Metropolitan France (French: France métropolitaine or la Métropole, or colloquially l'Hexagone) is the part of France located in Europe, including Corsica. By contrast, Overseas France (la France d'outre-mer, or l'Outre-mer, or colloquially les DOM-TOM) is the collective name for the French overseas departments (départements d'outre-mer or DOM),[1] territories (territoires d'outre-mer or TOM), and collectivities (collectivitiés d'outre-mer or COM).
Metropolitan France and overseas France together form what is officially called the French Republic. Metropolitan France accounts for 81.8% of the territory and 96.0% of the population of the French Republic.
The four overseas departments—Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, and French Guiana—have the same political status as metropolitan France's departments. Metropolitan France and these four overseas departments together are sometimes called France entière ("entire France") by the French administration, especially by INSEE, although in reality this France entière does not include the French overseas collectivities and territories which have more autonomy than the overseas departments.
In overseas France, a person from metropolitan France is often called a métro, short for métropolitain.