> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.countrystatecity.in/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Multi-Level Territories

> How overseas territories and autonomous regions are dual-modeled as both countries and state subdivisions, and how to query them correctly

Some geographical entities appear in this database at **two levels simultaneously** — as an independent ISO 3166-1 country *and* as an ISO 3166-2 subdivision of a parent country. This is not a bug; it reflects how the ISO standard itself models these territories.

## Why Dual Modeling Exists

A handful of overseas or autonomous territories are listed by ISO 3166 at both levels:

* **ISO 3166-1** assigns them their own two-letter country code (e.g. `MQ` for Martinique).
* **ISO 3166-2** also lists them as subdivisions of a parent state (e.g. `FR-MQ` as a subdivision of France).

Martinique *is* an integral region of the French Republic — its residents vote in French national elections, use the euro, and are EU citizens — but it also has its own TLD (`.mq`), its own ISO codes, and independent representation in certain international contexts.

**Both representations are kept in sync. Neither is canonical; both are first-class.**

## The 12 French Overseas Territories

| ISO 3166-1 | ISO 3166-2 | Name                                | State type            |
| :--------- | :--------- | :---------------------------------- | :-------------------- |
| `GF`       | `FR-GF`    | French Guiana                       | overseas region       |
| `PF`       | `FR-PF`    | French Polynesia                    | overseas collectivity |
| `TF`       | `FR-TF`    | French Southern and Antarctic Lands | overseas territory    |
| `GP`       | `FR-GP`    | Guadeloupe                          | overseas region       |
| `MQ`       | `FR-MQ`    | Martinique                          | overseas region       |
| `YT`       | `FR-YT`    | Mayotte                             | overseas region       |
| `NC`       | `FR-NC`    | New Caledonia                       | overseas collectivity |
| `RE`       | `FR-RE`    | Réunion                             | overseas region       |
| `PM`       | `FR-PM`    | Saint Pierre and Miquelon           | overseas collectivity |
| `BL`       | `FR-BL`    | Saint-Barthélemy                    | overseas collectivity |
| `MF`       | `FR-MF`    | Saint-Martin (French part)          | overseas collectivity |
| `WF`       | `FR-WF`    | Wallis and Futuna                   | overseas collectivity |

## Other Dual-Modeled Territories

The same pattern applies to territories of other countries:

| Parent | Territory                | `countries.iso2` | Notes                         |
| :----- | :----------------------- | :--------------- | :---------------------------- |
| `CN`   | Hong Kong SAR            | `HK`             | special administrative region |
| `CN`   | Macau SAR                | `MO`             | special administrative region |
| `US`   | Puerto Rico              | `PR`             | outlying area                 |
| `US`   | Guam                     | `GU`             | outlying area                 |
| `US`   | American Samoa           | `AS`             | outlying area                 |
| `US`   | Northern Mariana Islands | `MP`             | outlying area                 |
| `US`   | U.S. Virgin Islands      | `VI`             | outlying area                 |
| `NO`   | Svalbard                 | `SJ`             | arctic region                 |

## How to Query

Pick the model that matches the question being asked.

### Everything in France (metropolitan + all overseas territories)

Use the `FR` country and traverse via `state_id`:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT c.*
FROM cities c
JOIN states s ON c.state_id = s.id
WHERE s.country_code = 'FR';
-- includes all 12 overseas territories
```

### Only Martinique (the territory in isolation)

Filter by the territory's own ISO 3166-1 code:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT * FROM cities WHERE country_code = 'MQ';
```

### Metropolitan France only (exclude overseas)

Exclude the 12 overseas codes explicitly:

```sql theme={null}
SELECT * FROM cities
WHERE country_code = 'FR'
  AND state_code NOT IN (
    'GF','PF','TF','GP','MQ','YT','NC','RE','PM','BL','MF','WF',
    '971','972','973','974','976'  -- INSEE codes for DROM
  );
```

<Note>
  The five DROM territories (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte) currently use INSEE numeric codes (`971`–`976`) as their `state_code`, while the overseas collectivities use ISO 3166-2 alphabetic codes. A future update will align all to ISO 3166-2 alphabetic format.
</Note>

### JavaScript

```javascript theme={null}
import { getCitiesOfCountry } from '@countrystatecity/countries';

// All French cities including overseas territories
const allFrench = await getCitiesOfCountry('FR');

// Martinique only
const martinique = await getCitiesOfCountry('MQ');

// Metropolitan France only
const OVERSEAS = new Set(['GF','PF','TF','GP','MQ','YT','NC','RE','PM','BL','MF','WF']);
const metropolitan = allFrench.filter(c => !OVERSEAS.has(c.country_code));
```

## Impact on API Responses

When you query `/v1/countries`, both `MQ` (Martinique) and `FR` (France) appear as separate entries. Both return valid states and cities. This is intentional — it ensures that code doing `country_code === 'MQ'` continues to work correctly.

<Warning>
  If you are building country pickers or dropdowns, you may want to filter out the overseas territories from the top-level country list to avoid showing both "France" and "Martinique" as separate country options. Use the `region`/`subregion` fields or an explicit exclusion list.
</Warning>

## Related

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    Full table definitions including level and parent\_id fields on states and cities.
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