
, Western Australian Museum,
ISBN
978-1-920843-98-4
- ^
Philippe Godard, Tugdual de Kerros 2002, "Louis de Saint Alouarn, un marin breton a la conquete des terres australes", Les Portes du large, Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande, 331-336
- ^
"TAAF"
. Taaf.fr. Archived from
the original
on 2012-01-20
. Retrieved
2012-01-10
.
- ^
"Kerguelen ? yves tremarec ? james cook ? asia ? hillsborough ? rhodes"
. Kerguelen-voyages.com. Archived from
the original
on 2013-10-02.
External links
[
edit
]