Skip to Main Content

French

Countries Previous Part of French Empire

Former French Colonies

 
NORTH AMERICA
●       New France (La Nouvelle France) & Louisiana Territory
         Big chunks of what currently is Canada and US.
         1534 Jacques Cartier discovers St. Lawrence River; sails up as far as present-day Montreal (then “Hochelaga”)
         1608 Samuel de Champlain founded Quebec & explores Hudson to south, and west to Lake Huron
         1682 Robert Cavelier de La Salle explores & claims Mississippi basin.  Names territory “Louisiana” in honor Louis XIV.
         → Louisiana lost in part to Britain during Seven Years War (1756-63) and the rest to the United States when sold by Napoleon in 1803. 
 
CARIBBEAN
●       St. Domingue (Haiti)
 
AFRICA
●       Algiers (Algeria)
         1830’s onward.
         →1962 independence
●       Benin (“Dahomey”)
         →1960 independence
●       Burkina Faso (formerly the Republic of Upper Volta)
         →1960 independence
●       Cameroon
         →1965 independence
         Note:  Comprising territories formerly claimed by both Britain and France.
●       The Central African Republic
         →1960 independence
●       Chad
         →1960 independence
●       The Union of the Comoros
         →1975 independence
         Note:  France retained possession of the island of Mayotte.
●       The Republic of Congo
         →1960 independence
         Note:  Distinguished from it’s larger neighbor, The Democratic Republic of Congo, which formerly was a Belgian colony.  French is the official language of both Congos.
●       Djibouti (formerly French territories of Afars and the Issas)
         →1977 independence
●       Gabon
         →1960 independence
●       Republic of Guinea
         →1958 independence
●       Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)
         →1960 independence
●       Madagascar
         →1960 independence
●       Mali (“French Sudan”)
         →1960 independence
●       The Islamic Republic of Mauritania
         →1960 independence
●       Morocco
         →1956 independence
●       The Republic of Niger
         →1960 independence
●       Senegal
         →1960 independence
●       Togo
         →1960 independence
         Note:  British Togoland became part of Ghana in 1957. 
●       Tunisia
         →1956 independence
 
MIDDLE EAST
●       Syria
         →1946 independence
●       Lebanon
         →1941 independence
 
ASIA
●       Vietnam (Indochina)
         →Status as Independent Overseas Possession in 1949
         →1954 independence
●       Cambodia (Indochina)
         →1954 independence
●       Laos (Indochina)
         →1954 independence
●       Non-Country Possessions:
         § Chandernagore (Incorporated into India in 1951)
         § Pondicherry (now Puducherry, became part of India in 1954)
 
PACIFIC
●       Republic of Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides)
         →1980 Independence (previously governed by both France & England)