What Is "Les DOM-TOM"?

St. Martin
Fort Louis, Marigot, Saint Martin, West Indies, French Overseas Territory.

 Danita Delimont/Getty Images

by ThoughtCo
Updated March 31, 2019

Les DOM-TOM, pronounced "duhm-tuhm", is actually a French acronym, and it stands for Départements d'outre-mer, Territoires d'outre-mer, which are French overseas departments and territories. An alternate spelling is D.O.M.-T.O.M. These department and territories include:

  • Clipperton
  • French Southern and Antarctic Lands 
  • French Polynesia
  • French Guiana
  • Guadeloupe
  • Martinique 
  • Mayotte 
  • New Caledonia 
  • Saint-Martin
  • Saint-Barthélemy
  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon 
  • Reunion island 
  • Wallis and Futuna 

Examples

  • Grâce à Aimé Césaire, la France a créé les DOM-TOM / Thanks to Aimé Césaire, France created its overseas departments and territories.
  • Les citoyens des DOM sont des citoyens de la France / Citizens in the overseas departments are citizens of France.