Overseas France in the context of "Bora Bora"

France, officially the French Republic, is a country primarily located in Western Europe. Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean, giving it the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zone in the world. Metropolitan France shares borders with Belgium and Luxembourg to the north; Germany to the northeast; Switzerland to the east; Italy and Monaco to the southeast; Andorra and Spain to the south; and a maritime border with the United Kingdom to the northwest. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. Its 18 integral regions—five of which are overseas—span a combined area of 632,702 km (244,288 sq mi) and have an estimated total population of over 68.6 million as of January 2025. France is a semi-presidential republic. Its capital, largest city and main cultural and economic centre is Paris.

Metropolitan France was settled during the Iron Age by Celtic tribes known as Gauls before Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, leading to a distinct Gallo-Roman culture. In the Early Middle Ages, the Franks formed the kingdom of Francia, which became the heartland of the Carolingian Empire. The Treaty of Verdun of 843 partitioned the empire, with West Francia evolving into the Kingdom of France. In the High Middle Ages, France was a powerful but decentralised feudal kingdom, but from the mid-14th to the mid-15th centuries, France was plunged into a dynastic conflict with England known as the Hundred Years' War. In the 16th century French culture flourished during the French Renaissance, and a French colonial empire emerged. Internally, France was dominated by the conflict with the House of Habsburg and the French Wars of Religion between Catholics and Huguenots. France was successful in the Thirty Years' War and further increased its influence during the reign of Louis XIV.

As of January 2019, there were 473 communes in France (metropolitan territory and overseas departments and regions) with population over 20,000, 280 communes with population over 30,000, 129 communes with population over 50,000 and 42 communes with population over 100,000. All figures reflect the municipal population (French: population municipale), meaning people who have their usual residence in the commune, excluding population counted apart. The population of the matching urban unit is usually several times that of its central commune. Populations as of 2006 and 2013 are also shown. Communes in the overseas and sui generis collectivities are listed in a separate table below.

A prefect (French: préfet, plural préfets, both [pʁefɛ]) in France is the State's representative in a department or region. Regional prefects are ex officio the departmental prefects of the regional prefecture. Prefects are tasked with upholding the law in the department they serve in, including controlling the actions of local authorities. Prefects are appointed by decree by the President of France when presiding over the government's Council of Ministers, following a proposal by the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior. They serve at the government's discretion and can be replaced at any meeting of the Council of Ministers.

To uphold the law, they are authorised to undertake a wide variety of actions, such as coordinating police forces, enforcing immigration rules, controlling authorities' finances, as well as suing local collectivities in the name of the State. The prefects in Lille, Rennes, Bordeaux, Marseille, Lyon and Strasbourg each have additional tasks as heads of their regional defence and security zone (zone de défense et de sécurité). In the Paris area, the prefect of police is the head of the local zone. Overseas France has a similar zones system.

48°50′54″N 2°20′14″E / 48.84833°N 2.33722°E / 48.84833; 2.33722The Senate (French: Sénat, [sena] ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (sénateurs and sénatrices) elected by part of the country's local councillors in indirect elections. Senators have six-year terms, with half of the seats up for election every three years. They represent France's departments (328), overseas collectivities (8) and citizens abroad (12).

Senators' mode of election varies upon their constituency's population size: in the less populated constituencies (one or two seats), they are elected individually, whereas in more populated ones (three seats or more), they are elected on lists. It is common for senators to hold dual mandates, such as in a regional council or departmental council.

The French Empire (French: Empire français; Latin: Imperium Francicum), known retroactively as the First French Empire, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. It lasted from 18 May 1804 to 6 April 1814 and again briefly from 20 March 1815 to 7 July 1815, when Napoleon was exiled to Saint Helena.

Historians refer to Napoleon's regime as the "First Empire" to distinguish it from the restorationist Second Empire (1852–1870) ruled by his nephew Napoleon III. Neither should be confused with the French colonial empire, which refers to France's various colonies, protectorates and mandate territories all throughout its history, regardless of political system (including, by some definitions, some or all of France's current overseas territories).

New Caledonia is a French territory comprising a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, 220 km (140 mi) southwest of Vanuatu and 1,210 km (750 mi) east of Australia. Located 16,100 km (10,000 mi) from Metropolitan France, it forms a sui generis collectivity of the French Republic, a legal status unique in overseas France, enshrined in a dedicated chapter of the French Constitution and with an on-going project to a status of State of New Caledonia.

The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Chesterfield Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of Pines, and a few remote islets. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea. French people, especially locals, call Grande Terre le Caillou, a nickname also used more generally for the entire New Caledonia. Pro-independence Kanak parties use the name (la) Kanaky (pron. [(la) kanaki]) to refer to New Caledonia, a term coined in the 1980s from the ethnic name of the indigenous Melanesian Kanak people who make up 41% of New Caledonia's population. New Caledonia is associated with the European Union as an overseas country and territory (OCT).

Mayotte (/maɪˈɒt/ my-OT; French: Mayotte, [majɔt] ; Shimaore: Maore, IPA: [maˈore]; Kibushi: Maori, IPA: [maˈori]), officially the Department of Mayotte (French: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is one of the overseas departments of France as well as one of the 18 regions of France, with the same status as the departments of Metropolitan France. It is an outermost region of the European Union and, as an overseas department of France, part of the eurozone.

Mayotte is located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel in the western Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeastern Africa, between the northwestern part of the island of Madagascar and northeastern Mozambique on the continent. Mayotte consists of a main island, Grande-Terre (or Maore), a smaller island, Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), as well as several islets around these two. Mayotte's land area is 374 square kilometres (144 sq mi) and, with its 320,901 people according to January 2024 official estimates, is very densely populated at 858 inhabitants per km (2,228 per sq mi). The biggest city and prefecture is Mamoudzou on the larger Grande-Terre. The Dzaoudzi–Pamandzi International Airport is located on the neighbouring smaller island of Petite-Terre. The territory is also known as Maore, the native name of its main island.

Metropolitan France (French: France métropolitaine or la Métropole), also known as European France (French: le territoire européen de la France), is the area of France which is geographically in Europe and chiefly comprises the mainland, popularly known as "the Hexagon" (French: France hexagonale or l'Hexagone), and Corsica. This collective name for the European regions of France is used in everyday life in France but has no administrative meaning, with the exception that only Metropolitan France is part of the Schengen Area. Indeed, the overseas regions have exactly the same administrative status as the metropolitan regions. Metropolitan France comprises mainland France and Corsica, as well as nearby French islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel and the Mediterranean Sea waters. Its borders have undergone significant changes over the centuries, particularly in the east, but have remained substantially unaltered since 1962.

In contrast, overseas France (France d'outre-mer) is the collective name for all the French departments and territories outside Europe. Metropolitan and overseas France together form the French Republic. Metropolitan France accounts for 82.0% of the land territory, 3.3% of the exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and 95.9% of the population of the French Republic. Some small parts of France (e.g. Cerdanya) are a part of the Iberian Peninsula.