Territorial Characteristics of France

This article counts the territorial characteristics of the France .

Characteristics

Territory

The French territory includes/understands the following units:

Borders

France has a terrestrial Frontière with the following countries:

It is possible that land borders exist between the Canada and France on the island Verte, close to the archipelago to Saint-Pierre-and-Miquelon, but the agreements concluded in 1972 by these two countries in connection with the Territorial water do not make it possible to clarify this point.

There exist also maritime borders (territorial water, exclusive economic Zone, etc) between the following France and countries:

Territorial disagreements and inaccuracies of the frontier layouts

Disputes of French sovereignty on various islands

Four States assert the sovereignty of islands currently managed by France.

  • the Union of the Comoros asserts the island of Mayotte; it is the only one of the four claims to relate to an inhabited territory.

  • Madagascar asserts the islands Éparses (Bassas da India, Europa, Glorieuses, Juan de Nova and Tromelin) located in the channel of the Mozambique except for Tromelin located at the East of Madagascar.

  • Maurice asserts the island Tromelin.

  • the Vanuatu asserts the islands Matthew and Hunter, in the east of the New Caledonia, which makes for France integral part of this one.

Litigious or discussed delimitations

  • the border separating France from the Surinam (then Dutch) was fixed at the Maroni by the Traité of Utrecht of 1713, inevitably not very precise for the unexplored grounds of the Amazon forest. An arbitration of the Tsar of Russia in 1891 specified this limit, which must be heard like following upstream the Lawa of its junction with the Tapanahoni. This arbitration did not completely reconcile the two positions, France estimating that the Itany constitutes the higher course of Lawa, while the Netherlands (then Surinam) judge that this higher course is consisted the Marouini. There thus remains a zone of roughly 6000 km ² in practice controlled by France but asserted - without insistence - by Surinam, between the rivers Itany and Marouini.

  • the interpretation of the layout of the Franco-Italian border on the level of the Mont Blanc differs between the French charts (which place the top of the Mount Blanc entirely on its territory) and the Italian charts (which divides it between the two countries); more minor discordances are also to note with the Col of the Giant. It seems however that none of the two governments to date gave a report on a formal disagreement on the layout of the border.

Conventional limitations of sovereignty

Zones with shared sovereignty

  • the France division with the Spain the sovereignty of the island of the Pheasants (3 000 m ²,) on the Bidassoa, pursuant to article 27 of the treated of Bayonne signed between the two countries in 1856. It is about a Condominium and the island remains six months under the authority of one of the two countries.

The particular case of the Ad3elie coast

  • the French territorial claims in the Antarctic (Ad3elie coast) were cold by the signature of the Traité on the Antarctic in 1959.

Privilege of extraterritoriality

As in all the countries of the world, the representations of the Sovereign states in diplomatic relations with France profit from the Extraterritorialité. The special privileges conceded with various international organizations are added to it:

  • the seat of UNESCO to Paris profits from the extraterritoriality under the terms of a headquarters agreement of the July 2nd 1954;

  • the seat of the international Office of epizooties to Paris profits from the extraterritoriality under the terms of a headquarters agreement of the February 21st 1977;

  • the seat of the Global area network for the improvement of the production of banana and the banana plantain to Montferrier-on-Lez profits from the extraterritoriality under the terms of a headquarters agreement of the October 19th 1992;

  • the buildings of the European Organization of telecommunications by satellite with Paris profit from the extraterritoriality under the terms of a headquarters agreement of the May 12th 2001;

  • the seat of the Communauté of the Pacific to Noumea profits from the extraterritoriality under the terms of a headquarters agreement of the May 6th 2003; it can be interesting to note that this agreement was signed in the name of the French Republic by the President of the government of the New Caledonia.

Sovereign rights conceded in Neighboring states