Overseas France Trivia Quiz

Answer: Atlantic Ocean

Bordered by Suriname to the west and Brazil to the south and east, French Guiana (Guyane in French) is on the north coast of South America. It forms part of the European Union, being classed as an 'outermost region', of which it is the largest in the EU.

The French first arrived around 1503, however it was not until 1643 that a more permanent presence was created with the establishment of Cayenne, the present capital. A plantation society arose based on the labour of African slaves. After the sale of Louisiana to the US in 1804, it became a French penal colony. In more recent times it has serviced the European space industry, providing a launch pad for a number of important missions.

Answer: Caribbean

There are six inhabited islands which form part of this French overseas department and region in the Caribbean. The Euro is the official currency. It used to include Saint Barthélemy and Saint Martin however a 2003 referendum saw those islands separating from Guadeloupe in 2007. It got its name from Christopher Columbus when he visited in 1493, which the French kept in the 17th century when they took possession of the islands.

Spanish colonisation efforts before then had failed due to attacks from the indigenous islanders. There was a plantation era with African slaves. The British captured the islands during the Seven Years' War in the 18th century with the French giving up their Canadian colonies in exchange for the return of Guadeloupe in the 1763 Treaty of Paris.

Answer: Caribbean

In the Caribbean, Martinique is also part of the European Union and uses the Euro as its currency. It is one of the Windward Isles with a population of around 350,000 on a land area of 1,128 sq km (436 sq mi). French is the sole official language although Martinican Creole is also spoken. Although Christopher Columbus was there in 1502, the Spanish apparently had no interest in the island.

Driven off St Kitts by the British, a French party of colonists landed in 1635 to colonise it. They survived the efforts of the indigenous population to expel them. Depopulation of the Huguenot colonists from religious persecution followed the Edict of Revocation in 1685, exposing the island to British aggression. The eruption of Mont Pelée in 1902 saw 30,000 die and the capital moved to Fort-de-France.

Answer: Indian Ocean

Mayotte lies between the coast of Mozambique and the northwest tip of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. It is the most southerly of the volcanic Comoro Islands group in the Mozambique Channel. The islands were occupied from around 800 AD, found by the Portuguese and colonised by the French.

The other islands in the group gained their independence from France in 1975, with Mayotte preferring to retain the French ties. It is one of the 18 regions of France, an outermost region of the EU, and densely populated with around 320,000 on 374 sq km (144 sq mi).

There is a 160 km (100 mi) long coral reef surrounding Mayotte. This serves to protect it from most oceanic waves and currents.

Answer: Indian Ocean

Part of the Mascarene Islands lying to the east of Madagascar, this Indian Ocean island was uninhabited until settled by the French in the 17th century. It was made a plantation economy, dependent on East African slaves and then Malay, Vietnamese, Chinese and Indian indentured labourers.

Its strategic location means that it has a heavy military presence. Piton de la Fournaise in the east is one of the world's most active volcanoes with more than 100 eruptions since 1640. The high point, Piton des Neiges at 3,070 m (10,070 ft), is, in contrast, dormant. Réunion has a humid tropical climate with the eastern trade wind resulting in large variations in rainfall and local microclimates.

Answer: Pacific Ocean

Spread across 2,000 km (1,200 mi), some 121 islands and atolls make up French Polynesia in the southern Pacific Ocean. There are five groups of islands with most of the population in the Society Islands, which consists of the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands. Tahiti in the Windward Islands is probably the best known as well as the most populated - Captain James Cook was an early visitor.

The French used Moruroa and a neighbouring atoll in Tuamotu Archipelago to conduct over 175 nuclear weapon tests over a 30-year period from 1966.

Answer: Caribbean

Saint Barthélemy is a volcanic Caribbean island lying 30 km (19 mi) southeast of another French overseas collectivity, Saint Martin. It used to be a commune of Guadeloupe but voted in 2003 to secede from Guadeloupe. It is one of the Caribbean's version of the Leeward Islands. It was a Swedish colony for nearly 100 years, given by France in exchange for some trading rights in 1784. A referendum in 1877 saw it sold back to France the following year. The development of luxury tourism from the 1970s has led to a rise in living standards.

Answer: Caribbean

A neighbour to France's other Caribbean possessions, Saint Martin is in fact only part of an island, the smaller southern part being Sint Maartin, a Dutch constituent country. The island was divided in 1648 and only the French bit is part of the European Union. Christopher Columbus is said to have named the island after Saint Martin of Tours, although he actually gave the name to the island now called Nevis (of Saint Kitts and Nevis). Poor charting is blamed for the error.

Answer: Atlantic Ocean

Once part of the territory of New France in what is now Canada, the islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon were ceded to Britain under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht. The 1763 Treaty of Paris saw France ceding all of its North American possessions to Britain although the British gave these islands back to support fishing rights the French obtained under the 1713 treaty.

It then swapped hands a few more times until 1816 and has been French since then. This French overseas collectivity is just off the southwest coast of Newfoundland, Canada, some eight islands amounting to 242 sq km (93 sq mi) and a population of around 6,000.

Answer: Pacific Ocean

In the south Pacific Ocean, the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands lies between Tuvalu, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa. It has a land area of 142 sq km (55 sq mi) and a population of around 11,000. In 1959 it voted to become separate from New Caledonia and is now a French collectivity.

The Wallis Islands were named after British explorer Samuel Wallis who sailed past the islands in 1767. Futuna comes from the native word 'futu' for the fish poison tree (Barringtonia asiatica), whose seeds can be ground to a powder and used to stun or kill fish.

Answer: Pacific Ocean

New Caledonia has a unique status with a dedicated charter in the French Constitution. It is what is termed a 'sui generis' collectivity and is an archipelago in the southwest Pacific Ocean northeast of Australia. It is relatively large with a land area of 18,575 sq km (7,172 sq mi) and a population of around 275,000.

The islands have had their share of ugliness, being a source of slaves, a penal colony and with marginalisation of the local Kanak people. In recent times this sparked "the Events" from 1976 to 1988, with significant violence as part of a Kanak independence push. Recent votes however have seen New Caledonia remain connected to France.

Answer: Indian Ocean

Other than Adélie Land, which represents a French claim on part of the continent of Antarctica, this French overseas territory consists of four coral island groups (the Scattered Islands) dotted around Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and three volcanic island groups in the southern Indian Ocean between South Africa and Australia. France has had a permanent station since 1950 in Adélie Land, which is basically a narrow pie-slice shaped piece of land running from the coast to the South Pole, covering 420,000 sq km (167,999 sq mi).

The population in each of these locations varies between summer and winter, is typically between 30 and 100, and mostly scientific or military.