French Southern Territories

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Terres australes et antarctiques françaises (TAAF)

Image:Flag of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands.svg

Image:TAAF-coat of-arms.png

Official language

French

Prefect

Michel Champon

Internet TLD

.tf

The French Southern Territories (long name: Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, French: Territoire des Terres australes et antarctiques françaises or Terres australes et antarctiques françaises or T.A.A.F. or TAAF) are antarctic, volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean, south of Africa and about equidistant between Africa, Antarctica, and Australia. The TAAF should not be confused with France Antarctique.

Image:TAAF-CIA WFB Map.png

1 Administration
2 Geography
3 Economy
4 Miscellaneous
5 See also
6 External links

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Administration

The French Southern Territories form an overseas territory of France (French: territoire d'outre-mer).

It has been an overseas territory of France since 1955. It was formerly administered from Paris by an administrateur supérieur, assisted by a secretary-general; however, since December 2004, it is administered by a préfet (currently, Michel Champon), headquartered in Saint-Pierre on Réunion Island. The "capital" (main base) of the territory is Martin-de-Viviès on Île Amsterdam.

The territory is divided into four districts:

Amsterdam and Saint Paul (Îles Saint Paul et Amsterdam), composed of Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul, area 61 km², main base Martin-de-Viviès
Crozet Archipelago (Îles Crozet or officially Archipel Crozet), area 505 km², main base Alfred-Faure
Kerguelen (Îles Kerguelen or officially Archipel (des) Kerguelen), area 7,215 km², main base Port-aux-Français
Adélie Land (Terre Adélie), area 432,000 km², main base Dumont d'Urville

Each district is headed by a district chief, which 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.

Several countries do not recognize the French claim to "Adélie Land", and France's territorial claim is suspended in accordance with the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty.

As of 2005, the inclusion of the Scattered Islands into the TAAF is being considered by the French government. The prefect of the TAAF has already been put in charge of those islands.

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Geography

The territory includes Île Amsterdam, Île Saint-Paul, Îles Crozet, and Îles Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean near 43°S, 67°E, along with the French-claimed sector of Antarctica, Adélie Land, named by French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville after his wife.

The "Adélie Land" of about 432,000 km² and the islands, totaling 7781 km², have no indigenous inhabitants, though in 1997 there were about 100 researchers whose numbers varied from winter (July) to summer (January).

Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul are extinct volcanoes; the highest point in the territory is Mont Ross on Îles Kerguelen at 1850 meters. There are no airstrips on the islands and the 1232 kilometers 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 Astrolabe sailing out of Hobart in Tasmania.

However, the territory has a merchant marine fleet totaling (in 1999) 2,892,911 GRT / 5,165,713 DWT, including seven bulk carriers, five cargo ships, ten chemical tankers, nine container ships, six liquified 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 allowing French-owned ships to operate under more liberal taxation and manning regulations than permissible under the main French register. This register, however, is now becoming largely extinct.

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Economy

The territory's natural resources are limited to fish and crayfish; economic activity is limited to servicing meteorological 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 used to sell licenses to fish the Patagonian toothfish to foreign fisheries; because of overfishing, it is now restricted to a small number of fisheries from Réunion Island.

The territory takes in revenues of about $18 million a year.

Marion Dufresne can host a limited number of fee-paying tourists, who will be able to visit the islands as the ship calls.

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