overseas region

Overseas region , is a recent designation given to the overseas departments which have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. They have had these powers since 1982, when France's decentralisation policy dictated that they be given elected regional councils along with other regional powers. It was not until the 2003 constitutional change that these regions are now to be called overseas regions; indeed the new wording of the Constitution aims to give no precedence to either appellation department or overseas region, though the second one is still virtually unused by French media.
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