In human history, there was a famous "empire on which the sun never sets", and this so-called "empire on which the sun never sets" refers to the "British Empire" in its heyday. At that time, because United Kingdom had territories all over the world, there was United Kingdom land illuminated by the sun at any time, hence the name "The sun never sets". However, time has passed, and the "empire on which the sun never sets" has long entered the pile of historical papers, but surprisingly, there is still one country that still "spans five continents", which can be called the modern version of the "country on which the sun never sets", and that country is France.
Before the start of World War II, France had an area of 12.898 million square kilometers. These places are widely distributed on many continents such as Africa, Asia, and the Americas, and France at that time was also the third largest country in the world in terms of total land area after United Kingdom and the Soviet Union. Today's France has many overseas territories in addition to the 550,000 square kilometers of the European mainland. The Torch Relay for the 2024 Olympic Games in France is a showcase of France's overseas territories. During the 80 days of the Olympic Flame Relay around the world, the flame completed its journey around the globe while the entire land journey was within France territory. This makes everyone sigh that France does still have a great power heritage.
On June 7, after completing part of the relay in France, the Olympic flame departed from Brest, a famous port city in northwestern France, and crossed the Atlantic Ocean to French Guiana, a region of France in South America, and officially arrived in French Guiana on the 9th.
French Guiana is the largest overseas possession of France and is a large region of France in the de jure sense, which is considered by France to be an extension of the mainland. It is located in the northern region of South America, with a total area of 80,000 square kilometers and a population of about 300,000 people, and the capital Cayenne has a population of more than 70,000.
After completing the relay in French Guiana, the Olympic flame crossed the Atlantic and India Oceans and arrived in New Caledonia, France's territory in the Pacific, on the 11th. It is France's largest and most populous overseas territory in the South Pacific, located in the South Pacific Ocean about 1,500 kilometers east of Australia, with an area of nearly 20,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 200,000 people. Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, is known as the best port in the South Pacific, and is a city with a population of 170,000, which is already a large city in the South Pacific.
Then, on the 12th, the Olympic flame arrived in Réunion, France's overseas possessions in the India Ocean. It is one of the most populous of France's overseas possessions, with a total area of more than 2,500 square kilometers, Reunion Island has more than 20 small and medium-sized towns with a total population of more than 800,000 people, and the largest city, Saint-Denis, has a total population of 120,000.
On the 13th, the Olympic flame crossed the India Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and headed for French Polynesia, a France territory in the South Pacific. French Polynesia is a famous tourist destination, with more than 1 million France tourists visiting here every year, with a total area of more than 4,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 200,000 people, with the capital of Papeete. By the way, the first country in Oceania is Australia, the second country is New Zealand, and the third country is actually France, in a sense, France can also be counted as an Oceanian country.
On the 15th, the Olympic flame arrived in Guadeloupe, a France territory in the France Caribbean of Central America, which is located in Guadeloupe, an island between North and South America, with a total area of more than 1,700 square kilometers, an area of more than 400,000 people. At the same time, the flame also travelled to Martinique, a small island in the Caribbean Sea belonging to France with a population of more than 400,000.
After completing its journey around the world (France), the Olympic flame returned to Nice, France, on the 16th, resuming its relay in France. To sum up, it is truly breathtaking that France has completed the circumnavigation of the Olympic flame on its own, relying only on its overseas territories and without cooperating with any country in the world. Considering that although United Kingdom also has many overseas territories, most of them are sparsely populated small islands, and the atmosphere for passing the flame is not enough, so it is very likely that France is the only country in the world that can achieve "a week around the world" within its own territory!
In summary, France has a large number of overseas territories in Oceania, South America, Africa and other places in addition to the European mainland. In addition to the above-mentioned areas, France has lands in North America, including Saint Pierre and Miquelon, and in areas close to Antarctica, there are so-called "French Southern and Antarctic regions", including the island of Kerguelen. It can be seen that France does still retain the frame of a great power, and there is a deep heritage of a great power, what do you think?