French Southern and Antarctic Land
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (french: Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, TAAF) is an Overseas Territory (french: Territoire d'outre-mer or ) of France. It consists of: #
Adélie Land Adélie Land (french: Terre Adélie, ) is a claimed territory on the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a portion of the Southern Ocean coastline all the way inland to the South Pole. France has administered it as one of five districts ...
(), the French claim on the continent of Antarctica. #
Crozet Islands The Crozet Islands (french: Îles Crozet; or, officially, ''Archipel Crozet'') are a sub-Antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarcti ...
(), a group in the southern Indian Ocean, south of Madagascar. #
Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the sub-Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large ...
(), a group of volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean, southeast of Africa. #
Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
and Amsterdam Islands (), a group to the north of the Kerguelen Islands. # The
Scattered Islands The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean (french: Îles Éparses or ''Îles Éparses de l'océan Indien'') consist of four small coral islands, an atoll, and a reef in the Indian Ocean, and have constituted the 5th district of the French Sout ...
(), a dispersed group of islands around the coast of Madagascar. The territory is sometimes referred to as the French Southern Lands (french: Terres australes françaises) or the French Southern Territories, usually to emphasize non-recognition of French sovereignty over
Adélie Land Adélie Land (french: Terre Adélie, ) is a claimed territory on the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a portion of the Southern Ocean coastline all the way inland to the South Pole. France has administered it as one of five districts ...
as part of the
Antarctic Treaty System russian: link=no, Договор об Антарктике es, link=no, Tratado Antártico , name = Antarctic Treaty System , image = Flag of the Antarctic Treaty.svgborder , image_width = 180px , caption ...
. The entire territory has no permanently settled inhabitants. Approximately 150 (in the winter) to 310 (in the summer) people are usually present in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands at any time, but they are mainly made up of military personnel, officials, scientific researchers and support staff. On July 5, 2019, the Crozet, Kerguelen, and Saint Paul and Amsterdam Islands were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as the "French Austral Lands and Seas" because of their pristine wilderness, biodiversity, and enormous bird colonies.


History

Several of the islands within this territory were originally discovered as part of the
sea route to India The European-Asian sea route, commonly known as the sea route to India or the Cape Route, is a shipping route from the European coast of the Atlantic Ocean to Asia's coast of the Indian Ocean passing by the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Agulhas ...
. The Portuguese discovered Île Saint-Paul in the sixteenth century; in the seventeenth century, the Dutch became the first to land on (and name) Île Amsterdam. The French discovered the
Crozet Islands The Crozet Islands (french: Îles Crozet; or, officially, ''Archipel Crozet'') are a sub-Antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarcti ...
some time later, in the eighteenth century; the other islands were also first explored by Europeans in this time frame.


Administration

The French Southern and Antarctic Lands have formed a (an overseas territory) of France since 1955. Formerly, they were administered from Paris by an assisted by a secretary-general; since December 2004, however, their administrator has been a '' préfet'', currently Charles Giusti, with headquarters in Saint Pierre on
Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
Island. The territory is divided into five districts: a According to new law 2007-224 of February 21, 2007, the Scattered Islands constitute the TAAF's fifth district. The TAAF website does not mention their population. The data are not included in the totals.
b The ''Îles Éparses'' principal station is on Tromelin Island. The headquarters of the district chief lies beyond the TAAF, in Saint Pierre on
Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...
Island.
c The Territory's principal station is
Martin-de-Viviès Martin-de-Viviès, or La Roche Godon, formerly Camp Heurtin, is a research station and the only settlement on the Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul islands of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the southern Indian Ocean The Indian Oce ...
on Amsterdam Island. The capital and headquarters of the territorial administrator lies beyond the TAAF, in Saint Pierre on Réunion Island.
Each district is headed by a district chief, who has powers similar to those of a French mayor (including recording births and deaths and being an officer of judicial police). Because there is no permanent population, there is no elected assembly, nor does the territory send representatives to the national parliament.


Geography

The territory includes Amsterdam Island, Saint Paul Island, the
Crozet Islands The Crozet Islands (french: Îles Crozet; or, officially, ''Archipel Crozet'') are a sub-Antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarcti ...
, and the
Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the sub-Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large ...
in the southern Indian Ocean near 43°S, 67°E, along with
Adélie Land Adélie Land (french: Terre Adélie, ) is a claimed territory on the continent of Antarctica. It stretches from a portion of the Southern Ocean coastline all the way inland to the South Pole. France has administered it as one of five districts ...
, the sector of Antarctica claimed by France, named by the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville after his wife. Adélie Land (about ) and the islands, totaling , have no indigenous inhabitants, though in 1997 there were about 100 researchers whose numbers varied from winter (July) to summer (January). Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island are extinct
volcanoes A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
and have been delineated as the
Amsterdam and Saint-Paul Islands temperate grasslands The Amsterdam and Saint-Paul Islands temperate grasslands is a temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands ecoregion comprising Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul, two volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean. Setting Île Amsterdam a ...
ecoregion. The highest point in the territory is Mont Ross on Kerguelen Island at . There are very few airstrips on the islands, only existing on islands with weather stations, and the of coastline have no ports or harbors, only offshore anchorages. The islands in the Indian Ocean are supplied by the special ship '' Marion Dufresne'' sailing out of Le Port in Réunion Island. Terre Adélie is supplied by ''
L'Astrolabe ''Astrolabe'' was originally a horse-transport barge converted into an exploration ship of the French Navy. Originally named ''Coquille'', she is famous for her travels with Jules Dumont d'Urville. The name derives from an early navigational ins ...
'' sailing out of
Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
in Tasmania. However, the territory has a merchant marine fleet totaling (in 1999) 2,892,911 GRT/, including seven bulk carriers, five cargo ships, ten chemical tankers, nine container ships, six liquefied gas carriers, 24 petroleum tankers, one refrigerated cargo ship, and ten roll-on-roll-off ( RORO) carriers. This fleet is maintained as a subset of the French register that allows French-owned ships to operate under more liberal taxation and manning regulations than permissible under the main French register. This register, however, is to vanish, replaced by the International French Register (''Registre International Français'', RIF).


Flora and fauna

Due to their isolation, the French islands in the southern Indian Ocean comprise one of the last remaining large wilderness areas on Earth. Furthermore, the islands are positioned along the Antarctic Convergence, where upwelling creates nutrient-rich waters. As a result, birds and marine mammals gather on the islands in great abundance. More than 50 million birds of 47 species breed on the islands, including more than half the breeding population of 16 different species. The largest populations of king penguins and the endangered
Indian yellow-nosed albatross The Indian yellow-nosed albatross (''Thalassarche carteri'') is a member of the albatross family, and is the smallest of the mollymawks. In 2004, BirdLife International split this species from the Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross; however Clements ...
on Earth are found on the Crozet Islands and Amsterdam Island, respectively. Other threatened bird species with important populations on the islands include
Eaton's pintail Eaton's pintail (''Anas eatoni'') is a dabbling duck of the genus ''Anas''. It is also known as the southern pintail. The species is restricted to the island groups of Kerguelen and Crozet in the southern Indian Ocean. It resembles a small fema ...
,
MacGillivray's prion MacGillivray's prion (''Pachyptila macgillivrayi'') is a species of small petrels of the Southern Ocean. It is found on Roche Quille, off Saint Paul Island and on Gough Island in the Tristan da Cunha group, south-central Atlantic Ocean. It was ...
, and the
Amsterdam albatross The Amsterdam albatross or Amsterdam Island albatross, (''Diomedea amsterdamensis''), is a large albatross which breeds only on Amsterdam Island in the southern Indian Ocean. It was only described in 1983, and was thought by some researchers to ...
, which is one of four bird species endemic to the island group. The French Southern Lands also hold the second largest population of
southern elephant seals The southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina'') is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its ...
on Earth, numbering roughly 200,000, and the third largest population of the Antarctic fur seal. Because of their isolation and subpolar location, the French Southern Lands are relatively depauperate of vegetation, which both Saint-Paul and Crozet having no native tree or shrub species. However, eight of the 36 higher plant species are endemic. Some species of endemic invertebrates have also been recorded on the islands, including moths and flies which have lost their wings in the absence of predators.


Economy

The territory's natural resources are limited to fish and crustaceans. Economic activity is limited to servicing
meteorological Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did not ...
and geophysical research stations and French and other fishing fleets. The main fish resources are Patagonian toothfish and spiny lobster. Both are poached by foreign fleets; because of this, the French Navy, and occasionally other services, patrol the zone and arrest poaching vessels. Such arrests can result in heavy fines and/or the seizure of the ship. France previously sold licenses to foreign fisheries to fish the Patagonian toothfish; because of overfishing, it is now restricted to a small number of fisheries from Réunion Island. The territory takes in revenues of about
The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...
16 million a year.


Codes

The French Southern Territories (i.e. the TAAF excluding Adélie Land) have been given the following country codes: FS ( FIPS) and TF ( ISO 3166-1 alpha-2).


See also

* Administrative divisions of France * *
French colonial empire The French colonial empire () comprised the overseas colonies, protectorates and mandate territories that came under French rule from the 16th century onward. A distinction is generally made between the "First French Colonial Empire", that exist ...
* French Fifth Republic * *
List of French islands in the Indian and Pacific oceans A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
* List of French possessions and colonies *
Outline of France The following outline is provided as an overview and topical guide of France: France – country in Western Europe with several overseas regions and territories. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channe ...
* Overseas France *


References


External links

* *
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
– official French website
French Southern and Antarctic Lands
'' The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency. *
Southern & Antarctic Territories

Crozet Archipelago

Kerguelen Archipelago

Terre Adélie
{{Authority control 1955 establishments in France 1955 in Antarctica Dependent territories in Africa East African countries France and the Antarctic Geography of Antarctica Geography of Overseas France Island countries of the Indian Ocean Overseas France Ramsar sites in France Southeast African countries Special territories of the European Union States and territories established in 1955 Territorial claims in Antarctica World Heritage Sites in France