Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a small French territorial overseas collectivity located in the northwestern Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Its history is deeply intertwined with France’s colonial ambitions in North America, dating back to the early 16th century when French explorer Jacques Cartier claimed the islands for France in 1536. Despite frequent British occupations and transfers of control during the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly in the aftermath of various Anglo-French conflicts, the Treaty of Paris in 1814 definitively restored the islands to France. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Saint Pierre and Miquelon thrived as a base for the North Atlantic cod fishery and, during the Prohibition era, it became a significant hub for alcohol smuggling into the United States. Today, the islands are the last remaining vestige of France’s once vast North American empire, maintaining a unique French identity and culture in close proximity to Canada.