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The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the
French Republic 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 ...
's departments and
arrondissements An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements'', ...
. Apart from their role as organizational units in relation to certain aspects of the administration of
public service A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
s and
justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...
, the chief purpose of the cantons today is to serve as
constituencies An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
for the
election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
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. As of 2015, there were 2,054 cantons in France. Most of them group together a number of
communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...
(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 Rochefourchat (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Ròchaforchaa'') is a commune in the Drôme department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, southeastern France. In the commune there is a single house, the St. Pierre's Church, a converted barn, and the ruins ...
) – are intended to be roughly equal in size of population.


Role and administration

The role of the ''canton'' is, essentially, to provide a framework for
departmental ''Departmental'' is a 1980 Australian TV movie based on a play by Mervyn Rutherford. It was part of the ABC's Australian Theatre Festival.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p43 Reviews were poor ...
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 Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a 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" (literally, ...
'' headquarters for example, are often situated in the principal town (''
chef-lieu An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...
'') 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, more simply referred to as ''arrondissements'' (). These are not to be confused with departmental arro ...
– 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 made by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). Mos ...
. 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 a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...
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 diplomatic 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 coun ...
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's ...
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 des lois'' (''Bulletin of the laws'') was a publication created during the French Revolution, as an "official anthology of the laws, orders and regulations that govern" the people. It was created by the decree of 14 Frimaire of ye ...
'' 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.Code officiel géographique au 1er janvier 2016
INSEE
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 () is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, eastern France. It had a population of 141,318 in 2019.Nord has 41.


See also

*
Administrative divisions of France The administrative divisions of France are concerned with the institutional and territorial organization of French territory. These territories are located in many parts of the world. There are many administrative divisions, which may have ...
*
Canton (subnational entity) A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...
*
List of cantons of France A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby union ...


References

{{Cantons of France
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
Subdivisions of France