Territorial organization in France – Facts

Metropolitan France – Territorial organization January 1, 2016

The new territorial organization was approved on July 18, 2014, and came into force on January 1, 2016.

The number of regions in Metropolitan France decreased from 22 to 13, including the island of Corsica.

France’s 13 new regions are:

1. Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
2. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
3. Bretagne
4. Centre – Val de Loire
5. Corse
6. Grand Est
7. Ile de France
8. Hauts de France
9. Normandie
10. Nouvelle Aquitaine
11. Occitanie
12. Pays de la Loire
13. Provence-Alpes-Côtes d’Azur

Territorial organization – Historic provinces and departments

Understanding the territorial organisation of France may seem simple at first glance, but it can become complicated when you encounter term, such as Poitou, Bourbonnais, Auvergne, Béarn, Périgord or Aquitaine.

Many of these names, such as Bourbonnais, Béarn, and Périgord, originally designated historical provinces that were transformed into departments during the French Revolution. Others, such as Auvergne and Aquitaine, were formerly counties or duchies.

The difficulty lies in the fact that French speakers often use these names interchangeably, relying on their intuition to differentiate them. Indeed, until the end of the 18th century, France was organised into provinces, each with its own cultural and administrative identity.

A first territorial organization occurred at the French Revolution

Here is a summary of the historical evolution of France’s territorial organisation:

1. The historical provinces were replaced by departments by a decree of December 22, 1789.
2. The number of departments was fixed at 83 by a decree of January 15, 1790.
3. The list and geographical boundaries of the departments were defined on February 26, 1790.
4. The departments were named according to their geography and hydrography, and these decrees came into effect on March 4, 1790.
5. The Duchy of Savoy, the County of Nice and the Comtat Venaissin were not initially included in this territorial reorganization.
6. The Duchy of Savoy was officially annexed to France on June 14, 1860, forming the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie.
7. The County of Nice, also part of the House of Savoy, was annexed to France in 1860 to form the Alpes-Maritimes department.
8. The County of Venaissin was originally part of the County of Toulouse.
9. Some departments have changed their names since their creation. For example, the department initially called Côtes-du-Nord is now called Côtes-d’Armor.

Regions, Departments, Cantons and Commune

Metropolitan France and its overseas territories are divided into 18 regions, 13 in metropolitan France and 5 overseas. Each region is administered by a Regional Council (Conseil de Région), whose members are elected by direct universal suffrage for a six-year term. The president of the Regional Council holds executive power.

The regions are subdivided into administrative units called départements. There are a total of 101 départements. Metropolitan France comprises 96 departments, numbered from 1 to 95, excluding Corse-du-Sud (2A) and Haute-Corse (2B), which together form Corsica. Overseas France comprises 5 departments: Guadeloupe (971), Martinique (972), French Guiana (973), Réunion (974), and Mayotte (976).

• Each department is headed by a prefect (préfet), whose prefecture is the departmental capital. .
• Each department is divided into arrondissements (districts).
• The arrondissements are subdivided into cantons, which form the electoral districts for the departmental councillors and members of the General Council (Conseil Général de Département).
• The cantons are further divided into communes, each headed by a mayor (maire) and administered by a town hall (mairie).
• The communes are political and public entities managed by a municipal council and headed by the mayor.
• In total, France has 343 arrondissements, 4,058 cantons, and 36,699 communes, forming a hierarchical administrative structure extending from the regional level down to the commune.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons: Map of new regions by Monsieur Fou CC BY-SA 4.0 – Map of French historic provinces in 1789 by Paul Vidal de La Blache (1845-1918) Public Domain – Map of departments is courtesy of Cartes de France