The North Atlantic
Although both are filed under the Americas, neither Bermuda nor Saint Pierre and Miquelon is administered from within it. One is a British Overseas Territory of 53.35 square kilometres in open ocean; the other is an overseas collectivity of France off the south coast of Newfoundland. Neither belongs to the United Nations, and each holds far more sea than land.
Common questions
Questions about North Atlantic
What does the catalogue file in the North Atlantic?
Bermuda and Saint Pierre and Miquelon. Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in open ocean, with its capital at Hamilton and a land area the United Nations records as 53.35 square kilometres. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is an overseas collectivity of France off the south coast of Newfoundland, with its chief town at Saint-Pierre and a municipal population of 5,790 at the reference date of 1 January 2023.
Why are Canada and the United States not in this region?
The catalogue keeps them in North America, together with Mexico. The UN Statistics Division does it differently and files Bermuda and Saint Pierre and Miquelon under Northern America beside Canada, Greenland and the United States. Both schemes describe the same islands in the same ocean, and they differ over whether a dependency far offshore is grouped with the nearest mainland or held separate from it.
Is either of them independent?
Neither. Bermuda governs its internal affairs under the Bermuda Constitution Order 1968, while section 62 reserves external affairs, defence, internal security and the police to the Governor. Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a collectivity of France under article 74 of the French Constitution. Neither is a member of the United Nations, and neither carries a group membership in this catalogue.
Why is Bermuda on the UN decolonisation list and Saint Pierre and Miquelon not?
Bermuda was listed in 1946 after the United Kingdom transmitted information on it under Article 73 e of the Charter, and it is still one of the 17 Non-Self-Governing Territories before the Special Committee on Decolonization. France transmits no such information for Saint Pierre and Miquelon, whose status under article 74 makes it part of the Republic. French Polynesia and New Caledonia are on the list.