Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette were the first Europeans to explore the Mississippi River in 1673.

Samuel de Champlain founded the city of Quebec in 1608.

New France was the name of the French colony in North America from the 16th to the 18th centuries.

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the Mississippi River Valley for France in 1682.

Fort Rosalie was the name of the French fort built at the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1716.

Étienne Brûlé was a French explorer who explored the Great Lakes region in the early 17th century.

Saint-Domingue was the name of the French colony in the Caribbean from the 17th to the 19th centuries.

Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville founded the city of New Orleans in 1718.

Fort Duquesne was the name of the French fort built at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers in 1754.

Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye explored the Missouri River in the mid-18th century.

Pondicherry was the name of the French colony in India from the 17th to the 20th centuries.

Louis-Antoine de Bougainville explored the Pacific Ocean in the mid-18th century.

Senegal was the name of the French colony in Africa from the 17th to the 20th centuries.

Pierre-Esprit Radisson explored the Arctic Ocean in the late 17th century.

French Guiana is the name of the French colony in South America.