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 ...

, a subprefecture () is the commune which is the administrative centre of a departmental arrondissement that does not contain the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

for its department. The term also applies to the building that houses the administrative headquarters for an arrondissement."Sous-préfectures : l'État à proximité"

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

(in French). The

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

in charge of a subprefecture is the

subprefect A subprefect is a senior government official in several countries at the local level, such as Brazil and France. Brazil In Brazil, a subprefect (''subprefeito'') is the highest official of a subprefecture, which is a subdivision of certain large ...

, assisted by a

general secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, Power (social and political), power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the org ...

. Between May 1982 and February 1988, subprefects were known instead by the title Deputy Commissioner of the Republic (''commissaire adjoint de la République''). Where the administration of an arrondissement is carried out from a prefecture, the general secretary to the prefect carries out duties equivalent to those of the subprefect. The municipal arrondissements of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

and

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

are divisions of the commune rather than the prefecture. They are not arrondissements in the same sense.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Subprefectures In France Sous-prefecture fr:Sous-préfecture oc:Sosprefectura sv:Sous-préfecture

See also

References