Subject: Re: Westernmost Dutch spot<br/>
Date: Nov 05, 2001 @ 18:24<br/>
Author: Peter Smaardijk (&quot;Peter Smaardijk&quot; &lt;smaardijk@...&gt;)<br/>
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-1964114905">It is, indeed, not as simple as I perhaps put it: there is still a <br/>
French ministry of overseas territories (Min. des DOM-TOM, or <br/>
Ministry of overseas departements and territories). And yes, it might <br/>
be about time that this ministry occupies itself with Corsica, too. <br/>
But the Parisian nightmare apparently is that the Eastern Pyrenees <br/>
(Catalans) and Lower and Upper Rhine (Alsatians) will demand the same <br/>
(not really over-sea of course). The Basques are lobbying very <br/>
strongly for a division of the Atlantic Pyrenees into Bearn and North <br/>
Basque Country, which (because of the not so good economical <br/>
situation there) is even supported by many not-so-nationalistic <br/>
Basques in the area, who think they can do better without Pau....<br/>
<br/>
Peter S.<br/>
<br/>
--- In BoundaryPoint@y..., &quot;Grant Hutchison&quot; &lt;granthutchison@c...&gt; <br/>
wrote:<br/>
<blockquote><span title="ireply"> &gt; Peter:<br/>
&gt; &gt; Martinique and Guadeloupe are two <br/>
&gt; &gt; French departements with a status no different from any other <br/>
&gt; &gt; departement in metropolitan France. <br/>
&gt; Except, at least at one time, they had a local administration that <br/>
&gt; ran in parallel with the French departmental system - I think all <br/>
 </span></blockquote>the <br/>
<blockquote><span title="ireply"> &gt; French overseas departments were reluctant to completely give up <br/>
&gt; local power. But I haven&#39;t heard so much about that recently - have <br/>
&gt; they given up local admin?<br/>
&gt; In the opposite direction, one French administrative change that <br/>
&gt; doesn&#39;t seem to have hit the usual geography reference books is <br/>
&gt; Corsica&#39;s conversion to a territorial collectivity in 1992. That <br/>
&gt; makes it just as much &quot;foreign territory&quot; as Mayotte and St Pierre <br/>
 </span></blockquote>& <br/>
<blockquote><span title="qreply"> &gt; Miquelon, but I&#39;ve yet to see it granted a separate entry among <br/>
&gt; dependent territories.<br/>
&gt; <br/>
&gt; Grant </span></blockquote></div>