The French Southern and Antarctic Lands, full name Territory of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, consist of a group of volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean, southeast of Africa, approximately equidistant between Africa, Antarctica and Australia.  The territory is also often called the French Southern Territories, which excludes Adélie Land where French sovereignty is not recognized internationally. The lands are not connected to France Antarctique, a former French colony in Brazil.

The territory includes Île Amsterdam, Île Saint-Paul, Îles Crozet, and Îles Kerguelen in the southern Indian Ocean, along with the French-claimed sector of Antarctica, Adélie Land. The "Adélie Land" of about 432,000 km² and the islands, totalling 7781 km², have no indigenous inhabitants, though in 1997 there were about 100 researchers whose numbers varied from winter (July) to summer (January). Île Amsterdam and Île Saint-Paul are extinct volcanoes; the highest point in the territory is Mont Ross on Îles Kerguelen at 1850 meters. There are no airstrips on the islands and the 1232 kilometres of coastline have no ports or harbours, only offshore anchorages.