France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

is divided into eighteen administrative regions (french: régions, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which have a semi-autonomous status). All of the thirteen metropolitan administrative regions (including Corsica ) are further subdivided into two to thirteen administrative departments, with the prefect of each region's administrative centre's department also acting as the regional prefect. The overseas regions administratively consist of only one department each and hence also have the status of overseas departments. Most administrative regions also have the status of regional territorial collectivities, which comes with a

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

, with departmental and communal collectivities below the region level. The exceptions are Corsica, French Guiana, Mayotte and Martinique, where region and department functions are managed by single local governments having consolidated jurisdiction and which are known as single territorial collectivities.

History

1982–2015

The term was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation (2 March 1982), which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for regional representatives took place on 16 March 1986. Between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four overseas regions ( French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Réunion); in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. } , Strasbourg , align=center, 42 , Formerly a coalition of free cities in Holy Roman Empire, attached to

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period ...

in 1648; annexed by Germany from Franco-Prussian war to the end of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and briefly during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, - ,

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

, , oc, Aquitània
eu, Akitania
Saintongeais : ''Aguiéne'' ,

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

, align=center, 72 ,

Guyenne Guyenne or Guienne (, ; oc, Guiana ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the archdiocese of Bordeaux. The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transformation o ...

and Gascony , - , Auvergne , , oc, Auvèrnhe / Auvèrnha , Clermont-Ferrand , align=center, 83 , Former province of Auvergne , - ,

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, , br, Breizh
Gallo: , Rennes , align=center, 53 , Duchy of Brittany , - , Burgundy , , Burgundian: ''Bregogne'Borgoégne''
frp, Borgogne , Dijon , align=center, 26 ,

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; la, Ducatus Burgundiae; french: Duché de Bourgogne, ) emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the ...

, - , Centre-Val de LoireNew name as of 17 January 2015; formerly named . , , , Orléans , align=center, 24 , Located in north-central France; straddles the middle of the Loire Valley , - , Champagne-Ardenne , , , Châlons-en-
Champagne , align=center, 21 , Former province of Champagne , - , Corsica , , , Ajaccio , align=center, 94 , , - , Franche-Comté , , Franc-Comtois: ''Fràntche-Comté''
frp, Franche-Comtât ,

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

, align=center, 43 , Free County of Burgundy (''Franche-Comté'') , - , Île-de-France , , ,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, align=center, 11 , Province of Île-de-France and parts of the former province of Champagne , - ,

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon ; ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania. It comprised five departments, and b ...

, , oc, Lengadòc-Rosselhon
ca, Llenguadoc-Rosselló , Montpellier , align=center, 91 , Former provinces of Languedoc and Roussillon , - ,

Limousin Limousin (; oc, Lemosin ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. On 1 January 2016, it became part of the new administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienn ...

, , oc, Lemosin , Limoges , align=center, 74 , Former province of Limousin and parts of Marche, Berry, Auvergne,

Poitou Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...

and Angoumois , - ,

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

, , german: Lothringen
Lorraine Franconian: ,

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

, align=center, 41 , Named for

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

's son Lothair I, the kingdom of

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...

is etymologically the source for the name

Lorraine (duchy) The Duchy of Lorraine (french: Lorraine ; german: Lothringen ), originally Upper Lorraine, was a duchy now included in the larger present-day region of Lorraine in northeastern France. Its capital was Nancy. It was founded in 959 following th ...

, , ( Lorraine Franconian) , - ,

Lower Normandy Lower Normandy (french: Basse-Normandie, ; nrf, Basse-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Lower and Upper Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. Geography The region included three departme ...

, , Norman:
br, Normandi-Izel , Caen , align=center, 25 , Western half of former province of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, - , Midi-Pyrénées , , oc, Miègjorn-Pirenèus
oc, Mieidia-Pirenèus , Toulouse , align=center, 73 , None; created for Toulouse , - ,

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Calais ...

, , , Lille , align=center, 31 , Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments , - , Pays de la Loire , , br, Broioù al Liger , Nantes , align=center, 52 , None; created for Nantes , - , Picardy , , , Amiens , align=center, 22 , Former province of Picardy , - ,

Poitou-Charentes Poitou-Charentes (; oc, Peitau-Charantas; Poitevin-Saintongese: ) is a former administrative region on the southwest coast of France. It is part of the new region Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It comprises four departments: Charente, Charente-Maritime, D ...

, , oc, Peitau-Charantas
Poitevin and Saintongeais : ''Poetou-Chérentes'' , Poitiers , align=center, 54 , Former provinces of Angoumois,

Aunis Aunis () is a historical province of France, situated in the north-west of the department of Charente-Maritime. Its historic capital is La Rochelle, which took over from Castrum Allionis (Châtelaillon) the historic capital which gives its name ...

and Saintonge , - , Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) , (PACA) , style="white-space:nowrap;", Provençal:
() , Marseille , align=center, 93 , Former historical province of Provence and

County of Nice The County of Nice (french: Comté de Nice / Pays Niçois, it, Contea di Nizza/Paese Nizzardo, Niçard oc, Contèa de Niça/País Niçard) is a historical region of France located around the southeastern city of Nice and roughly equivalent t ...

annexed by France in 1860. , - , Rhône-Alpes , , frp, Rôno-Arpes
oc, Ròse Aups ,

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

, align=center, 82 , Created for

from

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

and Lyonnais provinces and Savoy , - ,

Upper Normandy Upper Normandy (french: Haute-Normandie, ; nrf, Ĥâote-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Upper and Lower Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy. History It was created in 1956 from two d ...

, , Norman:
br, Normandi-Uhel , Rouen , align=center, 23 , Eastern half of former province of

Reform and mergers of regions

In 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 effective 1 January 2016. The law gave interim names for most of the new regions by combining the names of the former regions, e.g. the region composed of

and

was temporarily called ''Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes''. However, the combined region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called "Normandy" (''Normandie''). Permanent names were proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016 and new names confirmed by the Conseil d'État by 30 September 2016. The legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to " Centre-Val de Loire" with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names. File:France proposal regions (2009) map.svg ,

Édouard Balladur Édouard Balladur (; born 2 May 1929) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France under François Mitterrand from 29 March 1993 to 17 May 1995. He unsuccessfully ran for president in the 1995 French presidential election, c ...

's proposal File:France proposal regions (2014) map.svg ,

Manuel Valls Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti (, , ; born 13 August 1962) is a French-Spanish politician who has served as a Barcelona city councillor from 2019 to 2021. He served as Prime Minister of France from 2014 until 2016 under president François Hol ...

's proposal A File:France proposal regions (2014) map2.svg,

's proposal B File:France proposal regions (2014) map3.svg, President François Hollande's proposal File:France assembly vote.svg, Regions as instituted by the National Assembly in 2014 Given below is a table of former regions and which new region they became part of.

List of administrative regions

}
frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Arpes ,

, align="right" , 69,711 , , 204 , align="center" , 84 , Auvergne
Rhône-Alpes , Laurent Wauquiez ( LR) , Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
(Burgundy-Free County) , frp, Borgogne-Franche-Comtât , Dijon , align="right" , 47,784 , , 100 , align="center" , 27 , Burgundy
Franche-Comté , Marie-Guite Dufay ( PS) , Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Bretagne
(Brittany) , br, Breizh
Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' , Rennes , align="right" , 27,208 , , 83 , align="center" , 53 , ''unchanged'' , Loïg Chesnais-Girard ( PS) , Brittany in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Centre-Val de Loire
(Centre-Loire Valley) , , Orléans , align="right" , 39,151 , , 77 , align="center" , 24 , ''unchanged'' , François Bonneau ( PS) , Centre-Val de Loire in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan ,

Corse Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the Regions of France, 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and ...

(Corsica) , co, Corsica , Ajaccio , align="right" , 8,680 , , 63 , align="center" , 94 , ''unchanged'' , Jean-Guy Talamoni (CL) , Corsica in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Grand Est
(Great East) , german: Großer Osten , Strasbourg , align="right" , 57,441 , , 169 , align="center" , 44 , Alsace
Champagne-Ardenne

Jean Rottner Jean Rottner (born 28 January 1967) is a French politician of the political party The Republicans who was mayor of Mulhouse from 2010 to 2017, and has been President of the regional council of Grand Est since 2017. Born as a son of teachers, J ...

( LR) ,

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Hauts-de-France
(Upper France) , , Lille , align="right" , 31,806 , , 170 , align="center" , 32 ,

Picardy ,

Xavier Bertrand Xavier Bertrand (; born 21 March 1965) is a French politician who has been serving as president of the regional council of Hauts-de-France since the 2015 regional elections. Earlier in his career, Bertrand was Minister of Health from 2005 to ...

( LR) ,

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Île-de-France
(Island of France) , br, Enez-Frañs ,

, align="right" , 12,011 , , 209 , align="center" , 11 , ''unchanged'' , Valérie Pécresse ( LR) , Île-de-France in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Normandie
(Normandy) , Norman: ''Normaundie''
br, Normandi , Rouen , align="right" , 29,907 , , 102 , align="center" , 28 ,

Hervé Morin Hervé Morin (born 17 August 1961) is a French politician of the Centrists who has been serving as the first President of the Regional Council of Normandy since January 2016. Under President Nicolas Sarkozy, he was the Minister of Defence. Po ...

( LC) ,

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Nouvelle-Aquitaine
(New Aquitaine) , oc, Nòva Aquitània / Nava Aquitània / Novela Aquitània
eu, Akitania Berria
,

, align="right" , 84,036 , , 183 , align="center" , 75 ,

, Alain Rousset ( PS) , Nouvelle-Aquitaine in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Occitanie (Occitania) , oc, Occitània
ca, Occitània , Toulouse , align="right" , 72,724 , , 158 , align="center" , 76 ,

Midi-Pyrénées , Carole Delga ( PS) , Occitanie in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Pays de la Loire
(Loire Countries) , br, Broioù al Liger , Nantes , align="right" , 32,082 , , 93 , align="center" , 52 , ''unchanged'' , Christelle Morançais ( LR) , Pays de la Loire in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
(Provence-Alps-Azure Coast) , Provençal: ''Provença-Aups-Còsta d'Azur''
(''Prouvènço-Aup-Costo d'Azur'') , Marseille , align="right" , 31,400 , , 123 , align="center" , 93 , ''unchanged'' , Renaud Muselier ( LR) , Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in France 2016

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="cyan" , Overseas , Guadeloupe ,

Antillean Creole Antillean Creole (Antillean French Creole, Kreyol, Kwéyòl, Patois) is a French-based creole that is primarily spoken in the Lesser Antilles. Its grammar and vocabulary include elements of Carib, English, and African languages. Antillean Creo ...

: ''Gwadloup'' ,

Basse-Terre Basse-Terre (, ; ; gcf, label=Guadeloupean Creole, Bastè, ) is a commune in the French overseas department of Guadeloupe, in the Lesser Antilles. It is also the ''prefecture'' (capital city) of Guadeloupe. The city of Basse-Terre is located o ...

, align="right" , 1,628 , , 41 , align="center" , 01 , ''unchanged'' ,

Ary Chalus Ary Chalus (born 6 December 1961, in Pointe-à-Pitre) is a French politician from Guadeloupe. He was the mayor of Baie-Mahault from April 2001 to December 2015. He was the deputy for Guadeloupe's 3rd constituency in the National Assembly of Fr ...

( GUSR) ,

, - , bgcolor="cyan" , Overseas ,

Guyane French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic coast of South America in the Guianas. It ...

(French Guiana) , , Cayenne , align="right" , 83,534 , , 51 , align="center" , 03 , ''unchanged'' , Rodolphe Alexandre ( PSG) , French Guiana in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="cyan" , Overseas ,

La Réunion LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figure ...

(Réunion) , Reunion Creole: ''La Rényon'' , Saint-Denis , align="right" , 2,504 , , 45 , align="center" , 04 , ''unchanged'' , Didier Robert ( LR) , Département 974 in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="cyan" , Overseas , Martinique ,

: ''Matinik'' , Fort-de-France , align="right" , 1,128 , , 51 , align="center" , 02 , ''unchanged'' ,

Claude Lise Claude Lise (born 31 January 1941 in Fort-de-France) is a French politician from Martinique. He is a Doctor, and was first elected to public office on 24 September 1995. He is the President of the Assembly of Martinique, which replaced both the Re ...

(RDM) ,

, - , bgcolor="cyan" , Overseas , Mayotte , Shimaore: ''Maore''
Malagasy: ''Mahori'' ,

Mamoudzou Mamoudzou (; ''Momojou'') is the capital of Mayotte, a French overseas region and department in the Indian Ocean. Mamoudzou is the most populated commune (municipality) of Mayotte. It is located on Grande-Terre (or Maoré), the main island of ...

, align="right" , 374 , , 26 , align="center" , 06 , ''unchanged'' , Soibahadine Ibrahim Ramadani (LR) , Mayotte in France 2016

, - ! ! ! ! !632,734 !68,035,000 !1,910 ! ! ! !

Role

Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law. They levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a regional council ''(conseil régional)'' made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A region's primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools. In March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the resulting costs, and that such measures would increase regional inequalities. In addition, regions have considerable discretionary power over infrastructural spending, e.g., education, public transit, universities and research, and assistance to business owners. This has meant that the heads of wealthy regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Proposals to give regions limited legislative autonomy have met with considerable resistance; others propose transferring certain powers from the departments to their respective regions, leaving the former with limited authority.

Regional control

Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986.

Overseas regions

Overseas region (french: Région d'outre-mer) is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. As integral parts of the French Republic, they are represented in the National Assembly, Senate and Economic and Social Council, elect a Member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

(MEP) and use the euro as their currency. Although these territories have had these political powers since 1982, when France's decentralisation policy dictated that they be given elected regional councils along with other regional powers, the designation ''overseas regions'' dates only to the 2003 constitutional change; indeed, the new wording of the constitution aims to give no precedence to either appellation ''overseas department'' or ''overseas region'', although the second is still virtually unused by French media. The following have overseas region status: * in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

(

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

): ** Mayotte ** Réunion * in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

: ** French Guiana in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

** Guadeloupe in the Antilles ( Caribbean) ** Martinique in the Antilles ( Caribbean) : ^

Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Pierre and Miquelon (), officially the Territorial Collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (french: link=no, Collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre et Miquelon ), is a self-governing territorial overseas collectivity of France in t ...

(off Canada, in North America), once an overseas department, was demoted to a

territorial collectivity A territorial collectivity (french: collectivité territoriale, previously '), or territorial authority, is a chartered subdivision of France with recognized governing authority. It is the generic name for any subdivision (subnational entity) wi ...

in 1985. France-Constituent-Lands.png Outre-mer en sans Terre Adelie.png

Notes

References

External links

*
Guide to the regions of France

Local websites by region

Will 2010 regional elections lead to political shake-up?
Radio France Internationale in English ; Overseas regions
Ministère de l'Outre-Mer

{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of European countries France 1 Regions, France

Regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Subdivisions of France