"Overseas country" (
French:
Pays d'outre-mer) is the designation for the
overseas collectivity of
French Polynesia. French Polynesia was formerly an
overseas territory until the
constitutional reform on 28 March 2003 created the overseas collectivities. Then, on 27 February 2004 a law was passed giving French Polynesia the particular designation of overseas country while recalling that it belongs to the category of overseas collectivities. However, the
Constitutional Council of France ruled that this description was merely a designation and not a legal status, as that would have been unconstitutional.