Departments of France

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 ninety-six departments in metropolitan France, with an additional 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 as well as, in certain cases, elections.

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

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 recently^[when?] used for all vehicle registration plates. 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

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

Main article: Administrative divisions of France

See also: List of French departments by population

Government and administration

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

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

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

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

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

Current departments

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

Former departments of the current territory of France

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	1790–1793	Island of Corsica	Divided into Golo and Liamone.
–	Golo	Bastia	1793–1811	Golo (river)	Reunited with Liamone into Corse.
–	Liamone	Ajaccio	1793–1811	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	1790–1967	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)

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 1848–1957 93 Constantine Constantine 1848–1957 – Bône Annaba 1955–1957

1957–1962 No. Department Prefecture Dates of existence 8A Oasis Ouargla 1957–1962 8B Saoura Béchar 1957–1962 9A Alger Algiers 1957–1962 9B Batna Batna 1957–1962 9C Bône Annaba 1955–1962 9D Constantine Constantine 1957–1962 9E Médéa Médéa 1957–1962 9F Mostaganem Mostaganem 1957–1962 9G Oran Oran 1957–1962 9H Orléansville Chlef 1957–1962 9J Sétif Sétif 1957–1962 9K Tiaret Tiaret 1957–1962 9L Tizi Ouzou Tizi Ouzou 1957–1962 9M Tlemcen Tlemcen 1957–1962 9N Aumale Sour El-Ghozlane 1958–1959 9P Bougie Béjaïa 1958–1962 9R Saïda Saïda 1958–1962

Departments in former French colonies

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	1795–1800
Département du Nord [fr]	North cardinal direction	Haiti	1795–1800
Département de l'Ouest [fr]	West cardinal direction	Haiti	1795–1800
Département de Samana [fr]	Samaná Bay	Dominican Republic	1795–1800
Saint Lucia	Island of St Lucia	Saint Lucia, Tobago	1795–1800
Île de France	Island of Mauritius	Mauritius, Seychelles	1795–1800
Indes-Orientales	India and East cardinal direction	India: Pondicherry Union Territory (Pondichéry, Karikal, Yanaon, Mahé) West Bengal (Chandernagore)	1795–1800

Departments of the Napoleonic Empire in Europe

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	1795–1814
Forêts	Luxembourg	Ardennes forest	Luxembourg Belgium Germany	Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Luxembourg	1795–1814
Jemmape	Mons	Battle of Jemappes	Belgium	Austrian Netherlands: County of Hainaut Lordship of Tournai County of Namur Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Liège	1795–1814
Lys	Bruges	Lys (river)		Austrian Netherlands: County of Flanders	1795–1814
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	1795–1814
Deux-Nèthes	Antwerp Anvers	Two branches of the Nete (river)		Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Brabant Dutch Republic: Brabant of the States (after 1810)	1795–1814
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	1795–1814
Sambre-et-Meuse	Namur	Sambre and Meuse rivers	Belgium	Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Brabant Duchy of Luxembourg Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Liège	1795–1814
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			1797–1798
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	1801–1814
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)	1801–1814
Sarre	Trier Trèves	Saar (river)	Belgium Germany	Holy Roman Empire: Electorate of the Palatinate: County of Veldenz Duchy of Zweibrücken Archbishopric of Trier	1801–1814
Doire	Ivrea Ivrée	Dora Baltea river	Italy	Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia: Duchy of Savoy	1802–1814
Marengo	Alessandria Alexandrie	Battle of Marengo			1802–1814
Pô	Turin	Po (river)			1802–1814
Sésia	Vercelli Verceil	Sesia river			1802–1814
Stura	Cuneo Coni	Stura di Demonte river			1802–1814
Tanaro6	Asti	Tanaro (river)			1802–1805
Apennins	Chiavari	Apennine mountains		Republic of Genoa7	1805–1814
Gênes	Genoa Gênes	City of Genoa			1805–1814
Montenotte	Savona Savone	Battle of Montenotte			1805–1814
Arno	Florence	Arno (river)		Grand Duchy of Tuscany8	1808–1814
Méditerranée	Livorno Livourne	Mediterranean Sea			1808–1814
Ombrone	Siena Sienne	Ombrone river			1808–1814
Taro	Parma Parme	Taro (river)		Holy Roman Empire: Duchy of Parma & Piacenza	1808–1814
Rome9	Rome	City of Rome		Papal States	1809–1814
Trasimène	Spoleto Spolète	Lake Trasimeno			1809–1814
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	1810–1814
Simplon	Sion	Simplon Pass	Switzerland	République des Sept-Dizains11	1810–1814
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	1811–1814
Ems-Occidental	Groningen Groningue	Ems (river)	Netherlands Germany	Dutch Republic:10 Dutch Upper Guelders	1811–1814
Ems-Oriental	Aurich	Ems (river)	Germany	Holy Roman Empire: Kingdom of Prussia: County of East Frisia10	1811–1814
Frise	Leeuwarden Leuwarden	Friesland region	Netherlands	Dutch Republic:10 Friesland	1811–1814
Yssel-Supérieur	Arnhem	IJssel river		Dutch Republic:10 Dutch Upper Guelders	1811–1814
Zuyderzée	Amsterdam	Zuiderzee inlet		Dutch Republic:10 County of Holland Lordship of Utrecht	1811–1814
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	1811–1814
Bouches-du-Weser	Bremen Brême	Weser river		Holy Roman Empire: Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Electorate of Hanover Duchy of Oldenburg	1811–1814
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	1811–1814
Lippe12	Münster Munster	Lippe (river)		Holy Roman Empire: Bishopric of Münster Electorate of the Palatinate: Grand Duchy of Berg	1811–1814
Bouches-de-l'Èbre	Lleida Lérida	Ebro river	Spain	Kingdom of Spain: Catalonia	1812–1813
Montserrat	Barcelona Barcelone	Montserrat (mountain)			1812–1813
Sègre	Puigcerdà Puigcerda	Segre (river)			1812–1813
Ter	Girona Gérone	Ter (river)			1812–1813
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		1813–1814

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

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

References

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