Departments of France

Administrative subdivision in France

Departments of France
Départements (French)

* Also known as:
* Departamant gall (Breton)
Dèpartament francês (Arpitan)
Departament francés (Occitan)
Frantziako departamendu (Basque)
Departament francès (Catalan)

Location| France
Found in| Regions
Number| 101 (not including Metropolis of Lyon) (as of January 2021)
Possible types|

* Metropolitan Departments
* Overseas Departments

Populations| Largest: Nord, Hauts-de-France—2,613,000 (2022 census)
Smallest: Lozère, Occitanie—83,000 (2022 census)
Areas| Largest: French Guiana—83,533.9 km2 (32,252.6 sq mi)
Smallest: Paris, Île-de-France—105.4 km2 (40.7 sq mi)
Densities| Largest: Paris, Île-de-France—20,755/km2 (53,760/sq mi)
Smallest: French Guiana—3.5/km2 (9.1/sq mi)
Government|

* Departmental council

Subdivisions|

* Arrondissements
* Cantons
* Communes

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In the administrative divisions of France, the department (French: département, pronounced [depaʁtəmɑ̃] ⓘ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 departments, consisting of ninety-six departments in metropolitan France, and five overseas departments, which are also classified as overseas regions. Departments are further subdivided into 333 arrondissements and 2,054 cantons (as of 2023).[1] These last two levels of government have no political autonomy, instead serving as the administrative basis for the local organisation of police, fire departments, and, in certain cases, elections.

Each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council (sg. conseil départemental, pl. conseils départementaux). From 1800 to April 2015, these were called general councils (sg. conseil général, pl. conseils généraux).[2] Each council has a president. Their main areas of responsibility include the management of a number of social and welfare allowances, of junior high school (collège) buildings and technical staff, and local roads and school and rural buses, and a contribution to municipal infrastructures.[3] Local services of the state administration are traditionally organised at departmental level, where the prefect represents the government; however, regions have gained importance since the 2000s, with some department-level services merged into region-level services.

The departments were created in 1790 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity;[4] the title "department" is used to mean a part of a larger whole.[5] Almost all of them were named after physical geographical features (rivers, mountains, or coasts), rather than after historical or cultural territories, which could have their own loyalties, or after their own administrative seats. The division of France into departments was a project particularly identified with the French revolutionary leader the Abbé Sieyès,[6][7] although it had already been frequently discussed and written about by many politicians and thinkers. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1665 in the writings of d'Argenson.[8] They have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. The 1822 territorial division of Spain (reverted due to the 1823 French intervention ending the trienio liberal) and the 1833 territorial division of Spain, which forms the basis of the present day provinces of Spain with minor modifications, are also based on the French model of departments of roughly equal size.[9]

Most French departments are assigned a two-digit number, the Official Geographical Code, allocated by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (Insée).[10] Overseas departments have a three-digit number. The number is used, for example, in the postal code and was, until the introduction of the SIV scheme in 2009, part of the vehicle registration plate number. Residents commonly use the numbers to refer to their own department or a neighbouring one, for example inhabitants of Loiret may refer to their department as "the 45". More distant departments are generally referred to by their names, as few people know the numbers of all the departments.

In 2014, President François Hollande proposed abolishing departmental councils by 2020, which would have maintained the departments as administrative divisions, and transferring their powers to other levels of governance.[11] This reform project has since been scrapped.

## History

[edit]

Main article: Territorial evolution of France

Geometrical proposition rejected French provinces before 1790 (color) and today's departments (black borders)

The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René d'Argenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées (Bridges and Highways) infrastructure administration.[12]

Before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the end of the Ancien Régime it was organised into provinces. During the Revolution they were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. The National Constituent Assembly decided to create a more uniform division into departments (département) and districts in late 1789.[13] The process began on 4 August 1789 with the elimination of provincial privileges, and a 22 December 1789 decree (with letters patent in January 1790) provided for the termination of the provincial governments.[13]

The modern department system, as all-purpose units of the government, was decreed on 26 February 1790 (with letters patent on 4 March 1790) by the National Constituent Assembly.[13] Their boundaries served two purposes:

* Boundaries were chosen to break up France's historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences and build a more homogeneous nation.
* Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a day's ride of the capital of a department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the entire national territory under close control.

Departments at the maximum extent of the First French Empire (1812)

The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments. Most were named after an area's principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine. Savoy, during its temporary occupation, became the department of Mont-Blanc.[14] The provinces continued to exist administratively until 21 September 1791.[13]

The number of departments, initially 83, had been increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire.[15] Following the defeats of Napoleon in 1814–1815 the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size and the number of departments was reduced to 86 (three of the original departments having been split). In 1860 France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments.[16] Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice and a portion of the Var department.[16] The 89 departments were given numbers based on the alphabetical order of their names.[17]

The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871 following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. A small part of Haut-Rhin, however, remained French and became known as the Territoire de Belfort; the remaining parts of Meurthe and Moselle were merged into a new Meurthe-et-Moselle department. When France regained the ceded departments after World War I, the Territoire de Belfort was not reintegrated into Haut-Rhin. In 1922 it became France's 90th department. Likewise the Lorraine departments were not changed back to their original boundaries, and a new Moselle department was created in the regained territory, with slightly different boundaries from the pre-war department of the same name.

The reorganisation of Île-de-France in 1968 and the division of Corsica in 1975 added six more departments, raising the total in Metropolitan France to 96. By 2011, when the overseas collectivity of Mayotte became a department, joining the earlier overseas departments of the Republic (all created in 1946) – French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion – the total number of departments in the French Republic had become 101. In 2015 the Urban Community of Lyon was split from Rhône to form the Métropole de Lyon, a sui generis entity, with the powers of both an intercommunality and those of a department on its territory, formally classified as a "territorial collectivity with particular status" (French: collectivité territoriale à statut particulier) and as such not belonging to any department. As of 2019 Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse are still administrative departments, although they no longer have the status of departmental "territorial collectivities": region and department functions have been managed by a "single territorial collectivity" since 2018.

Despite the intention to avoid the old nomenclature, often the names of pre-1790 provinces remained in use. For example, the name of Berry, though no longer having an official status, remains in widespread use in daily life.

## General characteristics

[edit]

Main article: Administrative divisions of France

See also: List of French departments by population

### Government and administration

[edit]

Administrative divisions of France

The departmental seat of government is known as the prefecture (préfecture) or chef-lieu de département and is generally a town of some importance roughly at the geographical centre of the department. This was determined according to the time taken to travel on horseback from the periphery of the department. The goal was for the prefecture to be accessible on horseback from any town in the department within 24 hours. The prefecture is not necessarily the largest city in the department: for instance, in Saône-et-Loire department the capital is Mâcon, but the largest city is Chalon-sur-Saône. Departments may be divided into arrondissements. The capital of an arrondissement is called a subprefecture (sous-préfecture) or chef-lieu d'arrondissement.

Each department is administered by a departmental council (conseil départemental), an assembly elected for six years by universal suffrage, with the President of the Departmental Council as executive of the department. Before 1982, the chief executive of the department was the prefect (préfet), who represents the Government of France in each department and is appointed by the President of the French Republic. The prefect is assisted by one or more sub-prefects (sous-préfet) based in the subprefectures of the department. Since 1982, the prefect retains only the powers that are not delegated to the department councils. In practice, their role has been largely limited to preventing local policy from conflicting with national policy.

The departments are further divided into communes, governed by municipal councils. As of 2013, there were 36,681 communes in France. In the overseas territories, some communes play a role at departmental level. Paris, the country's capital city, is a commune as well as a department.

Population density in the departments (2007). The broken lines mark the approximate boundaries of the empty diagonal. The solid line is the Le Havre-Marseille line, to the east of which lives 60% of the French population.

In continental France (metropolitan France, excluding Corsica), the median land area of a department is 5,965 km2 (2,303 sq mi), which is two-and-a-half times the median land area of the ceremonial counties of England and the preserved counties of Wales and slightly more than three-and-half times the median land area of a county of the United States. At the 2001 census, the median population of a department in continental France was 511,000 inhabitants, which is 21 times the median population of a United States county, but less than two-thirds of the median population of a ceremonial county of England and Wales. Most of the departments have an area of between 4,000 and 8,000 km2 (1500 to 3000 sq. mi), and a population between 320,000 and 1 million. The largest in area is Gironde (10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi)), while the smallest is the city of Paris (105 km2 (41 sq mi)). The most populous is Nord (2,550,000) and the least populous is Lozère (74,000).

### Numbering

[edit]

The departments are numbered: their two-digit numbers appear in postal codes, in INSEE codes (including "social security numbers") and on vehicle number plates. Initially the numbers corresponded to the alphabetical order of the names of the departments, but several changed their names and some have been divided, so the correspondence became less exact. Alphanumeric codes 2A and 2B were used for Corsica while it was split but it has since reverted to 20. The two-digit code "98" is used by Monaco. Together with the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code FR, the numbers form the ISO 3166-2 country subdivision codes for the metropolitan departments. The overseas departments have three digits.[citation needed]

### Relation to national government

[edit]

Originally, the relationship between the departments and the central government was left somewhat ambiguous. While citizens in each department elected their own officials, the local governments were subordinated to the central government, becoming instruments of national integration. By 1793, however, the revolutionary government had turned the departments into transmission belts for policies enacted in Paris. With few exceptions, the departments had this role until the early 1960s.

### Political party preferences

[edit]

These maps cannot be used as a useful resource of voter preferences, because Departmental Councils are elected on a two-round system, which drastically limits the chances of fringe parties, if they are not supported on one of the two rounds by a moderate party. After the 1992 election, the left had a majority in only 21 of the 100 departments; after the 2011 election, the left dominated 61 of the 100 departments. (Mayotte only became a department after the election.)

* Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the cantonal elections of 1998

* Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2001

* Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2004

* Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2008

* Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2011

* Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2015

Key to the parties:

* Divers Centre = Independents of the centre or Democratic Movement (Mouvement démocrate)
* Divers Droite (DVD) = Independent conservatives
* Divers Gauche (DVG) = Independent left-wing politicians
* MPF = Movement for France (Mouvement pour la France) (right)
* Nouveau Centre = New Centre (centre or centre-right)
* PCF = French Communist Party (Parti communiste français)
* PRG = Radical Party of the Left (Parti radical de gauche)
* PS = Socialist Party (Parti socialiste)
* UDF = Union for French Democracy (Union pour la démocratie française) succeeded by Democratic Movement
* UMP = Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un mouvement populaire)

## Future

[edit]

The removal of one or more levels of local government has been discussed for some years; in particular, the option of removing the departmental level. Frédéric Lefebvre, spokesman for the UMP, said in December 2008 that the fusion of the departments with the regions was a matter to be dealt with soon. This was soon refuted by Édouard Balladur and Gérard Longuet, members of the committee for the reform of local authorities, known as the Balladur Committee.[18]

In January 2008, the Attali Commission recommended that the departmental level of government should be eliminated within ten years.[19]

Nevertheless, the Balladur Committee has not retained this proposition and does not advocate the disappearance of the departments, but simply "favors the voluntary grouping of departments", which it suggests also for the regions, with the aim of reducing the number of regions to 15.[20] This committee advocates, on the contrary, the suppression of the cantons.[20]

## Maps and tables

[edit]

### Current departments

[edit]

Each department has a coat of arms and a flag with which it is commonly associated, though not all are officially recognised or used.

| INSEE code | Arms 1 | Date of establishment  | Department  | Capital  | Region  | Named after

|
|
|
|
|
|

01  |  | 26 February 1790  | Ain | Bourg-en-Bresse |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Ain (river)
02  |  | Aisne | Laon |  Hauts-de-France | Aisne (river)
03  |  | Allier | Moulins |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Allier (river)
04  |  | Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 2 | Digne-les-Bains |  Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | Alps mountains and Provence region
05  |  | Hautes-Alpes | Gap | Alps mountains
06  |  | Alpes-Maritimes | Nice
07  |  | Ardèche | Privas |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Ardèche (river)
08  |  | Ardennes | Charleville-Mézières |  Grand Est | Ardennes Forest
09  |  | Ariège | Foix |  Occitanie | Ariège (river)
10  |  | Aube | Troyes |  Grand Est | Aube (river)
11  |  | Aude | Carcassonne |  Occitanie | Aude (river)
12  |  | Aveyron | Rodez | Aveyron (river)
13  |  | Bouches-du-Rhône | Marseille |  Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | Rhône (river)
14  |  | Calvados | Caen |  Normandy | Latin calva dorsa ("bare backs"), referring to two offshore rocks
15  |  | Cantal | Aurillac |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Mounts of Cantal
16  |  | Charente | Angoulême |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Charente (river)
17  |  | Charente-Maritime 3 | La Rochelle
18  |  | Cher | Bourges |  Centre-Val de Loire | Cher (river)
19  |  | Corrèze | Tulle |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Corrèze (river)
2A  |  | 1 January 1979  | Corse-du-Sud 19 | Ajaccio |  Corsica | Island of Corsica and South cardinal direction
2B  | Haute-Corse 19 | Bastia | Island of Corsica
21  |  | 26 February 1790  | Côte-d'Or | Dijon |  Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | Côte d'Or (escarpment)
22  |  | Côtes-d'Armor 4 | Saint-Brieuc |  Brittany | coasts of Armorica
23  |  | Creuse | Guéret |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Creuse (river)
24  |  | Dordogne | Périgueux | Dordogne (river)
25  |  | Doubs | Besançon |  Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | Doubs (river)
26  |  | Drôme | Valence |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Drôme (river)
27  |  | Eure | Évreux |  Normandy | Eure (river)
28  |  | Eure-et-Loir | Chartres |  Centre-Val de Loire | Eure and Loir rivers
29  |  | Finistère | Quimper |  Brittany | Latin Finis Terrae ("end of earth")
30  |  | Gard | Nîmes |  Occitanie | Occitan name for Gardon river
31  |  | Haute-Garonne | Toulouse | Garonne (river)
32  |  | Gers | Auch | Gers (river)
33  |  | Gironde 5 | Bordeaux |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Gironde estuary
34  |  | Hérault | Montpellier |  Occitanie | Hérault (river)
35  |  | Ille-et-Vilaine | Rennes |  Brittany | Ille and Vilaine rivers
36  |  | Indre | Châteauroux |  Centre-Val de Loire | Indre (river)
37  |  | Indre-et-Loire | Tours | Indre and Loire rivers
38  |  | Isère | Grenoble |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Isère (river)
39  |  | Jura | Lons-le-Saunier |  Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | Jura Mountains
40  |  | Landes | Mont-de-Marsan |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Heathlands (lande) that dominated the region at the time
41  |  | Loir-et-Cher | Blois |  Centre-Val de Loire | Loir and Cher rivers
42  |  | 12 August 1793  | Loire | Saint-Étienne |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Loire (river)
43  |  | 26 February 1790  | Haute-Loire | Le Puy-en-Velay
44  |  | Loire-Atlantique 6 | Nantes |  Pays de la Loire | Loire (river) and Atlantic Ocean
45  |  | Loiret | Orléans |  Centre-Val de Loire | Loiret (river)
46  |  | Lot | Cahors |  Occitanie | Lot (river)
47  |  | Lot-et-Garonne | Agen |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Lot and Garonne rivers
48  |  | Lozère | Mende |  Occitanie | Mont Lozère
49  |  | Maine-et-Loire 7 | Angers |  Pays de la Loire | Maine and Loire rivers
50  |  | Manche | Saint-Lô |  Normandy | English Channel
51  |  | Marne | Châlons-en-Champagne |  Grand Est | Marne (river)
52  |  | Haute-Marne | Chaumont
53  |  | Mayenne | Laval |  Pays de la Loire | Mayenne (river)
54  |  | 7 September 1871  | Meurthe-et-Moselle | Nancy |  Grand Est | Meurthe and Moselle rivers
55  |  | 26 February 1790  | Meuse | Bar-le-Duc | Meuse (river)
56  |  | Morbihan | Vannes |  Brittany | Gulf of Morbihan
57  |  | Moselle | Metz |  Grand Est | Moselle (river)
58  |  | Nièvre | Nevers |  Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | Nièvre (river)
59  |  | Nord | Lille |  Hauts-de-France | North cardinal direction
60  |  | Oise | Beauvais | Oise (river)
61  |  | Orne | Alençon |  Normandy | Orne (river)
62  |  | Pas-de-Calais | Arras |  Hauts-de-France | Strait of Dover
63  |  | Puy-de-Dôme | Clermont-Ferrand |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Puy de Dôme volcano
64  |  | Pyrénées-Atlantiques 8 | Pau |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Pyrenees mountains and Atlantic Ocean
65  |  | Hautes-Pyrénées | Tarbes |  Occitanie | Pyrenees mountains
66  |  | Pyrénées-Orientales | Perpignan | Pyrenees mountains and East cardinal direction
67  |  | Bas-Rhin | Strasbourg |  Grand Est | Rhine (river)
68  |  | Haut-Rhin | Colmar
69D  |  | 12 August 1793  | Rhône | Lyon (provisional) |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | Rhône (river)
69M  |  | 1 January 2015  | Lyon Metropolis 18 | Lyon | commune of Lyon
70  |  | 26 February 1790  | Haute-Saône | Vesoul |  Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | Saône (river)
71  |  | Saône-et-Loire | Mâcon | Saône and Loire rivers
72  |  | Sarthe | Le Mans |  Pays de la Loire | Sarthe (river)
73  |  | 15 June 1860  | Savoie | Chambéry |  Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | region of Savoy
74  |  | Haute-Savoie | Annecy
75  |  | 1 January 1968  | Paris 9 | Paris |  Île-de-France | commune of Paris
76  |  | 26 February 1790  | Seine-Maritime 10 | Rouen |  Normandy | Seine (river)
77  |  | Seine-et-Marne | Melun |  Île-de-France | Seine and Marne rivers
78  |  | 1 January 1968  | Yvelines 11 | Versailles | Forest of Yvelines
79  |  | 26 February 1790  | Deux-Sèvres | Niort |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Sèvre Nantaise and Sèvre Niortaise rivers
80  |  | Somme | Amiens |  Hauts-de-France | Somme (river)
81  |  | Tarn | Albi |  Occitanie | Tarn (river)
82  |  | 4 November 1808  | Tarn-et-Garonne | Montauban | Tarn and Garonne rivers
83  |  | 26 February 1790  | Var | Toulon |  Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | Var (river)
84  |  | 25 June 1793  | Vaucluse | Avignon | Fontaine de Vaucluse spring
85  |  | 26 February 1790  | Vendée | La Roche-sur-Yon |  Pays de la Loire | Vendée (river)
86  |  | Vienne | Poitiers |  Nouvelle-Aquitaine | Vienne (river)
87  |  | Haute-Vienne | Limoges
88  |  | Vosges | Épinal |  Grand Est | Vosges Mountains
89  |  | Yonne | Auxerre |  Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | Yonne (river)
90  |  | 11 March 1922  | Territoire de Belfort | Belfort | commune of Belfort
91  |  | 1 January 1968  | Essonne 12 | Évry-Courcouronnes |  Île-de-France | Essonne (river)
92  |  | Hauts-de-Seine 13 | Nanterre | Seine (river)
93  |  | Seine-Saint-Denis 14 | Bobigny | Seine (river) and commune of Saint-Denis
94  |  | Val-de-Marne | Créteil | Marne (river)
95  |  | Val-d'Oise | Pontoise 15 | Oise (river)
971  |  | 19 March 1946  | Guadeloupe 16 | Basse-Terre |  Guadeloupe | Island of Guadeloupe
972  |  | Martinique 16 | Fort-de-France |  Martinique | Island of Martinique
973  |  | Guyane 16 | Cayenne |  French Guiana | The Guianas
974  |  | La Réunion 16 | Saint-Denis |  Réunion | Island of Réunion
976  |  | 9 August 2009
31 March 2011[21] | Mayotte 17 | Mamoudzou |  Mayotte | Island of Mayotte

Notes:

* ^1 Most of the coats of arms are unofficial
* ^2 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence was known as Basses-Alpes ('Lower Alps') until 1970
* ^3 Charente-Maritime was known as Charente-Inférieure ('Lower Charente') until 1941
* ^4 Côtes-d'Armor was known as Côtes-du-Nord ('Coasts of the North') until 1990
* ^5 Gironde was known as Bec-d'Ambès ('Beak of Ambès') from 1793 until 1795. The Convention eliminated the name to avoid recalling the outlawed Girondin political faction.
* ^6 Loire-Atlantique was known as Loire-Inférieure ('Lower Loire') until 1957
* ^7 Maine-et-Loire was known as Mayenne-et-Loire (Mayenne and Loire rivers) until 1791
* ^8 Pyrénées-Atlantiques was known as Basses-Pyrénées ('Lower Pyrenees') until 1969
* ^9 Number 75 was formerly assigned to Seine
* ^10 Seine-Maritime was known as Seine-Inférieure ('Lower Seine') until 1955
* ^11 Number 78 was formerly assigned to Seine-et-Oise
* ^12 Number 91 was formerly assigned to Alger, in French Algeria
* ^13 Number 92 was formerly assigned to Oran, in French Algeria
* ^14 Number 93 was formerly assigned to Constantine, in French Algeria
* ^15 The prefecture of Val-d'Oise was established in Pontoise when the department was created, but moved de facto to the neighbouring commune of Cergy; currently, both part of the ville nouvelle of Cergy-Pontoise
* ^16 The overseas departments each constitute a region and enjoy a status identical to metropolitan France. They are part of France and the European Union, though special EU rules apply to them.
* ^17 Mayotte became the 101st department of France on 31 March 2011. The INSEE code of Mayotte is 976 (975 is already assigned to the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon)
* ^18 Metropoles with territorial collectivity statute.
* ^19 Corsica was divided into two departments (Golo and Liamone) from 1793 to 1811, and again into two departments (Corse-du-Sud, number 2A, and Haute-Corse, number 2B) in 1975. As of 2019, Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse are still administrative departments, although they no longer have the status of departmental "territorial collectivities": region and department functions have been managed by a "single territorial collectivity" since 2018.

Regions and departments of metropolitan France; the numbers are those of the first column (except for Corsica, which shows the division of the island until 2018, and the division of the Metropolis of Lyon from Rhône is not shown). The departments in the immediate vicinity of Paris; the numbers are those of the first column.

### Former departments

[edit]

#### Former departments of the current territory of France

[edit]

No.  | Department  | Prefecture  | Dates in existence  | Named after  | Subsequent history

|
|
|
|
|

–  | Rhône-et-Loire | Lyon | 1790–1793  | Rhône and Loire rivers  | Divided into Rhône and Loire.
–  | Corse | Bastia | Island of Corsica | Divided into Golo and Liamone.
–  | Golo | 1793–1811  | Golo (river) | Reunited with Liamone into Corse.
–  | Liamone | Ajaccio | Liamone (river) | Reunited with Golo into Corse.
–  | Mont-Blanc | Chambéry | 1792–1815  | Mont Blanc mountain  | Formed from part of the Duchy of Savoy, a territory of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia which was restored to its former status at the Treaty of Paris (1815). The territory returned to French rule in 1860 and it corresponds approximately to the present departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie.
–  | Léman | Geneva | 1798–1814  | Lake Geneva | Formed when the Republic of Geneva was annexed into the French First Republic and added to territory taken from other departments. Corresponds to the present Swiss canton of Geneva and parts of the current departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie.
–  | Meurthe | Nancy | 1790–1871  | Meurthe (river) | Ceased to exist following the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by the German Empire in 1871 and was not recreated after the province was restored to France by the Treaty of Versailles.
75  | Seine | Paris | 1790–1967  | Seine (river) | Divided into four new departments on 1 January 1968: Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne (the last also incorporating a small amount of territory from Seine-et-Oise).
78  | Seine-et-Oise | Versailles | Seine and Oise rivers  | Divided into four new departments on 1 January 1968: Yvelines, Val-d'Oise, Essonne, Val-de-Marne (the last largely comprising territory from Seine).
20  | Corse | Ajaccio | 1811–1975  | Island of Corsica | Divided into Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse.
975  | Saint Pierre and Miquelon | Saint-Pierre | 1976–1985  | Islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon | Converted to an overseas collectivity.

#### Departments of Algeria (Départements d'Algérie)

[edit]

The three Algerian departments in 1848 Departments of French Algeria from 1957 to 1962

Unlike the rest of the French possessions in Africa, Algeria was divided into departments just like Corsica or Normandy from 1848 until its independence in 1962. These departments were supposed to be "assimilated" or "integrated" to France sometime in the future.

Before 1957  | No.  | Department  | Prefecture  | Dates of existence

|
|
|

91  | Alger | Algiers | 1848–1957
92  | Oran | Oran
93  | Constantine | Constantine
–  | Bône | Annaba | 1955–1957
1957–1962  | No.  | Department  | Prefecture  | Dates of existence

|
|
|

8A  | Oasis | Ouargla | 1957–1962
8B  | Saoura | Béchar
9A  | Alger | Algiers
9B  | Batna | Batna
9C  | Bône | Annaba  | 1955–1962
9D  | Constantine | Constantine  | 1957–1962
9E  | Médéa | Médéa
9F  | Mostaganem | Mostaganem
9G  | Oran  | Oran
9H  | Orléansville | Chlef
9J  | Sétif | Sétif
9K  | Tiaret | Tiaret
9L  | Tizi Ouzou | Tizi Ouzou
9M  | Tlemcen | Tlemcen
9N  | Aumale | Sour El-Ghozlane | 1958–1959
9P  | Bougie | Béjaïa | 1958–1962
9R  | Saïda | Saïda

#### Departments in former French colonies

[edit]

Department  | Named after  | Current location  | Dates in existence

|
|
|

Département du Sud [fr] | South cardinal direction  | Haiti | 1795–1800
Département d'Inganne [fr] |  | Dominican Republic, Haiti
Département du Nord [fr] | North cardinal direction  | Haiti
Département de l'Ouest [fr] | West cardinal direction
Département de Samana [fr] | Samaná Bay | Dominican Republic
Saint Lucia | Island of St Lucia | Saint Lucia, Tobago
Île de France | Island of Mauritius | Mauritius, Seychelles
Indes-Orientales | India and East cardinal direction  | India:

Pondicherry Union Territory (Pondichéry, Karikal, Yanaon, Mahé)
West Bengal (Chandernagore)

#### Departments of the Napoleonic Empire in Europe

[edit]

There are a number of former departments in territories conquered by France during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire that are now not part of France:

Department  | Prefecture
(French name
if different)  | Named after  | Current location1 | Contemporary location2 | Dates in existence

|
|
|
|
|

Mont-Terrible | Porrentruy | Mont Terri mountain  | Switzerland
France (Doubs)  | Holy Roman Empire:

Prince-Bishopric of Basel3
County of Montbéliard
| 1793–1800
Dyle | Brussels
Bruxelles | Dyle (river) | Belgium  | Austrian Netherlands:

Duchy of Brabant
County of Hainaut
| 1795–1814
Escaut | Ghent
Gand | Scheldt river  | Belgium
Netherlands  | Austrian Netherlands:

County of Flanders

Dutch Republic:

Flanders of the States
Forêts | Luxembourg | Ardennes forest | Luxembourg
Belgium
Germany  | Austrian Netherlands:

Duchy of Luxembourg
Jemmape | Mons | Battle of Jemappes | Belgium  | Austrian Netherlands:

County of Hainaut
Lordship of Tournai
County of Namur

Holy Roman Empire:

Prince-Bishopric of Liège
Lys | Bruges | Lys (river) | Austrian Netherlands:

County of Flanders
Meuse-Inférieure | Maastricht
Maëstricht | Meuse river  | Belgium
Netherlands  | Austrian Netherlands:

Austrian Upper Guelders
Duchy of Limburg

Dutch Republic:

Dutch Upper Guelders
Overmaas of the States

Holy Roman Empire:

Prince-Bishopric of Liège:

County of Horne
County of Loon
Thorn Abbey
Maastricht5
Deux-Nèthes | Antwerp
Anvers | Two branches of the Nete (river) | Austrian Netherlands:

Duchy of Brabant

Dutch Republic:

Brabant of the States (after 1810)
Ourthe | Liège | Ourthe river  | Belgium
Germany  | Austrian Netherlands:

Duchy of Brabant
Duchy of Limburg
Duchy of Luxembourg
County of Namur

Holy Roman Empire:

Prince-Bishopric of Liège
Imperial Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy
Sambre-et-Meuse | Namur | Sambre and Meuse rivers  | Belgium  | Austrian Netherlands:

Duchy of Brabant
Duchy of Luxembourg

Holy Roman Empire:

Prince-Bishopric of Liège
Corcyre | Corfu
Corfou | Island of Corfu
(archaic French form)  | Greece  | Republic of Venice4 | 1797–1799
Ithaque | Argostoli | Island of Ithaca | 1797–1798
Mer-Égée | Zakynthos
Zante | Aegean Sea
Mont-Tonnerre | Mainz
Mayence | Donnersberg mountain  | Germany  | Holy Roman Empire:

Archbishopric of Mainz

Electorate of the Palatinate

Bishopric of Speyer
| 1801–1814
Rhin-et-Moselle | Koblenz
Coblence | Rhine and Moselle rivers  | Holy Roman Empire:

Archbishopric of Cologne

Electorate of the Palatinate

Archbishopric of Trier
Roer | Aachen
Aix-la-Chapelle | Roer river  | Germany
Netherlands  | Holy Roman Empire:

Free Imperial City of Aachen
Archbishopric of Cologne
Electorate of the Palatinate:
Grand Duchy of Berg
Duchy of Jülich

Kingdom of Prussia:

Prussian Guelders

Imperial Free City of Wesel (after 1805)

Sarre | Trier
Trèves | Saar (river) | Belgium
Germany  | Holy Roman Empire:

Electorate of the Palatinate:

County of Veldenz
Duchy of Zweibrücken
Archbishopric of Trier
Doire | Ivrea
Ivrée | Dora Baltea river  | Italy  | Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia:

Duchy of Savoy
| 1802–1814
Marengo | Alessandria
Alexandrie | Battle of Marengo
Pô | Turin | Po (river)
Sésia | Vercelli
Verceil | Sesia river
Stura | Cuneo
Coni | Stura di Demonte river
Tanaro6 | Asti | Tanaro (river) | 1802–1805
Apennins | Chiavari | Apennine mountains | Republic of Genoa7 | 1805–1814
Gênes | Genoa
Gênes | City of Genoa
Montenotte | Savona
Savone | Battle of Montenotte
Arno | Florence | Arno (river) | Grand Duchy of Tuscany8 | 1808–1814
Méditerranée | Livorno
Livourne | Mediterranean Sea
Ombrone | Siena
Sienne | Ombrone river
Taro | Parma
Parme | Taro (river) | Holy Roman Empire:

Duchy of Parma & Piacenza
Rome9 | Rome | City of Rome  | Papal States | 1809–1814
Trasimène | Spoleto
Spolète | Lake Trasimeno
Bouches-du-Rhin | 's-Hertogenbosch
Bois-le-Duc | Rhine river  | Netherlands  | Dutch Republic:10

Batavian Brabant (Brabant of the States)
Dutch Guelders
| 1810–1814
Bouches-de-l'Escaut | Middelburg
Middelbourg | Scheldt river  | Dutch Republic:10

County of Zeeland
Simplon | Sion | Simplon Pass | Switzerland  | République des Sept-Dizains11
Bouches-de-la-Meuse | The Hague
La Haye | Meuse river  | Netherlands  | Dutch Republic:10

County of Holland
| 1811–1814
Bouches-de-l'Yssel | Zwolle | IJssel river  | Dutch Republic:10

Overijssel
Ems-Occidental | Groningen
Groningue | Ems (river) | Netherlands
Germany  | Dutch Republic:10

Dutch Upper Guelders
Ems-Oriental | Aurich | Germany  | Holy Roman Empire:

Kingdom of Prussia:

County of East Frisia10
Frise | Leeuwarden
Leuwarden | Friesland region  | Netherlands  | Dutch Republic:10

Friesland
Yssel-Supérieur | Arnhem | IJssel river  | Dutch Republic:10

Dutch Upper Guelders
Zuyderzée | Amsterdam | Zuiderzee inlet  | Dutch Republic:10

County of Holland
Lordship of Utrecht
Bouches-de-l'Elbe | Hamburg
Hambourg | Elbe river  | Germany  | Holy Roman Empire:

Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg
Electorate of Hanover
Free Hanseatic City of Lübeck

Bouches-du-Weser | Bremen
Brême | Weser river  | Holy Roman Empire:

Free Hanseatic City of Bremen
Electorate of Hanover
Duchy of Oldenburg
Ems-Supérieur | Osnabrück | Ems (river) | Holy Roman Empire:

Electorate of Hanover
Bishopric of Osnabrück
Kingdom of Prussia:

Town and County of Lingen
Principality of Minden
County of Ravensberg
Lippe12 | Münster
Munster | Lippe (river) | Holy Roman Empire:

Bishopric of Münster
Electorate of the Palatinate:
Grand Duchy of Berg
Bouches-de-l'Èbre | Lleida
Lérida | Ebro river | Spain  | Kingdom of Spain:

Catalonia
| 1812–1813
Montserrat | Barcelona
Barcelone | Montserrat (mountain)
Sègre | Puigcerdà
Puigcerda | Segre (river)
Ter | Girona
Gérone | Ter (river)
Bouches-de-l'Èbre-Montserrat | Barcelona
Barcelone | Ebro river and Montserrat mountain  | Previously the departments of Bouches-de-l'Èbre and Montserrat | 1813–1814
Sègre-Ter | Girona
Gérone | Segre and Ter rivers  | Previously the departments of Sègre and Ter

Notes for Table 7:

1. Where a Napoleonic department was composed of parts from more than one country, the nation-state containing the prefecture is listed. Please expand this table to list all countries containing significant parts of the department.
2. Territories that were a part of Austrian Netherlands were also a part of Holy Roman Empire.
3. The Bishopric of Basel was a German Prince-Bishopric, not to be confused with the adjacent Swiss Canton of Basel.
4. The Ionian Islands were annexed by France after the Fall of the Republic of Venice. They were lost to France, becoming the Septinsular Republic, a Russo-Ottoman vassal state, from 1800 to 1807, before reverting to France at the Treaty of Tilsit. The second period of French rule lasted until 1810/14, after which these territories became a British protectorate, as the United States of the Ionian Islands
5. Maastricht was a condominium of the Dutch Republic and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.
6. On 6 June 1805, as a result of the annexation of the Ligurian Republic (the puppet successor state to the Republic of Genoa), Tanaro was abolished and its territory divided between the departments of Marengo, Montenotte and Stura.
7. Before becoming the department of Apennins, the Republic of Genoa was converted to a puppet successor state, the Ligurian Republic.
8. Before becoming the department of Arno, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was converted to a puppet successor state, the Kingdom of Etruria.
9. Rome was known as the department du Tibre until 1810.
10. Before becoming the departments of Bouches-du-Rhin, Bouches-de-l'Escaut, Bouches-de-la-Meuse, Bouches-de-l'Yssel, Ems-Occidental, Frise, Yssel-Supérieur and Zuyderzée, these territories of the Dutch Republic were converted to a puppet successor state, the Batavian Republic (1795–1806), then those territories that had not already been annexed (all except the first two departments here), along with the Prussian County of East Frisia, were converted to another puppet state, the Kingdom of Holland.
11. Before becoming the department of Simplon, the République des Sept Dizains was converted to a revolutionary République du Valais (16 March 1798) which was swiftly incorporated (1 May 1798) into the puppet Helvetic Republic until 1802 when it became the independent Rhodanic Republic.
12. In the months before Lippe was formed, the arrondissements of Rees and Münster were part of Yssel-Supérieur, the arrondissement of Steinfurt was part of Bouches-de-l'Yssel and the arrondissement of Neuenhaus was part of Ems-Occidental.

## See also

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Departments of France.

* ISO 3166-2:FR
* List of French departments by population, area and population density
* Overseas departments and regions of France

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Code officiel géographique au 1er janvier 2021 | Insee". insee.fr. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
2. ^ Ministère de l'intérieur, Les élections départementales : comprendre ce qui change (in French), archived from the original on 10 August 2016, retrieved 30 July 2015
3. ^ "Quelles sont les compétences des départements ?". Vie publique.fr (in French). Retrieved 5 November 2021.
4. ^ 83 départements sont créés en France (in French), retrieved 5 November 2021
5. ^ Rey, Alain (25 October 2011). Dictionnaire Historique de la langue française (in French). NATHAN. ISBN 978-2-321-00013-6.
6. ^ "Sous le Sénat de l'Empire – Personnalités – Emmanuel-Joseph Sieyès – Sénat". senat.fr. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
7. ^ "Création du département" (in French). Archives départementales du Puy-de-Dôme. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
8. ^ "Carte de France à la révolution: création des départements". cartesfrance.fr. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
9. ^ Turchetti, Mario (2005). La Suisse de la Médiation dans l'Europe napoléonienne (1803–1814): actes du colloque de Fribourg (journée du 10 octobre 2003) (in French). Saint-Paul. p. 46\. ISBN 978-2-8271-0983-8.
10. ^ "🔎 Code INSEE : définition et explications". Techno-Science.net (in French). Retrieved 5 November 2021.
11. ^ "François Hollande fixe les régions à 14 et la fin des départements à 2020". La Gazette des Communes (in French). Retrieved 5 November 2021.
12. ^ Masson, Jean-Louis (1984). Provinces, départements, régions: L'organisation administrative de la France d'hier à demain. Éditions Fernand Lanore. ISBN 9782851570031. Retrieved 15 July 2017. `{{cite book}}`: `|website=` ignored (help)
13. ^ a b c d Legay, Marie-Laure (2003). "La fin du pouvoir provincial (4 août 1789-21 septembre 1791)". Annales historiques de la Révolution française (332): 25–53\. doi:10.4000/ahrf.821. ISSN 0003-4436.
14. ^ "Le nom des départements". Le Monde. 11 December 1999.
15. ^ See Provinces of the Netherlands for the annexed Dutch departments.
16. ^ a b "24 mars 1860 - La France reçoit Nice et la Savoie - Herodote.net". herodote.net. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
17. ^ "Départements 1867". crohee.chez.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
18. ^ "La fusion département-région n'est pas à l'ordre du jour". L'Express. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
19. ^ Report of the Attali Commission[permanent dead link] "Decision 260", p. 197 (in French)
20. ^ a b "Les 20 propositions du Comité (20 propositions of the Committee)" (in French). Committee for the reform of local authorities. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
21. ^ "Mayotte - Histoire". Ministère des Outre-mer. 25 November 2016. Archived from the original on 20 October 2021. Retrieved 20 October 2021.

* v
* t
* e

Departments of France

Metropolitan|

* 01 Ain
* 02 Aisne
* 03 Allier
* 04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
* 05 Hautes-Alpes
* 06 Alpes-Maritimes
* 07 Ardèche
* 08 Ardennes
* 09 Ariège
* 10 Aube
* 11 Aude
* 12 Aveyron
* 13 Bouches-du-Rhône
* 14 Calvados
* 15 Cantal
* 16 Charente
* 17 Charente-Maritime
* 18 Cher
* 19 Corrèze
* 2A Corse-du-Sud
* 2B Haute-Corse
* 21 Côte-d'Or
* 22 Côtes-d'Armor
* 23 Creuse
* 24 Dordogne
* 25 Doubs
* 26 Drôme
* 27 Eure
* 28 Eure-et-Loir
* 29 Finistère
* 30 Gard
* 31 Haute-Garonne
* 32 Gers
* 33 Gironde
* 34 Hérault
* 35 Ille-et-Vilaine
* 36 Indre
* 37 Indre-et-Loire
* 38 Isère
* 39 Jura
* 40 Landes
* 41 Loir-et-Cher
* 42 Loire
* 43 Haute-Loire
* 44 Loire-Atlantique
* 45 Loiret
* 46 Lot
* 47 Lot-et-Garonne
* 48 Lozère
* 49 Maine-et-Loire
* 50 Manche
* 51 Marne
* 52 Haute-Marne
* 53 Mayenne
* 54 Meurthe-et-Moselle
* 55 Meuse
* 56 Morbihan
* 57 Moselle
* 58 Nièvre
* 59 Nord
* 60 Oise
* 61 Orne
* 62 Pas-de-Calais
* 63 Puy-de-Dôme
* 64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques
* 65 Hautes-Pyrénées
* 66 Pyrénées-Orientales
* 67 Bas-Rhin
* 68 Haut-Rhin
* 69D Rhône
* 70 Haute-Saône
* 71 Saône-et-Loire
* 72 Sarthe
* 73 Savoie
* 74 Haute-Savoie
* 76 Seine-Maritime
* 77 Seine-et-Marne
* 78 Yvelines
* 79 Deux-Sèvres
* 80 Somme
* 81 Tarn
* 82 Tarn-et-Garonne
* 83 Var
* 84 Vaucluse
* 85 Vendée
* 86 Vienne
* 87 Haute-Vienne
* 88 Vosges
* 89 Yonne
* 90 Territoire de Belfort
* 91 Essonne
* 92 Hauts-de-Seine
* 93 Seine-Saint-Denis
* 94 Val-de-Marne
* 95 Val-d'Oise

Overseas|

* 971 Guadeloupe
* 972 Martinique (territorial collectivity)
* 973 French Guiana (territorial collectivity)
* 974 Réunion
* 976 Mayotte

Special|

* 69M Lyon (collectivity with special status)
* 75 Paris (collectivity with special status)

Former|

* 975 Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Overseas collectivity)

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* e

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