Region Région  (French)
Hauts-de- France Normandy Île-de- France Grand Est Bourgogne- Franche- Comté Centre- Val de Loire Pays de la Loire Brittany Nouvelle- Aquitaine Auvergne- Rhône-Alpes Occitanie Provence- Alpes- Côte d'Azur Corsica French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Mayotte Réunion Belgium Luxembourg Germany Switzerland Italy United Kingdom Andorra Brazil Suriname Spain Channel Bay of Biscay Ligurian Sea Mediterranean Sea
Category	Unitary state
Location	French Republic
Number	18
Possible status	Overseas region (5) Région d'outre-mer
Additional status	Territorial collectivity Collectivité Territoriale
Populations	212,645 (Mayotte) – 12,005,077 (Île-de-France)
Areas	376 km2 (145 sq mi) (Mayotte) – 84,061 km2 (32,456 sq mi) (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
Government	Region Government, National Government
Subdivisions	Department

France is divided into 18 administrative regions (French: région, [ʁeʒjɔ̃]), including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions.^[1] The 13 metropolitan regions (including 12 mainland regions and Corsica) are each further subdivided into 2 to 13 departments, while the overseas regions consist of only one department each and hence are also referred to as "overseas departments". The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, and in 2016 what had been 27 regions was reduced to 18.

History[edit]

The term région 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.^[2] In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through mergers.

Reform and mergers of regions[edit]

In 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 effective 1 January 2016.^[3]

Nord-Pas de Calais Picardy Upper Normandy Île-de- France Champagne- Ardenne Lorraine Alsace Franche- Comté Burgundy Centre- Val de Loire Pays de la Loire Brittany Lower Normandy Poitou- Charentes Limousin Auvergne Rhône- Alpes Aquitaine Midi-Pyrénées Languedoc- Roussillon PACA Corsica French Guiana Guadeloupe Martinique Mayotte Réunion Belgium Luxembourg Germany Switzerland Italy United Kingdom Andorra Brazil Suriname Spain Monaco Channel Bay of Biscay Ligurian Sea Mediterranean Sea

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 Aquitaine, Poitou-Charentes and Limousin 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.^[4][5] 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.^[6]
Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names.^[7][8]

Overview of region division proposals[edit]

• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Édouard Balladur's proposal
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Manuel Valls's proposal A
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Manuel Valls's proposal B
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  President François Hollande's proposal
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Regions as instituted by the National Assembly in 2014
  

  
  

  
  

Regions and their capitals[edit]

Regions from 1982 to 2016[edit]

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.

Regions in Metropolitan France between 1982 and 2015

Flag[11]	Region	French name	Other local name(s)	Capital	INSEE No.[1]	Derivation or etymology
	Alsace	Alsace	Alsatian: Elsàss German: Elsass	Strasbourg	42	Formerly a coalition of free cities in Holy Roman Empire, attached to Kingdom of France in 1648; annexed by Germany from Franco-Prussian war to the end of World War I and briefly during World War II
	Aquitaine	Aquitaine	Occitan: Aquitània Basque: Akitania Saintongeais : Aguiéne	Bordeaux	72	Guyenne and Gascony
	Auvergne	Auvergne	Occitan: Auvèrnhe / Auvèrnha	Clermont-Ferrand	83	Former province of Auvergne
	Brittany	Bretagne	Breton: Breizh Gallo: Bertaèyn	Rennes	53	Duchy of Brittany
	Burgundy	Bourgogne	Burgundian: Bregogne / Borgoégne Arpitan: Borgogne	Dijon	26	Duchy of Burgundy
	Centre-Val de Loire[10]	Centre-Val de Loire		Orléans	24	Located in north-central France; straddles the middle of the Loire Valley
	Champagne-Ardenne	Champagne-Ardenne		Châlons-en- Champagne	21	Former province of Champagne
	Franche-Comté	Franche-Comté	Franc-Comtois: Fràntche-Comté Arpitan: Franche-Comtât	Besançon	43	Free County of Burgundy (Franche-Comté)
	Île-de-France	Île-de-France		Paris	11	Province of Île-de-France and parts of the former province of Champagne
	Languedoc-Roussillon	Languedoc-Roussillon	Occitan: Lengadòc-Rosselhon Catalan: Llenguadoc-Rosselló	Montpellier	91	Former provinces of Languedoc and Roussillon
	Limousin	Limousin	Occitan: Lemosin	Limoges	74	Former province of Limousin and parts of Marche, Berry, Auvergne, Poitou and Angoumois
	Lorraine	Lorraine	German: Lothringen Lorraine Franconian: Lottringe	Metz	41	Named for Charlemagne's son Lothair I, the kingdom of Lotharingia is etymologically the source for the name Lorraine (duchy), Lothringen (German), Lottringe (Lorraine Franconian)
	Lower Normandy	Basse-Normandie	Norman: Basse-Normaundie	Caen	25	Western half of former province of Normandy
	Midi-Pyrénées	Midi-Pyrénées	Occitan: Miègjorn-Pirenèus Occitan: Mieidia-Pirenèus	Toulouse	73	None; created for Toulouse
	Nord-Pas-de-Calais	Nord-Pas-de-Calais		Lille	31	Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments
	Pays de la Loire	Pays de la Loire	Breton: Broioù al Liger	Nantes	52	None; created for Nantes
	Picardy	Picardie		Amiens	22	Former province of Picardy
	Poitou-Charentes	Poitou-Charentes	Occitan: Peitau-Charantas Poitevin and Saintongeais : Poetou-Chérentes	Poitiers	54	Former provinces of Angoumois, Aunis, Poitou and Saintonge
	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA)	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA)	Provençal: Provença-Aups-Còsta d'Azur (Prouvènço-Aup-Costo d'Azur)	Marseille	93	Former province of Provence
	Rhône-Alpes	Rhône-Alpes	Arpitan: Rôno-Arpes Occitan: Ròse Aups	Lyon	82	Created for Lyon from Dauphiné and Lyonnais provinces and Savoy
	Upper Normandy	Haute-Normandie	Norman: Ĥâote-Normaundie	Rouen	23	Eastern half of former province of Normandy

Role[edit]

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[edit]

Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986.

Elections	Presidencies			Map
	Left	Right	Other
1986	5	21	–
1992	4	21	1
1998	10	15	1

Elections	Presidencies			Map
	Left	Right	Other
2004	23	2	1
2010	23	3	–
2015	7	8	2

Overseas regions[edit]

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 (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 (Africa)
  
  • Mayotte
  
  
  • Réunion
  
  


• in the Americas
  
  • 
    French Guiana in South America
    
  
  
  • 
    Guadeloupe in the Antilles (Caribbean, Central America)
  
  
  • 
    Martinique in the Antilles (Caribbean, Central America)
  
  

Saint Pierre and Miquelon (off Canada, in North America), once an overseas department, was demoted to a territorial collectivity in 1985.

See also[edit]

• Ranked list of French regions


• Administrative divisions of France


• List of French regions and overseas collectivities by GDP


• Flags of the regions of France


• ISO 3166-2:FR

General:

• Decentralisation in France


• Budget of France


• Regional councils of France


• Administrative divisions of France

Overseas

• Outremer


• Overseas collectivity


• Overseas department


• Overseas departments and territories of France

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• 
  Regions of France at Curlie (based on DMOZ)


• 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


• some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs (in French)