Country name:
conventional long form: Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon
conventional short form: Saint Pierre and Miquelon
local long form: Departement de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon
local short form: Saint-Pierre et Miquelon

Dependency status:
self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France

Government type:
NA

Capital:
name: Saint-Pierre
geographic coordinates: 46 46 N, 56 11 W
time difference: UTC-3 (2 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
daylight saving time: +1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November

Administrative divisions:
none (territorial overseas collectivity of France); note - there are no first-order administrative divisions as defined by the US Government, but there are two communes - Saint Pierre, Miquelon at the second order

Independence:
none (territorial collectivity of France; has been under French control since 1763)

National holiday:
Bastille Day, 14 July (1789)

Constitution:
4 October 1958 (French Constitution)

Legal system:
French civil law

Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
[see also: Suffrage country ranks ]

Executive branch:
chief of state: President Nicolas SARKOZY (since 16 May 2007); represented by Prefect Patrice LATRON (since 16 November 2011)
head of government: President of the Territorial Council Stephane ARTANO (since 21 February 2007)
cabinet: NA
elections: French president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held on 6 May 2007 (next to be held in 2012); prefect appointed by the French president on the advice of the French Ministry of Interior; president of the Territorial Council elected by the members of the council

Legislative branch:
unicameral Territorial Council or Conseil Territorial (19 seats, 15 from Saint Pierre and four from Miquelon; members elected by popular vote to serve six-year terms)
elections: elections last held on 19 and 26 March 2006 (next to be held in March 2012)
election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - AD 16, Cap sur l'Avenir 2, SPM 2000/AM 1
note: Saint Pierre and Miquelon elect one member to the French Senate; elections last held on 21 September 2008 (next to be held in September 2014); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - UMP 1; Saint Pierre and Miquelon also elects one member to the French National Assembly; elections last held on, first round - 10 June 2007, second round - 17 June 2007 (next to be held in 2012); results - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - PRG 1

Judicial branch:
Superior Tribunal of Appeals or Tribunal Superieur d'Appel

Political parties and leaders:
Archipelago Tomorrow or AD (affiliated with UDF/RPR list); Cap sur l'Avenir (affiliated with PRG); Left Radical Party or PRG; Rassemblement pour la Republique or RPR (now UMP); Saint Pierre and Miquelon 2000/Avenir Miquelon or SPM 2000/AM; Socialist Party or PS; Union pour la Democratie Francaise or UDF

Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA

International organization participation:
UPU, WFTU

Diplomatic representation in the US:
none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

Diplomatic representation from the US:
none (territorial overseas collectivity of France)

Flag description:
a yellow three-masted sailing ship facing the hoist side rides on a blue background with scattered, white, wavy lines under the ship; a continuous black-over-white wavy line divides the ship from the white wavy lines; on the hoist side, a vertical band is divided into three parts: the top part (called ikkurina) is red with a green diagonal cross extending to the corners overlaid by a white cross dividing the rectangle into four sections; the middle part has a white background with an ermine pattern; the third part has a red background with two stylized yellow lions outlined in black, one above the other; these three heraldic arms represent settlement by colonists from the Basque Country (top), Brittany, and Normandy; the blue on the main portion of the flag symbolizes the Atlantic Ocean and the stylized ship represents the Grande Hermine in which Jacques Cartier "discovered" the islands in 1536
note: the flag of France used for official occasions

National symbol(s):
16th-century sailing ship

National anthem:
note: as a collectivity of France, "La Marseillaise" is official (see France)