Departments of France

Departments of France Départements français  (French)
Also known as: Departamant gall  (Breton), Dèpartament francês  (Arpitan), Departament francés  (Occitan), Fratziako departamendu  (Basque), Departament francès  (Catalan)
450px
Location	France
Found in	Regions
Number	101 (as of January 1, 2021)
Possible types	Metropolitan Departments Overseas Departments
Government	Departmental council
Subdivisions	Arrondissements Cantons

This article is part of the series on Administrative divisions of France

Main article

Regions (incl. overseas regions)

Departments (incl. overseas departments)

Arrondissements

Cantons

Intercommunality Urban communities Agglomeration communities Commune communities Syndicates of New Agglomeration

Communes Associated communes Municipal arrondissements

Others in Overseas France Overseas collectivities Sui generis collectivity Overseas country Overseas territory Clipperton Island

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. Ninety-six departments are in metropolitan France, and five are overseas departments, which are also classified as overseas regions. Departments are further subdivided into 334 arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons; the last two have no autonomy, and are used for the organisation of police, fire departments, and sometimes, elections.

Each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council (conseil départemental [sing.], conseils départementaux [plur.]). From 1800 to April 2015, these were called general councils (conseil général [sing.] conseils généraux [plur.]). 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. 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; the title "department" is used to mean a part of a larger whole. 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. The division of France into departments was a project particularly identified with the French revolutionary leader the Abbé Sieyès, although it had already been frequently discussed and written about by many politicians and thinkers. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of d'Argenson. They have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies.

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). Overseas departments have a three-digit number. The number is used, for example, in the postal code, and was until recently 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 to abolish departmental councils by 2020, which would have maintained the departments as administrative divisions, and to transfer their powers to other levels of governance. This reform project has since been abandoned.

History

Main article: Territorial evolution of France

Geometrical proposition rejected

File:Départements et provinces de France.svg

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.

Before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces. During the period of the Revolution, these 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. 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.

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. 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. The provinces continued to exist administratively until 21 September 1791.

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. Following Napoleon's defeats 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. 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. The 89 departments were given numbers based on the alphabetical order of their names.

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 re-integrated 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 re-organisation 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 up to the present 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; 4000 sq. mi.), while the smallest is the city of Paris (105 km²; 40 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, 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 get three digits.

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.

Party political 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.

• Presidents of French departments current.svg

  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.

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

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. This committee advocates, on the contrary, the suppression of the cantons.

Maps and tables

Current departments

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

INSEE code Arms Department Capital Region Named after 01 Ain Bourg-en-Bresse Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Ain (river) 02 Aisne Laon Hauts-de-France Aisne (river) 03 Coat of arms of department 03 Allier Moulins Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Allier (river) 04 Coat of arms of department 04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Digne-les-Bains Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Alps mountains and Provence region 05 Coat of arms of department 05 Hautes-Alpes Gap Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Alps mountains 06 Alpes-Maritimes Nice Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Alps mountains 07 Coat of arms of department 07 Ardèche Privas Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Ardèche (river) 08 Ardennes Charleville-Mézières Grand Est Ardennes Forest 09 Coat of arms of department 09 Ariège Foix Occitanie Ariège (river) 10 Aube Troyes Grand Est Aube (river) 11 Coat of arms of department 11 Aude Carcassonne Occitanie Aude (river) 12 Aveyron Rodez Occitanie Aveyron (river) 13 Coat of arms of department 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 Coat of arms of department 15 Cantal Aurillac Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Mounts of Cantal 16 Charente Angoulême Nouvelle-Aquitaine Charente (river) 17 Charente-Maritime La Rochelle Nouvelle-Aquitaine Charente (river) 18 Coat of arms of department 18 Cher Bourges Centre-Val de Loire Cher (river) 19 Corrèze Tulle Nouvelle-Aquitaine Corrèze (river) 2A Coat of arms of Corsica Corse-du-Sud Ajaccio Corsica Island of Corsica 2B Coat of arms of Corsica Haute-Corse Bastia Corsica Island of Corsica 21 Coat of arms of department 21 Côte-d'Or Dijon Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Color of Burgundy Vineyards during Autumn. 22 Coat of arms of department 22 Côtes-d'Armor Saint-Brieuc Brittany coasts of Armorica 23 Creuse Guéret Nouvelle-Aquitaine Creuse (river) 24 Coat of arms of department 24 Dordogne Périgueux Nouvelle-Aquitaine Dordogne (river) 25 Doubs Besançon Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Doubs (river) 26 Coat of arms of department 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 Coat of arms of department 29 Finistère Quimper Brittany Finis Terrae (end of earth) 30 Gard Nîmes Occitanie Gardon (river) 31 Haute-Garonne Toulouse Occitanie Garonne (river) 32 Coat of arms of department 32 Gers Auch Occitanie Gers (river) 33 Gironde Bordeaux Nouvelle-Aquitaine Gironde estuary 34 Hérault Montpellier Occitanie Hérault (river) 35 Coat of arms of department 35 Ille-et-Vilaine Rennes Brittany Ille and Vilaine rivers 36 Indre Châteauroux Centre-Val de Loire Indre (river) 37 Indre-et-Loire Tours Centre-Val de Loire Indre and Loire rivers 38 Coat of arms of department 38 Isère Grenoble Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Isère (river) 39 Jura Lons-le-Saunier Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Jura Mountains 40 Coat of arms of department 40 Landes Mont-de-Marsan Nouvelle-Aquitaine Landes forest 41 Loir-et-Cher Blois Centre-Val de Loire Loir and Cher rivers 42 Coat of arms of department 42 Loire Saint-Étienne Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Loire (river) 43 Coat of arms of department 43 Haute-Loire Le Puy-en-Velay Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Loire (river) 44 Coat of arms of department 44 Loire-Atlantique 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 Coat of arms of department 48 Lozère Mende Occitanie Mont Lozère 49 Coat of arms of department 49 Maine-et-Loire Angers Pays de la Loire Maine and Loire rivers 50 Manche Saint-Lô Normandy English Channel 51 Coat of arms of department 51 Marne Châlons-en-Champagne Grand Est Marne (river) 52 Haute-Marne Chaumont Grand Est Marne (river) 53 Mayenne Laval Pays de la Loire Mayenne (river) 54 Coat of arms of department 54 Meurthe-et-Moselle Nancy Grand Est Meurthe and Moselle rivers 55 Coat of arms of department 55 Meuse Bar-le-Duc Grand Est Meuse (river) 56 Coat of arms of department 56 Morbihan Vannes Brittany Gulf of Morbihan 57 Coat of arms of department 57 Moselle Metz Grand Est Moselle (river) 58 Coat of arms of department 58 Nièvre Nevers Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Nièvre (river) 59 Nord Lille Hauts-de-France North 60 Oise Beauvais Hauts-de-France Oise (river) 61 Orne Alençon Normandy Orne (river) 62 Pas-de-Calais Arras Hauts-de-France Strait of Dover 63 Coat of arms of department 63 Puy-de-Dôme Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Puy de Dôme volcano 64 Coat of arms of department 64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques Pau Nouvelle-Aquitaine Pyrenees and Atlantic Ocean 65 Coat of arms of department 65 Hautes-Pyrénées Tarbes Occitanie Pyrenees 66 Coat of arms of department 66 Pyrénées-Orientales Perpignan Occitanie Pyrenees 67 Coat of arms of department 67 Bas-Rhin Strasbourg Grand Est Rhine (river) 68 Coat of arms of department 68 Haut-Rhin Colmar Grand Est Rhine (river) 69 Coat of arms of department 69 Rhône Lyon (provisional) Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Rhône (river) 69M Lyon Metropolis Lyon Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes commune of Lyon 70 Coat of arms of department 70 Haute-Saône Vesoul Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Saône (river) 71 Saône-et-Loire Mâcon Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Saône and Loire rivers 72 Coat of arms of department 72 Sarthe Le Mans Pays de la Loire Sarthe (river) 73 Savoie Chambéry Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Savoy 74 Haute-Savoie Annecy Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Savoy 75 Paris Paris Île-de-France commune of Paris 76 Coat of arms of department 76 Seine-Maritime Rouen Normandy Seine (river) 77 Seine-et-Marne Melun Île-de-France Seine and Marne rivers 78 Yvelines Versailles Île-de-France Forest of Yvelines 79 Deux-Sèvres Niort Nouvelle-Aquitaine Sèvre Nantaise and Sèvre Niortaise rivers 80 Somme Amiens Hauts-de-France Somme (river) 81 Coat of arms of department 81 Tarn Albi Occitanie Tarn (river) 82 Tarn-et-Garonne Montauban Occitanie Tarn and Garonne rivers 83 Coat of arms of department 83 Var Toulon Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Var (river) 84 Vaucluse Avignon Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Fontaine de Vaucluse spring 85 Coat of arms of department 85 Vendée La Roche-sur-Yon Pays de la Loire Vendée (river) 86 Vienne Poitiers Nouvelle-Aquitaine Vienne (river) 87 Coat of arms of department 87 Haute-Vienne Limoges Nouvelle-Aquitaine Vienne (river) 88 Coat of arms of department 88 Vosges Épinal Grand Est Vosges Mountains 89 Yonne Auxerre Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Yonne (river) 90 Territoire de Belfort Belfort Bourgogne-Franche-Comté commune of Belfort 91 Essonne Évry Île-de-France Essonne (river) 92 Hauts-de-Seine Nanterre Île-de-France Seine (river) 93 Seine-Saint-Denis Bobigny Île-de-France Seine (river) 94 Val-de-Marne Créteil Île-de-France Marne (river) 95 Coat of arms of department 95 Val-d'Oise Pontoise Île-de-France Oise (river) 971 Guadeloupe Basse-Terre Guadeloupe Island of Guadeloupe 972 Martinique Fort-de-France Martinique Island of Martinique 973 Guyane Cayenne French Guiana The Guianas 974 La Réunion Saint-Denis Réunion Island of Réunion 976 Mayotte Mamoudzou Mayotte Island of Mayotte Notes: ^1 Most of the coats of arms are not official ^2 This department was known as Basses-Alpes ("Lower Alps") until 1970 ^3 This department was known as Charente-Inférieure ("Lower Charente") until 1941 ^4 This department was known as Côtes-du-Nord ("Coasts of the North") until 1990 ^5 This department 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 This department was known as Loire-Inférieure ("Lower Loire") until 1957 ^7 This department was known as Mayenne-et-Loire ("Mayenne and Loire") until 1791 ^8 This department was known as Basses-Pyrénées ("Lower Pyrenees") until 1969 ^9 Number 75 was formerly assigned to Seine ^10 This department 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). 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

Department	Prefecture	Dates in existence
Rhône-et-Loire	Lyon	1790–1793	Split into Rhône and Loire on 12 August 1793.
Corsica	Bastia	1790–1793	Split into Golo and Liamone.
Golo	Bastia	1793–1811	Reunited with Liamone into Corsica.
Liamone	Ajaccio	1793–1811	Reunited with Golo into Corsica.
Mont-Blanc	Chambéry	1792–1815	Formed from part of the Duchy of Savoy, a territory of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia and was restored to Piedmont-Sardinia after Napoleon's defeat. The department corresponds approximately with the present French departments Savoie and Haute-Savoie.
Léman	Geneva	1798–1814	Formed when the Republic of Geneva was annexed into the First French Empire. Geneva was added to territory taken from several other departments to create Léman. The department corresponds with the present Swiss canton and parts of the present French departments Ain and Haute-Savoie.
Meurthe	Nancy	1790–1871	Meurthe 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.
Seine	Paris	1790–1967	On 1 January 1968, Seine was divided into four new departments: Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne (the last incorporating a small amount of territory from Seine-et-Oise as well). Was department number 75.
Seine-et-Oise	Versailles	1790–1967	On 1 January 1968, Seine-et-Oise was divided into four new departments: Yvelines, Val-d'Oise, Essonne, Val-de-Marne (the last largely comprising territory from Seine). Was department number 78.
Corsica	Ajaccio	1811–1975	On 15 September 1975, Corsica was divided in two, to form Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse. Was department number 20.
Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Saint-Pierre	1976–1985	Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon was an overseas department from 1976 until it was converted to an overseas collectivity on 11 June 1985. INSEE code 975.

Departments of Algeria (Départements d'Algérie)

The three Algerian departments in 1848

Departments of French Algeria from 1957 to 1962

Unlike the rest of French-controlled Africa, Algeria was divided into overseas departments 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	Modern-day location	Dates in existence
Département du Sud	Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic)	1795–1800
Département de l'Inganne (Mostly in the Dominican Republic with eastern part of Haiti)		1795–1800
Département du Nord		1795–1800
Département de l'Ouest		1795–1800
Département de Samana (In the Dominican Republic)		1795–1800
Sainte-Lucie	Saint Lucia, Tobago	1795–1800
Île de France	Mauritius, Rodrigues, Seychelles	1795–1800
Indes-Orientales	Pondichéry, Karikal, Yanaon, Mahé and 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)	Prefecture (English name)	Current location1	Contemporary location2	Dates in existence
Mont-Terrible	Porrentruy		Switzerland France (Doubs)	Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Basel3	1793–1800
Dyle	Bruxelles	Brussels	Belgium	Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Brabant County of Hainaut	1795–1814
Escaut	Gand	Ghent	Belgium Netherlands	Austrian Netherlands: County of Flanders Dutch Republic: Zeelandic Flanders (Flanders of the States)	1795–1814
Forêts	Luxembourg		Luxembourg Belgium Germany	Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Bouillon Duchy of Luxembourg	1795–1814
Jemmape	Mons		Belgium	Austrian Netherlands: County of Hainaut Lordship of Tournai County of Namur Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Liège	1795–1814
Lys	Bruges			Austrian Netherlands: County of Flanders	1795–1814
Meuse-Inférieure	Maëstricht	Maastricht	Belgium Netherlands	Austrian Netherlands: Austrian Upper Guelders Duchy of Limburg Dutch Republic: Dutch Upper Guelders Limburg of the States Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Liège: County of Horne County of Loon Imperial Abbey of Thorn Maastricht5	1795–1814
Deux-Nèthes	Anvers	Antwerp		Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Brabant Dutch Republic: Brabant of the States (after 1810)	1795–1814
Ourthe	Liège		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		Belgium	Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Brabant Duchy of Luxembourg Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Liège	1795–1814
Corcyre	Corfou	Corfu	Greece	Republic of Venice4	1797–1799
Ithaque	Argostoli				1797–1798
Mer-Égée	Zante	Zakynthos			1797–1798
Mont-Tonnerre	Mayence	Mainz	Germany	Holy Roman Empire: Archbishopric of Mainz Electorate of the Palatinate Bishopric of Speyer	1801–1814
Rhin-et-Moselle	Coblence	Koblenz		Holy Roman Empire: Archbishopric of Cologne Electorate of the Palatinate Archbishopric of Trier	1801–1814
Roer	Aix-la-Chapelle	Aachen	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	Trèves	Trier	Belgium Germany	Holy Roman Empire: Electorate of the Palatinate: County of Veldenz Duchy of Zweibrücken Archbishopric of Trier	1801–1814
Doire	Ivrée	Ivrea	Italy	Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia: Duchy of Savoy	1802–1814
Marengo	Alexandrie	Alessandria			1802–1814
Pô	Turin				1802–1814
Sésia	Verceil	Vercelli			1802–1814
Stura	Coni	Cuneo			1802–1814
Tanaro6	Asti				1802–1805
Apennins	Chiavari			Republic of Genoa7	1805–1814
Gênes	Gênes	Genoa			1805–1814
Montenotte	Savone	Savona			1805–1814
Arno	Florence			Grand Duchy of Tuscany8	1808–1814
Méditerranée	Livourne	Livorno			1808–1814
Ombrone	Sienne	Siena			1808–1814
Taro	Parme	Parma		Holy Roman Empire: Duchy of Parma & Piacenza	1808–1814
Rome9	Rome			Papal States	1809–1814
Trasimène	Spolète	Spoleto			1809–1814
Bouches-du-Rhin	Bois-le-Duc	's-Hertogenbosch	Netherlands	Dutch Republic:10 Batavian Brabant (Brabant of the States) Dutch Guelders	1810–1814
Bouches-de-l'Escaut	Middelbourg	Middelburg		Dutch Republic:10 County of Zeeland	1810–1814
Simplon	Sion		Switzerland	République des Sept-Dizains11	1810–1814
Bouches-de-la-Meuse	La Haye	The Hague	Netherlands	Dutch Republic:10 County of Holland	1811–1814
Bouches-de-l'Yssel	Zwolle			Dutch Republic:10 Overijssel	1811–1814
Ems-Occidental	Groningue	Groningen	Netherlands Germany	Dutch Republic:10 Dutch Upper Guelders	1811–1814
Ems-Oriental	Aurich		Germany	Holy Roman Empire: Kingdom of Prussia: County of East Frisia10	1811–1814
Frise	Leuwarden	Leeuwarden	Netherlands	Dutch Republic:10 Friesland	1811–1814
Yssel-Supérieur	Arnhem			Dutch Republic:10 Dutch Upper Guelders	1811–1814
Zuyderzée	Amsterdam			Dutch Republic:10 County of Holland Lordship of Utrecht	1811–1814
Bouches-de-l'Elbe	Hambourg	Hamburg	Germany	Holy Roman Empire: Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg Electorate of Hanover Free Hanseatic City of Lübeck	1811–1814
Bouches-du-Weser	Brême	Bremen		Holy Roman Empire: Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Electorate of Hanover Duchy of Oldenburg	1811–1814
Ems-Supérieur	Osnabrück			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	Munster	Münster		Holy Roman Empire: Bishopric of Münster Electorate of the Palatinate: Grand Duchy of Berg	1811–1814
Bouches-de-l'Èbre	Lérida	Lleida	Spain	Kingdom of Spain: Catalonia	1812–1813
Montserrat	Barcelone	Barcelona			1812–1813
Sègre	Puigcerda	Puigcerdà			1812–1813
Ter	Gérone	Girona			1812–1813
Bouches-de-l'Èbre-Montserrat	Barcelone	Barcelona	Previously the departments of Bouches-de-l'Èbre and Montserrat		1813–1814
Sègre-Ter	Gérone	Girona	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 territories of the Republic of Venice were lost to France, becoming the Septinsular Republic, a nominal vassal of the Ottoman Empire, from 1800 to 1807. After reverting to France at the Treaty of Tilsit, these territories then 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