List of French possessions and colonies
From the 16th to the 17th centuries, the First French colonial empire stretched from a total area at its peak in 1680 to over , the second largest empire in the world at the time behind only the Spanish Empire. During the 19th and 20th centuries, the French colonial empire was the second largest colonial empire in the world only behind the British Empire; it extended over of land at its height in the 1920s and 1930s. In terms of population however, on the eve of World War II, France and her colonial possessions totaled only 150 million inhabitants, compared with 330 million for British India alone. The total area of the French colonial empire, with the first (mainly in the Americas and Asia) and second (mainly in Africa and Asia), the French colonial empires combined, reached , the second largest in the world (the first being the British Empire). The French colonial empire had an enormous impact on world history. France had about 80 colonies throughout its history, the second most colonies in the world behind only the British Empire. Around 34 countries gained independence from France throughout its history, the second most in the world behind only the