The Territorial Collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon (French: Collectivité Territoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon) is an overseas collectivity of France located in the North Atlantic Ocean about 30 kilometers (19 mi) south of the Canadian Island of Newfoundland. It comprises a group of small islands, the main ones being Saint Pierre and Miquelon located in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the center of the Grand Banks of Newfoundland in the North Atlantic, 25 kilometers (16 mi) southwest of Newfoundland.
The archipelago is composed of eight islands, totaling 242 square kilometers (93 sq mi), and of which only two are inhabited. The islands are bare and rocky, with steep coasts, and only a thin layer of peat to soften the hard landscape. It is geologically part of the northeastern end of the Appalachian Mountains along with Newfoundland.
Saint Pierre Island, whose area is smaller, 26 square kilometers (10 sq mi), is the most populous and the commercial and administrative center of the archipelago. A new airport, Saint-Pierre Airport, has been in operation since 1999 and is capable of accommodating long-haul flights from France.
Miquelon-Langlade, the largest island, is composed of two islands, Miquelon Island (also called Grande Miquelon), 110 square kilometers (42 sq mi), connected to Langlade Island (Petite Miquelon), 91 square kilometres (35 sq mi), by the Dune de Langlade, a 10-kilometre (6.2 mi) long sandy split. A storm had severed them in the 18th century, separating the two islands for several decades, before currents reconstructed the isthmus. The waters between Langlade and Saint-Pierre were called "the Mouth of Hell" until about 1900, as more than 600 shipwrecks have been recorded in that point.
The official currency is the Euro, but the Canadian dollar is also widely accepted. The islands issue their own stamps. The inhabitants have French citizenship, speak French and their customs and traditions are similar to the ones found in metropolitan France.
The total population of the islands at the January 2011 census was 6,080, of which 5,456 lived in Saint-Pierre and 624 in Miquelon-Langlade.
French overseas collectivities like the French regions, are first-order administrative divisions of France. Other collectivities of France include, the Islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint-Martin, Saint-Barthélemy, (Atlantic Ocean) Reunion island, Mayotte, the French Southern, and Antarctic Lands (Indian Ocean) French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Wallis and Futuna (Pacific Ocean).