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In the 19th century, starting with the Occupation of Algeria 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; 491 years ago () to the present, either entirely or in part, either under French sovereignty or as mandate.
Although initial French colonization primarily occurred in the Americas and in Asia, the French did establish a few colonies and trading posts on the African continent. Initial French colonization in Africa began in modern-day Senegal , Madagascar , and along the Mascarene Islands .
"Overseas France" is a collective name; while used in everyday life in France, it is not an administrative designation in its own right. Instead, the five overseas regions have exactly the same administrative status as the thirteen metropolitan regions; the five overseas collectivities are semi-autonomous; and New Caledonia is an autonomous ...
France had about 80 colonies throughout its history, the second most colonies in the world behind only the British Empire. [7] Around 40 countries gained independence from France throughout its history, the second most in the world behind only the British Empire. [8]
To a large extent, modern France lies within clear limits of physical geography.Roughly half of its margin lies on sea coasts: one continuous coastline along "La Manche" ("the sleeve" or English Channel) and the Atlantic Ocean forming the country's north-western and western edge, and a shorter, separate coastline along the Mediterranean Sea forming its south-eastern edge.
British America (New Britain) . Canada. Island of St. John; Rupert's Land (A private estate stretching from the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, and from the prairies to the Arctic Circle.
French India, formally the Établissements français dans l'Inde [a] (English: French Settlements in India), was a French colony comprising five geographically separated enclaves on the Indian subcontinent that had initially been factories of the French East India Company.
The list includes all countries listed in the List of countries, the French overseas departments, the Spanish and Portuguese overseas regions and inhabited overseas dependencies. See List of extinct countries, empires, etc. and Former countries in Europe after 1815 for articles about countries that are no longer in existence.