French Antarctic Territories (1983: Doomsday)

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The French Antarctic Territories are an uninhabited territory of the Republic of the French Southern Territories administered as an integral part of the French Indian Ocean, based in La Reunion. It consists of the remote islands of Crozet, Kerguelen, Saint-Paul, and Amsterdam, along with a claim to Terre Adélie in the Antarctic continent.

Before 1983 the lands were integrated parts of the French Republic as part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) - which included the present territory plus the Scattered Islands (Îles Éparses) around Madagascar. A research station on Kerguelen (Port-aux-Français) represented the only permanent human presence in the Antarctic.

After the collapse of Metropolitan France in 1983, naval forces at Réunion kept up regular patrols of the islands around Madagascar, but they had to neglect the much more remote Antarctic Lands. By 1990, evacuated ships of the British Royal Navy - which would soon be integrated into the armed forces of the Dominion of South Africa - were conducting occasional patrols in the area. The DSA annexed nearby islands belonging to the United Kingdom and Norway; the French Indian Ocean established diplomatic relations with the Dominion in order to assert French sovereignty over the Antarctic territories. Réunion still lacked the ability to extend its power to the Antarctic, but the DSA nevertheless acquiesced; they lacked any resources or raw materials that would justify a dispute over them.

The R.T.A. defined and claimed the Antarctic Territories upon its foundation in 1999. In 2004 the territories were confirmed to be part of the Indian Ocean collectivity. The republic began more regular patrols over the following years and refurbished French flags and monuments. Changing weather patterns have made the region potentially useful, but the long-term status of the colonies are questionable.