French colonies
This is an historical article. For current French possessions see French overseas departments and territories
During the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial empire was one of the largest in the world, just behind the Spanish Empire and later the British Empire ; it extended over 12,898,000 km2 (4,980,000 sq mi) of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s. The French colonial empire was the second largest empire in the 17th century and the second largest empire in 1929 after Spain and Britain respectively. Including metropolitan France, the total amount of land under French sovereignty reached 13,018,575 km² (5,020,000 sq. miles) in 1929, which is 8.7% of the Earth's total land area. In terms of population however, France and her colonial empire totaled only 110 million inhabitants on the eve of World War II, compared to 330 million for British India alone.
France began to establish colonies in North America, the Caribbean and India, following Spanish and Portuguese successes during the Age of Discovery, in rivalry with Britain for supremacy. A series of wars with Britain during the 18th century and early 19th century, which France finally lost, almost ended its colonial ambitions in these regions, and without it what some historian term the "first" French colonial empire. In the 19th century, France established a new empire in Africa and South East Asia. Most of these colonies lasted beyond the invasion and occupation of France by Nazi Germany during World War II. At present, France possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, just after the United States; it measures approximately 11,351,000 km2 (4,383,000 sq mi).
Here is a list of all the countries that were part of the French colonial empires in the last 500 years, either entirely or in part, either under French sovereignty or as mandate.
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