The cantons of France () are territorial subdivisions of the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

departments Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military * Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and arrondissements. Apart from their role as organizational units in relation to certain aspects of the administration of

public service A public service or service of general (economic) interest is any service intended to address the needs of aggregate members of a community, whether provided directly by a public sector agency, via public financing available to private busin ...

s and

justice In its broadest sense, justice is the idea that individuals should be treated fairly. According to the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', the most plausible candidate for a core definition comes from the ''Institutes (Justinian), Inst ...

, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as

constituencies An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

for the

election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold Public administration, public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative d ...

of members of the representative assemblies established in each of France's territorial departments ( departmental councils, formerly general councils). For this reason, such elections were known in France as "cantonal elections", until 2015 when their name was changed to "departmental elections" to match the departmental councils' name. There are 2,054 cantons in France. Most of them group together a number of

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

(the lowest administrative division of the French Republic), although larger communes may be included in more than one canton, since the cantons – in marked contrast to the communes, which have between more than two million inhabitants (Paris) and just one person ( Rochefourchat) – are intended to be roughly equal in size of population for electoral purposes.

Role and administration

The role of the ''canton'' is, essentially, to provide a framework for departmental elections. Each ''canton'' elects a woman and a man to represent it at the '' conseil départemental du département'' – or departmental council for the ''department'', which is the principal administrative division of the French Republic. In urban areas, a single ''commune'' generally includes several ''cantons''. Conversely, in rural areas, a ''canton'' may comprise several smaller ''communes''. In the latter case, administrative services, the ''

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

'' headquarters for example, are often situated in the principal town () of the ''canton'', although there are exceptions, such as ''cantons'' Gaillon-Campagne and Sarreguemines-Campagne, which have in common a "chief-town" which does not belong to either ''canton''. For statistical ( INSEE) purposes, the twenty

arrondissements of Paris The Paris, City of Paris is divided into twenty ''Municipal arrondissements of France, arrondissements municipaux'', administrative districts, referred to as ''arrondissements'' (). These are not to be confused with departmental arrondissements ...

– the administrative subdivisions of that city – are sometimes considered ''cantons'', but they serve no greater electoral function.INSEE
Populations légales 2012 des cantons – découpage 2015 ''Cantons'' also form legal districts, as seats of '' Tribunaux d'instance'' (''TI'') or

Courts of First Instance A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

. Historically, the ''cantons'' are called ''justices de paix'' or "district courts".

History

The ''cantons'' were created in 1790 at the same time as the ''départements'' by the

Revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates for, a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective to describe something producing a major and sudden impact on society. Definition The term—bot ...

Committee for the Division of Territory (''Comité de division''). They were more numerous than today (between 40 and 60 to each ''département''). ''Cantons'' were, at first, grouped into what were called ''districts''. After the abolition of the ''district'' in 1800, they were reorganized by the

Consulate A consulate is the office of a consul. A type of mission, it is usually subordinate to the state's main representation in the capital of that foreign country (host state), usually an embassy (or, only between two Commonwealth countries, a ...

into ''arrondissements''. The number of ''cantons'' was then drastically reduced (between 30 and 50 units) by the ''Loi du 8 pluviôse an IX'' (28 January 1801), or the "Law for the Reduction of the Number of District Courts", or ''Loi portant réduction du nombre de justices de paix'' in French. The ''département''

prefects Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

were told by the government to group the ''communes'' within newly established ''cantons''. The ''département'' lists, once approved by the government, were published in the ''

Bulletin des lois The (''Bulletin of the Laws'') was a French government gazette published between 1794 and 1931. It was created during the French Revolution: during the Reign of Terror, the National Convention and its Committee of Public Safety The Committ ...

'' in 1801 and 1802; these lists were the basis of the administrative divisions of France from then until 2015, although ''cantons'' with small populations were eliminated and new ''cantons'' created in areas of strong demographic growth. On the whole, their number increased appreciably. In May 2013 a law was adopted that reduced the number of cantons drastically.LOI n° 2013-403 du 17 mai 2013 relative à l'élection des conseillers départementaux, des conseillers municipaux et des conseillers communautaires, et modifiant le calendrier électoral
/ref> This law came into effect at the French departmental elections in March 2015. Before the cantonal reform, there were 4,032 cantons; afterwards there were 2,054, with the cantons in Martinique and Guyana abolished. The 2013 reform law also changed the representation of the cantons in the departmental councils: each canton is now represented by a man and a woman.

Statistics

The number of ''cantons'' varies from one ''département'' to another. The

Territoire de Belfort The Territoire de Belfort (; "Territory of Belfort") is a department in the northeastern French region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. In 2020 it had a population of 140,120.Nord has the most at 41. The average figure is about 21.Based on 2,054 cantons divided by 100 departments.

References

{{Articles on fourth-level administrative divisions of countries

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Subdivisions of France

Role and administration

History

Statistics

See also

References