Unlike US's treatment of Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa, all of the French overseas territories that has a civilian population have full representation to the French Parliament. So French Guyana, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, etc. are to France what Hawaii is to the US. And that's one reason why half the population of these territories want to remain with France. They have representation. France subsidizes their government. The French military and science programs create jobs on their islands. And perhaps the most important thing, the French citizenship and passport. They can go to mainland France (and EU by extension) and work there and all they'll need is the plane ticket. They don't need visas nor work permits to do that. The French passport is very powerful too. They can visit most of the nations in the world visa-free.

France has 12 time-zones while Russia has 11.

From french Guiana, currently living in nyc. Thanks for the shedding some light on french Guiana. Even though we are a continent away, we identify ourselves strongly as french.

It sounds so awkard to speak on behalf of 3 million people, without knowing them, and telling they are under "the rule of France". The fact that there is no territorial continuity does not mean that people who live in these territories have no rights or no pride in being citizen from the same country. I recommend you travel in these places and meet people before you talk on their behalf. You will most likely be surprised on how much the connections between "Metropole" and these territories are strong and how long is the History in common.

2:15 That’s not correct: Only 6 French overseas territories are part of the European Union as either fully part of the French Republic (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Guyane, Mayotte, Reunion) or under a special status (St Martin). The other overseas territories are associated and often administered directly by France but are not part of the EU. For example French Polynesia where my family lives, I can live there as a French Citizen but someone from Germany or Italy would not have an automatic right to live there as it is not part of the EU.

Those territories have voted many times against independence and all of their citizens have French citizenship and rights (as opposed to American territories like Puerto Rico or guam)

Ironically those territories that remain part of a European nation have enjoyed greater freedoms, far better democratic representation, and more prosperous livelihoods than those that sought independence. It turns out that being a single island does not provide much in the nation building without extensive natural resources or a developed-nation sugardaddy.

This video geographically accurate , historically not so much

I can't sleep at night peacefully anymore knowing that France has a whole army of King Penguins.

Just a reminder that most of us are not "locals who live under France's rule" but simply French citizens living in France just as Normans are French citizens living in France.

Just two things to point out: - Greenland is presented in the map as part of the EU, but it is only an associated territory due to the fact that it's part of Denmark. To represent it as part of the EU in the map is a bit questionable. - France hadn't even begun colonising six centuries ago, it certainly couldn't have started decolonising before colonisation

Decolonization isn't "leave or it's still a colony". That's a rather simplistic way to look at it and a bit patronising toward the native people of those places who made a choice for themselves. And while this is also going to be simplified, I think it's better to look at it in the sense of local population having a right to self-determination. All of those area have voted many times for their independance. In the case of New Caledonia, only a very specific group of people even has a right to vote in this referendum (I think they need to have lived in NC since the nineties so it's not like France can just send new people to skew the result), and it will be voted 3 times over. All of that to say that the tone of this video seem a bit disingenous to me, implying France still has colonies it won't let go of just like in the ninteenth century isn't true, and saying "locals living under France's rule" is downright insulting when those are french citizens living in France (some of those places have been French for longer than Nice, and yet nobody would say Niçois are "locals living under french rule"). Decolonization can take many shapes, and that include people from those places chosing more integration and gaining the same citizenship status as in the mainland (which is the case here, it's not the same as what Puerto Rico is to the USA). Mayotte is an interesting case to look at in that sense; a tiny island off the coast of Madagascar who decided to remain with France unlike its three neigbouring sister islands and has voted for even more integration within France in 2009. Just to be clear, I'm not saying France has been an angel here, I'm saying that this issue is more complex than this video implies as it seems to view decolonization in only one way.

I'm from Reunion Island and we actually are patriotic to France. We consider ourselves and we are French citizen. We can vote for the president and all kind of stuff so it's not like France conquered us or what not. The French discovered this Island with nobody and sure they bought slaves and plantations to here but the Creoles here hold no anger against the "Europeans". Actually this island is so mixed that we have a strong Asian (Indian and Chinese) community too! Edit: 20/12 was actually the annual Slavery Remembrance Day( Abolition of Slavery) of Reunion. It shows how we still remember our past and understand it but we don't go beat up white people or the descendants of slave traders for it. It's in the past and we continue moving forward. Being French is a nationality, and not a ethnicity. We are French. Now I cannot say the same for the other "outre-mer territoires" because there were indigenous people living there before colonization but keep in mind that there were nobody living in Reunion island before the Europeans came.

Coming from a Dutch island (Aruba), regardless of history, I must say there comes a lot of benefits to being part of these European countries. You get a European passport, meaning you can work freely in Europe, and you are also protected militarily. If there will ever be a vote on leaving The Netherlands, I would vote to stay in.

9:50 96% voted to stay with France, not 53%

Good to see the comments calling you on your bull. Our "empire" consists of solely French citizens who voluntary remain under French rule.

Imagine going to Antarctica and saw a bunch of penguin 🐧 Argue in French

Be careful world... Because France🇫🇷 has an entire penguin army

I usually love your videos, but this one is sadly full of bias and misinformations... As a french person, I can tell you that most, if not all of those territories voted to stay french instead of being independant. The citizens of those places are french and feel french, nobody is forcing them.

We feel a touch of bitterness in his words. France does not leave indifferent we love it or hate it. US President Thomas Jefferson said ,Every man has two countries his own and France.

I answered a comment, but let me put this here also : I am french, and I am Reunionese, so let me expand : Réunion island was a paradisiac island with a population of zero until europeans on the route to india found it, and used it as a water-and-food replenishment stop, for about a century. It changed hands, being owned by britain, France, and, if I'm not mistaken, the dutch at some point. Still with no continuous inhabitants, until it was used as a prison by europe. The contemporary population is a mix of descendants of various groups and cultures : the european sugar cane and coffee plantation owners, the slaves that worked in those plantations, from africa, the indian workers who kinda replaced part of the slave workforce when slavery was abolished, people from various islands of the indian ocean, mauritius and the comores archipelago, also a number of people of asian descent and finally new emigrants from metropolitan France. Nobody got colonized, because nobody was here, and nobody got brainwashed because we have a very strong local culture. But most of us aren't dumb, and know we are economically much better off with France and the EU subsidizing our crops. We get french education, french healthcare, and are very happy about it. Now, not everything is perfect, the unemployment rate is pretty high, but it is a piece of paradise on earth. We elect representatives to the french senate and parliament. We directly elect the french president (which is better than New Yorkers can say about their president - pardon my snarkiness) we have access to the french higher education system and schools with the same status as a parisian. We have french nationality, can travel and work around the EU like metropolitains. Now, I understand you don't want to do a very in-depth video. But presenting statements as undeniable facts when they are poorly researched at best and your conclusions with a righteous tone is, at best, very poor taste. Also Reunion island, which you bundled up with places with just scientists and wildlife, has a population of 860 000.

To give a perspective on the way the French think of their overseas holdings. I was in Lille train station just before covid hit, and a drunk man walked up to someone and asked "what country are you from?" He replied "France." The drunk man said "ah me too! Which part of France?" "Guadeloupe." "Ah really, Guadeloupe is beautifu!l" I find this interaction reveals quite a bit. If somebody from Gibraltar or the Falkland Islands got asked what country they were from, they would reply with "Gibraltar" or the "the Falkland Islands". But to the people from the overseas departments of France, they are not islands colonised by France, the ARE France. The best parallel for understanding this is Hawaii. Most people in Hawaii don't think of the place as a colony of the United States, but as a PART of the United States as much as Vermont or Oregon. The French have a similar attitude with Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion, French Guiana, etc.

Strange to speak of Guiana as a prison colony, when it was a plantation colony most of the time. And to forget about the Kourou spatial base, a strategic asset for European spatial industry (a launch base close to equator).

The main reasons France wants to hold on to its overseas possessions are not economic or military at all. Economically they cost more than they bring in. Militarily France is mostly present in Africa and its biggest bases outside the Hexagone are in other countries, not in overseas territories. No, it's prestige, for a large part, and also fondness. And the reasons the local populations want to remain a part of France is because they paid the price in the past, and in the present have mostly benefits in the form of better opportunities and a better passport.

2:20 "France should have decolonized 6 centuries ago" 6 centuries ago was 1420 and they did not even start to colonize places let alone decolonize places. I think you meant 6 decades ago. Edit: Thank you for so many likes!

Fun facts no one asked for: 1) Saint Pierre and Miquelon was the only thing that was left to France to have from Canada after the Seven year's war 2) Euro currency was first used on Reunion

As an official Saint Pierre et Miquelon 🇵🇲 expert there's a few things wrong with this video i would like to clarify: -The french spoken there has nothing to do with European french even though is not 100% super quebecoise (i would say 85%) , so it's the only EU place where Quebec french is spoken. Even though the majority of the people living there are ethnically Basque and they have that culture there, Basque is not spoken on the archipelago, probably because the French area of the Basque country speak a lot more french than basque, unlike in the Spanish part of the Basque country where Basque is spoken normally. -Saint Pierre et Miquelon is an archipelago and oddly enough the big island pointed out in this video is not Saint Pierre, is Miquelon-Langlade, and only 100 people out of the almost 6000 that live on the whole archipelago, live on that big island, the small one, Saint Pierre, where the capital is located is where most people live. - You forgot to mention in this video that Saint Pierre et Miquelon is probably one of the few places in the world (not only in Overseas France) where there was no colonization, due to the fact that there was not an original population there when the french arrived. If you take a look at the flag you can see it's made up of a bunch of flags, including The Basque flag, the Norman flag and the Brittany flag. People (mostly fisherman) from those regions of France went on to populate the island and there was nothing there when they came so they started from the bottom! -It is a very french place... To a degree. If you Google pictures or whoever visits there will soon realize that the houses are very colorful and are built in a Nordic sort of danish style... Just like the houses in rural areas of Canada, such as Newfoundland. So it's a very interesting mix of both cultures! ☺️

I think it's a problematic video because of the referential you used. Yes, if you view the french overseas territories through american exceptionalism, it's bad. Some of them have shady pasts, or even semi active independence movements, but their situations is mostly solved, and they're not culturally suppressed anymore. Moreover, I think those independence referendums hinged on the fact that the only positive outcome of independence for a tropical island is to get your own flag ; everything else, you're dependent on the outside. I don't think french people from Réunion or Guadeloupe are alienated by centuries of colonial oversight, just that they think they have more freedom in being a french citizen than in becoming independent and basically risking becoming a failed state. If you want to see a revolting situation, look at the influence of France over its former african colonies (and then at the growing influence of Russia and China, which manage to somehow make the former colonial power with active military presence on the ground look good by comparison). Sure, a point could be made about the "American Empire", but I think a better comparison would be if a French youtuber made a video on the systematic political and economical oppression in the US. Not about race or inequality, but about its rigid dogma of "the private sector is better by default" and "Socialism is inherently evil". I guess it would sound ludicrous to a US viewer and be a non-issue, but it would make a lot of sense for a french viewer who experienced the 20+ years of public service degradation since the French government started to privatize its public sector. That and the fact that socialist policies (and, gasp, even communist at a local level) were rather effective until the 1980-1990s in France. Using a "french exceptionalist" point of view, you could easily picture the US as evil for things US viewers would see as inherent advantages.

Those territories are the remains of the French Colonial Empire, just like UK, USA, Netherlands... But comparated to USA, those territories vote to stay or leave France. For example, French Polynesia is a part of France but still have a lot of autonomy. French polynesia have also a King, which makes France the only country in the world to have a President and a King in the country.

Fun facts, those pinguins have better social security than US citizens.

"the queen of not letting go" okay let's just mention England - as you might have guessed, I'm french

France still has monarchs too! A country well known for its revolution that ousted a monarchy, has monarchs. Because of Wallis and Futuna, an overseas collectivity. Wallis and Futuna is ruled by three kings. The King of Uvea, Alo, and Sigave. Three times the irony Also the last "really beautiful island" that you showed at 8:54 is Rarotonga, which is NOT French but rather a part of the Cook Islands (a self-governing country in free association with New Zealand). And those "weird islands" off of Canada is the last remaining vestige of what was once New France. So while it doesn't look like much, they're still very unique.

Fun fact: French Guyana in South America is home to the EU space agency launch pad, so the European Unions space agency only launches craft from South America

Difficult topic. I'm French with many relatives living in La Martinique. Most of these territories have different status and ties with mainland France (we say, France métropolitaine not France métropole). Beside the fact of being French, one strong argument against any independent movement is the fear of becoming a new Haiti since most of these territories aren't self sustainable. Some of the islands next to Martinique and Guadeloupe are independent and really poor. One good example that maybe should have been discussed is Mayotte/Comore. The archipelago has voted for its independence in the 70's except one of its island: Mayotte. So the Comores except Mayotte became independent. However now Mayotte has to deal with a large influx of illegal immigrants from the rest of the Comores. To summarise: 1) most of us feel French and ARE French. Then 2) we know what will happen if we decide to be independent.

comin back to my all time fav of your vids here, the format switching joke at 7:00 is just so good. map style, pacing, serious music, close up vo, it's just such a detailed execution of the joke

우리 작고 소중한 프랑스가 참 열심히 살아왔네요 전 한국인인데 보기만 해도 뿌듯합니다

"locals who live under France's rule" this is so wrong... they are french and they live in France.

I just think your video was very incomplete. First you didn’t mention that those territories elect their local gouvernement and also vote directly for the french president and assembly. I also didn’t like your ton of speaking when referring at « they want to » or other thinks like this. Those people have total right to vote, to demonstrate or even to form political parties. They also joy from the same liberty of speech than France metropolitan citizens, something that hasn’t always been liked everywhere. You also mention Guyana as a touristic destination which is not right, yes they are tourist but the island are more widely recognised as touristic destinations. Lastly, you have talked about lost of this island without mentioning their name such as the Réunion or others. You also didn’t mention that every big develop country share a part of Antarctica. At the end I just think you tried to tell the story you wanted it to be and not the complex history that lies between France and it’s overseas territories.

This is a good video . France has good positioning all over the world still.

I'm amazed that you didn't mention the KOUROU spaceport in French Guyana. It is home to the launch of European Spacecrafts via the ESA (European Space Agency), which makes it incredibly valuable not only to France, but to the EU as a whole.

There are two significant reasons why New Caledonia voted against independence. 1. New Caledonia has a large population (about 30% or so of the total) of ethnic French who are descendants of prisoners and other colonists. They have remained strongly loyal to the motherland. 2. The French welfare state. Once ties to France are cut, so is all that money.

My geography teacher : where is france located ??? Me: EVERYWHERE😌

i really loved the dialogue between you and you as your voiceover. nicely done 🤙🏼

It is wrong to say french empire France respect all of its citizens. Love from India 🇮🇳

This tension you are talking about is not quite the same in all the French island. For example Réunion island never claimed for independence and nobody there is thinking about it. (I lived there for 10 years)

When you say that a lot of people in these territories want independence. This is actually not true, or at least it really depends where. The only french overseas territories with a really strong independence movement are New Caledonia and French Polynesia. And even in those 2, the independence movements are still a minority as you explained with the last vote in New Caledonia being 53% pro France. Other overseas territories with inhabitants are all hugely in favor of being part of France. The last vote in Mayotte (a french island in the Indian Ocean) in 2009 for example, 95% voted to become fully part of France. Most of these french islands in the Indian Ocean have nothing to do with french military activity by the way. Most are uninhabited, it's just that France regularly sends a ship to patrol the area and protect the waters from illegal fishing for example. The islands near Antartica have no military use too. They are just home to scientific missions. In fact the whole territory and huge part of its territorial waters are a protected natural reserve. I think you are mixing a lot of unique situations into a bag of "France's empire of evil". The story behind these overseas territories is way more diverse and complex than that. These territories are still part of France because its inhabitants actually decided to remain part of France and they all have the same rights as any french citizen. I get it that in your view, France should not have these territories because it conquered them. But for a lot of them, there was actually nobody there at the time and french people just settled there. For others, yes they were conquered, but that does not mean France should leave them today if the people living there do not want to and feel french. Otherwise, every country could just let go every territory it once conquered. The question is not "Should France give up these territories since it conquered them ?", it is "Do the people living in these territories want to be part of France ?", so far the answer is yes.

Actually I'm french , your video made me more interested to visit its overseas territories. Thanks again for the great video, you rock it!

Yo Moms, I'm going to work in France... Looks up GPS coordinates. Finds a penguin. 🐧

At least everyone in the “empire” has the citizenship, a French passport and can vote in the elections, go cover the American empire, oops, American territories. Also Jon I hope you noticed with the comments that your claim that people in those places live “under the rule” of France is pretty obviously wrong. Since they are French just as much as any of us in the mainland.

Actually the reason France still has French Guyana is hecause the ESA (European Space Agency) has a space center there. Because of it' close location to the equator it is cheaper and easier to launch rockets here instead of mainland Europe. When looking for a place to build the ESA space center the EU (at that time the EC) it would be either Suriname (a Dutch former colony) or French Guyana. In the end they didn't chose for Suriname because it had a large independence movement and French Guyana didn't.

Seeing Americans judge other territories for not wanting independance, just because they did centuries ago piss me off. It's not colonialism anymore! Listening to him, you almost believe slavery is still present in France. He judge their decisions but completly look past the fact that those people have more freedom than a lot of americans, they have a better health care system, protection from not only the mainland but also the EU, an europeen passport allowing them to study, live, travel all over europe. A lot of school are only present in Metropolitan france because there is not enough inhabitant in those islands to open specific school that can maintain themselve financialy, and the mainland help them to be able to settle in metropolitain France so that they can afford acces to higher education. That's WAY more than american propose to american student after high school. For example, i did podiatry studies, and in my classes, we had a girl from Tahiti, one from Martinique, one from Guadeloupe, one from the Reunion, and not one person, with no exeption, considered them less french. Of course it's not all butterflies and some territories have issues with French government, but a lot of metropolitan french too, so...only making them more French

Watched the first minute and was surprised that you didn't know that French overseas territories existed and had never learnt about any of them in Secondary school world geography.

2:21 He says "decolonised 6 centuries ago". Doesn't he mean 6 decades?

Johnny, well done on this one. Your ability to show us what you mean rather than just tell us is freshly astonishing every time. And what’s more, you’re able to enchant a normally dull subject like geography in a way that makes our hearts beat fast. I’m very grateful for you...

WW3 started China, USA, UK, INDIA, JAPAN, RUSSIA : We got the biggest Army! French Penguins : *Bonjour!*

You're so good at this brother, amazing.

Hi, french guy here from La réunion in the indian ocean ! We as french are proud of ours storie, we know we have been ruled througth the colonisation. But this time is over and cultur of ours is still alive. French gouvernement put efforts to keep it, and now it's not like we are colonised but a part of the french culture and his futur in history.

I am french, my father was in the navy and got assigned to a ship (l'albatross) in Reunion Island so I grew up there, from living on a DOM (Département d'outre mer) I have to say that you got a lot of facts wrong in this video. First of all the were colonies indeed but became an integral part of france as they are recognised as either Department or Territory the difference is just wether it has a bit more independance or not. The DOM-TOM have their own local government and can vote for the presidential elections. you really pushed on the idea of "not letting go" our territories as if we are still in the colonial era so let me tell you this : most Islands that we still hold on didn't have any native population when we arrived there. In case of Reunion Island it was french mutineers who where the first to live on the island so no reason to abandon it. About the military presence in our waters well, my father as i said was in the navy, most of his operations were pirate hunting in the indian ocean and humanitarian missions. as of the TAAF (the antartic islands) we do not really exploit these islands, in fact the military there is exclusively there to prevent illegal fisherman to fish species into extinction and to help scientists by bringing them food and supplies from Reunion Island. So yeah thats a long text, but i can't stand people having any clue whatsoever trying to tell their story on this complex subject

There will always be people with different views, it happens everywhere, and these are indeed actual tensions. But the thing with our French Overseas Territories is that Paris sees them like actual parts of France. Even if there are penguins, even if there are coconut trees or were nuked to smithereens, these territories are as French as places like Montpellier, the Massif Central or the beaches of Normandy are. They receive the exact same amount of voting power as those in the Hexagon, they can vote for the President, the Legislatives (the equivalent of the midterms in the US) and also participate in national referendums. They have access to the exact same healthcare system as in France, and sure resources distribution and social inequality may not be as fully-fledged and solved as they are on the mainland (though blame that on their geographic position mostly) but they do receive financial aid from Paris, helping them develop as much as they can like the France in Europe (Nickel mining in NC, space tourism in Guyane, tourism in general in Reunion, potential Olympics in Polynesia etc.) They also pay the exact same taxes as any other citizens in the Hexagon. We don't see them as territories we rule over anymore, we see them as actual integral part of France. It doesn't really matter personally if New Caledonia wants their independence for example, but the majority wants to stay with France because they know very well, like every others overseas territory, what happens if they leave the French nation. They are fully responsible for that, they can leave whenever they want, but when China knocks on their doors or when sea levels swallow them up, that's when some of the many issues can arise, with neo-colonialism, environmental issues, more social inequality etc. cause by the fact that most of them can't even sustain themselves on their own, and could end up like Haiti or the Comoros. There are also many places that, unlike the many islands good old Uncle Sam, the Spanish, Portuguese or British stole, were completely inhabited thanks to colorization. New Caledonian tribes lived on their island way before the French arrived so that's where your argument can stand, but Reunion was completely empty, only being visited by Arab traders or Austronesians on their way to Madagascar. It was then populated by convicts, and today Reunion has a very distinct culture that did resist the mainland French cultural hegemony, and for us folks in the Hexagon we absolutely love the fact that they tried to not give up their ways and culture to a European lifestyle. They also have some special statuses, some with more autonomy, so in a way we do partially leave them alone. Some even have their own sovereign, similar to how in Indonesia there are still sultans and other sovereigns for a few places. And again, New Caledonia, Guyane, Reunion and all those territories (inhabited ones) can just leave France, that is completely fine and it's their decision, even though it can hurt our geopolitical influence in a way, in the end France itself can find ways to prosper without those territories, and it would be good luck to them to try and be successful independent nations. But still, they can vote whenever they want to leave us. I don't think we can say the same with Hawaii, American Samoa or heck even Washington DC, where not only people don't have the same voting power as the rest of the US, but they pay the exact same taxes, decided by others for them, something you don't see in France. Vive la France, vive les Territoires d'Outre-Mer et vive la République 🇫🇷🇫🇷. PS: there aren't just territories, there are also DEPARTEMENTS d'Outre-Mer (DOM), which are actual departments of the republic, like Guadeloupe or Martinique. You can't get as much French as those, they are quite literally part of France proper and enjoy the same exact advantages of being so.

Reunión island was the first place to use the euro because it is the most westerly place so midnight hit first there. The british overseas territories are not part of the UK in the same way that the french departments are. For example when UK was in the EU, british virgin islands were not in the EU, but reunion island was. Worth pointing out that the french situation is quite unique. Same with the dutch territories- they are not in the EU.

You forgot to speak about "Mayotte" and "Wallis et Futuna" which are significantly populated island and interesting territories to talk about.

Johnny, I can't believe you missed out on telling France's crazy conflict with Mexico over the island of Clipperton, the story of that island alone deserves a video of its own.

We don't talk enough about Saint Pierre et Miquelon 🇵🇲😭

1:37 the two New Zealands frightens me

A few facts: -The EU uses French Guyana to launch rockets under the ESA because of it being close to the equator -France possess the largest exclusive economic zone (#2 is the US and #3 is australia, which shows the fact that the country doesn't have to be the biggest in the world to have the biggest eez)

Hi, i'm from Reunion Island (FR) just wanted to say this island was unhabited when the french discovered it around 1600 and colonized it around 1700 (lots of piracy back then in the indian ocean , it's famous for that) so there is no decolonization needed there , since it's ... well ... us the way france colonized this island in the first place is that they sent prisoneers and slaves to rot there. but as they saw that they were actually doing pretty well cause this island is plenty ressourcefull , they decided to live there as well . many reunioneers from now are decendents from slaves there and became french when slavery was ended . also wanted to point your little mistake cause reunion island is also a department like guadeloupe and martinique with the full french administration. we're basically like corsica but further away. and even if yes many reunionian child were send to france , they were french since at least 200 years... they got through the end of the french monarchy , the island changed name a few times ... also , slavery , not as an excuse but as a context. not saying that it was fine cause they fucking separated famillies and again slavery was still a thing back then if i remember ... but ye i just want to make sure there is no mistakes about this. over the years , african , asian , indian , and many other communities migrated to this island and now we all live together and it's a pretty good exemple of tolerance and harmony amongst plenty of origins. that's not called Reunion Island for nothing. it is a wonderful place and i'm very glad to live there.

Many Algerians were sent to French Guiana's cruel bagne prison system in the 19th and 20th centuries.

You are incredible data analyst and a journalist, and a story teller, you are just awesome.

All of these French owned islands have full representation and acess to free health care and income support as ordinarily french people. So non of them want to leave.

It's really a wrong point of view to talk about an Empire. It's more or less like thinking that Scotland is a colony of England in the United Kingdom... Please do some investigations. France proposed to all those countries to become independent many times with votes of people citizens. They all wanted to stay in France because there are more advantages. Just being honnest is not so hard....

When I watch your videos, someting pushes me to study international relations. THANK YOU johny

Love ur videos ur super knowledgeable and u make it kind of fun thank u

France is the country which have the most time zones in the world

Hello, I am French and I come from Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. So as not to go into details, and without any nastiness, you are talking strictly nonsense. A Martinican, Guadeloupean, Polynesian, Reunionese, or Guyanese will be proud of his origins and feel perfectly integrated into the hexagon. I find it particularly shameful this kind of video that discriminates against France as a "colonial empire that still exists". We are part of the European Union and this has brought us incredible economic development. In 1970, at the Réunion there were no buses or tractors for the sugar cane revolts. In short, for all foreigners who see this comment, don't trust this video and you are welcome in the territory of the eldest daughter of the church, in metropolitan France or elsewhere 😊

France brings peace and stability to these places, not to mention social benefits like universal health care. If you look at these territories and then look at the independent countries neighbouring them, you will see the difference in wealth, GDP, income, living standards etc. France protects them, provides financial support and gives them autonomy to rule themselves. All France expects in return is for the people to stay officially French but of course they are New Caledonians first, Guianians first, Tahitians first and French second. There may be a time for independence for some of these territories in the future; it is up to the people to decide but staying with France for the time being in these uncertain times economically is, in my opinion, the wiser of the two options. I've been to Reunion island and it is probably the most developed, least corrupt and has the the highest standard of living of all of Africa (if you consider it Africa). It is the most ethnically diverse place I've ever been to where racist is unthinkable. It is a model of ethnic integration.

The Anglo Saxons claim to be in favor of the independence of everyone, as long as it does not concern their area of influence. Precisely, to extend their influence afterwards. Les anglo saxons prétendent être en faveur de l'indépendance de tout le monde, tant que cela ne concerne pas leur zone d'influence. Justement, pour étendre leur influence ensuite.

Eh ? French's having oversees lands is controversial now ? I thought this was going to be about french presence in Africa. The oversea's territories of France are there from their own volitions, most of them have had referendum to leave or not, many of them were actual empty lands when french came to them. People living there have french (and European) citizenship and vote in french elections. All in all it's very comparable to Hawaii. The only possibly controversial one is new Caledonia but they got an Independance referendum coming in a while.

The biggest reason for France to keep these places is because they're inhabited with French citizens. You could have mentioned Mayotte, the people there decided fairly recently to become as integrated into the Republic as the mainland.

Hey, thanks for the video (I'm from New Caledonia🇳🇨🇫🇷)

If you ever have the chance to travel to all these french so called colonies, you would see how happy those people are to be part of France, and how much it helps them to grow their communities and sustain their culture and way of life. Dig deeper mate.

As a frenchman I believe that is is a quite complicated topic since the situation is very different in each of these former colonies and you really cannot put them in the same bag. Some a fully part of France and some are only somewhat part of France. Some use the Euro some don't. Some have a strong independance movement and some do not. Some are made of native population, some of former slaves, and some of metropolitan french.

GB : "The sun never sets on the British Empire" France :"Hold my beer"

I had a French friend from New Caledonia 🇳🇨, during my studies at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. He was both proud to be from New Caledonia, and for being a white Frenchman, whose ancestors moved to the island in 1919 if memory serves me right. We met in 2010, and graduated from the same class in the summer of 2014. Prior to meeting Joshua. I never even heard of New Caledonia, or any of France’s overseas territories for that matter. 🇫🇷 is definitely doing a lot of things right. Especially generating most of its energy through nuclear power.

I was looking for a video about the expansive French nation outside of the typical heartland in Western Europe and I found this. Excellent video, glad to find this Channel 👍

*Every time I see this guy, I feel so motivated to study better and research deeper, then I procrastinate it for his next video* 😵😂

When France started decolonization, la metropole asked if territories wanted to stay with France or not. African countries wanted independence and territories like we have today wanted to stay French. If they want to leave France they have the choice and they’ll just have to vote and leave. Btw we just say la metropole not la France metropole otherwise it is la France métropolitaine.

A fresh glass of Johnny Harris's tears, thank you

Johnny Harris, THANK YOU! I know hard work, determination and passion when I see it. You have it all.

Whaaaat, he said almost nothing about Réunion! Almost a million French live there!

I’m assuming by “centuries” you meant to say “decades”

Honestly as a french living in these oversea territories (Réunion Island) you overly dramatized a lot of things, and out of all you said i only agree with your point of vue for the tests in Polynesia even thought like it was a standard for every other nation at the time and probably yours too, and i know family that went to France and it wasn't children nor forced but for jobs, not honorable ones, that's all. And even thought i liked the video it's a bit complicated to have a good video that is scared to jump into the whole point of colonisation while talking about just that. I hope you can work again on that video based on what i said and what my brothers from France said too !

Greenland is not EU even though that it is owned by Denmark we have our own government and the only control is the queen and sometimes the danish government

After ww2 France gave its colonies the option to leave or remain in France. Most left but a few stayed part of France because being a part of a world power has its benefits. The overseas territories France still owns are what decided to remain part of France. It is literally the will of the people to be ruled by France, not France enforcing rule over some islands.

What's the problem with those places wanting to be part of France? I don't see colonialism here. It was in the past, but the people in those places are well integrated and seem to see more advantages than disadvantages now. This video is very well produced, but it's weird.

This guy makes learning things so cool

Everybody gangsta until the penguins start speaking french

most of those territories aren't even colonies anymore. they're an integral part of France, some even are represented in the French parliament, and all of the inhabitants have a right or already poses French citizenship. They are to France like Alaska is to the US, at least some of them, so please stop with the hypocrisy

I remember when I joined the Foreign Legion in 2012 and learned about all of Frances overseas territories and how we had troops all over the world. I was blown away. I have buddies stationed in French Guiana, interesting place.

You have a very simplistic view of the French overseas territories. They are not colonized peoples, but French people, with the same rights as the French people in mainland France. Why do you want them to ask for their independence? To fall into extreme poverty like Haiti or the Comoros? So don't be so sure of yourself, because you still have a lot to learn instead of exposing your mistaken view of the world.

Vive la France 🇨🇵 Vive l'Empire Coloniale Français 🇨🇵 🇩🇿 🇲🇦 🇹🇳 🇲🇬 🇲🇱 🇲🇷 🇳🇪 🇹🇩 🇨🇫 🇨🇲 🇹🇬 🇧🇯 🇧🇫 🇨🇬 🇬🇦 🇸🇳 🇬🇳 🇻🇳 🇱🇦 🇰🇭 Vive la France D'Outre-Mers 🇨🇵 🇬🇫 🇳🇨 🇹🇫 🇼🇫