French Southern and Antarctic Lands overview
The French Southern and Antarctic Lands is one of the territories of the Antarctic that appears on world lists without being a UN member state. Its full official name is Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. Its seat of government is Port-aux-Français.
Its recorded population is just 300, among the smallest anywhere. Among the 5 entries in the Antarctic it ranks 2nd by area and 2nd by population.
The land area is 7,747 km², which ranks it 173rd of the 250 countries and territories in this dataset — just behind Puerto Rico and just ahead of Palestine. For scale, it is around a fifth smaller than Cyprus.
The lie of the land
The coordinates the dataset gives are 49.3° S, 69.2° E, which puts it in the southern hemisphere, roughly 5,483 km from the equator, in what geographers would call temperate latitudes.
No land border connects it to another territory. That puts it among the 85 entries of 250 here with no land neighbours, which shapes how it trades and who it deals with.
Where French Southern and Antarctic Lands is on the map
The map below is centred on French Southern and Antarctic Lands at roughly -49.25°, 69.17°. Pan and zoom to see how it sits against its surroundings — the shape of a country's borders explains a surprising amount about its history.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors
French Southern and Antarctic Lands at a glance
- Capital
- Port-aux-Français
- Population
- 300
- Area
- 7,747 km²
- Region
- Antarctic, Antarctic
- Languages
- French
- Currency
- Euro (EUR)
- Calling code
- +262
- Internet TLD
- .tf
- People per km²
- 0
How big is French Southern and Antarctic Lands, really?
Put next to every other entry on this site, French Southern and Antarctic Lands ranks 173rd of 250 by area and 245th by population. That works out at less than a thousandth of a percent of the combined land area of all 250 entries and less than a thousandth of a percent of their combined population. Those denominators matter: this list includes territories and dependencies as well as UN member states, so a rank here is not the same as a rank among sovereign countries.
For a sense of scale, the entries immediately either side of French Southern and Antarctic Lands in the size ordering are Puerto Rico at 8,870 km² and Palestine at 6,220 km², against French Southern and Antarctic Lands's 7,747 km². If you can already picture one of those, you can picture this one.
Density tells a different story from either raw figure. French Southern and Antarctic Lands averages 0 people per square kilometre of total area, which makes it among the emptiest places on the list — 245th of the 248 entries that have both a population and a measured area. Total area includes inland water, so the true figure for habitable land is higher than this.
What lies nearest to French Southern and Antarctic Lands
French Southern and Antarctic Lands has no land border with any country, which changes what "nearby" means. Measured centre to centre in a straight line, the closest other entry on this site is Heard Island and McDonald Islands, roughly 490 km away. These are approximate distances between representative points, not the shortest crossing between two shorelines, so treat them as a sense of scale rather than a sailing chart.
Being surrounded by water rather than by neighbours pushes a country's relationships outward. Réunion, Mauritius, Madagascar and Lesotho sit in a different world region from French Southern and Antarctic Lands yet rank among its closest geographic company — the kind of pairing that only shows up once you stop thinking in continents.
No land border also means no land crossing: everything and everyone arrives by sea or by air. That single fact drives a lot of what follows on this page, from how goods reach the shops to why French Southern and Antarctic Lands's dialling code and internet domain are worth knowing before you travel.
| Nearest entry | Region | Approx. distance |
|---|---|---|
| Heard Island and McDonald Islands | Antarctic | 490 km |
| Réunion | different region | 3,400 km |
| Mauritius | different region | 3,400 km |
| Madagascar | different region | 3,800 km |
| Lesotho | different region | 4,100 km |
The status of French Southern and Antarctic Lands
French Southern and Antarctic Lands does not hold a United Nations seat of its own. It is administered as a dependency or overseas territory rather than as a sovereign state, which is why it sits outside the 193 member states while still appearing among the 250 entries on this site.
Not holding a UN seat is not the same as having no self-government, and the administrative details make that clear. French Southern and Antarctic Lands has 5 of the five markers of separate administration tracked on this page — its own currency, its own dialling code, its own internet domain, its own iso codes and a designated capital. In day-to-day terms it is run substantially as its own jurisdiction.
- Its own currencyEUR
- Its own dialling code+262
- Its own internet domain.tf
- Its own ISO codestf / ATF
- A designated capitalPort-aux-Français
French Southern and Antarctic Lands codes and abbreviations
Every country carries a small set of codes that quietly run the practical world — phone networks, web addresses, passports, luggage tags and dropdown menus. Here are French Southern and Antarctic Lands's, and what each one is actually for.
- Calling code+262
- Dial +262 after your international access code to reach a number in French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
- Internet domain.tf
- .tf is the country-code top-level domain, so a web address ending in it is registered to French Southern and Antarctic Lands.
- ISO two-letter codetf
- Used on vehicle plates, in currency pairs and in almost every dropdown list of countries.
- ISO three-letter codeATF
- The form you will see on passports, at airports and in sports scoreboards.
- DemonymFrench
- The correct word for a person from French Southern and Antarctic Lands, and for the adjective form.
Fun facts about French Southern and Antarctic Lands
- Its currency, the Euro, is shared with 37 other entries.
- Ranked by land area, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands is 173rd out of the 250 countries and territories on this site.
- It lies about 5,483 km from the equator, in temperate latitudes.
- Its capital city is Port-aux-Français.
- People from the French Southern and Antarctic Lands are known as French.
- Within the Antarctic it is the 2nd largest of 5.
- It is 245th of 250 by population, with about 300 residents.
French Southern and Antarctic Lands — frequently asked questions
- What is the capital of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands?
- The capital of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands is Port-aux-Français.
- Where is the French Southern and Antarctic Lands located?
- The French Southern and Antarctic Lands is in the Antarctic, part of the Antarctic. Its reference coordinates are 49.3° south and 69.2° east, roughly 5,483 km from the equator in temperate latitudes.
- What language is spoken in the French Southern and Antarctic Lands?
- The official language of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands is French. It is also official in 45 other entries on this list.
- What currency does the French Southern and Antarctic Lands use?
- The French Southern and Antarctic Lands uses the Euro, written € (currency code EUR). It is shared with 37 other entries.
- Does the French Southern and Antarctic Lands border any other country?
- No. The French Southern and Antarctic Lands has no land border with any other country, so every route in or out is by sea or air. 85 of the 250 entries on this site are in the same position.
- Is the French Southern and Antarctic Lands a country?
- Not in the political sense. The French Southern and Antarctic Lands is a dependent territory rather than a sovereign state, and it is not a UN member. The dataset points to France as the administering state. It appears on this site because it has its own flag, codes and statistics, but it does not have a seat at the United Nations.
- What is the population of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands?
- The French Southern and Antarctic Lands has a population of about 300, which makes it the 245th most populous of the 250 countries and territories listed on this site. The Cocos (Keeling) Islands sits just above it and the United States Minor Outlying Islands just below.
- How big is the French Southern and Antarctic Lands?
- The French Southern and Antarctic Lands covers 7,747 km², ranking 173rd of 250 by land area. That makes it around a fifth smaller than Cyprus.
