divided Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the ways that numbers are combined to make new numbers. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication. At an elementary level the division of two natural numb ...

overseas regions The overseas departments and regions of France (french: départements et régions d'outre-mer, ; ''DROM'') are departments of France that are outside metropolitan France, the European part of France. They have exactly the same status as mainlan ...

overseas collectivities The French overseas collectivities (''collectivité d'outre-mer'' or ''COM'') are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French overseas colonie ...

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

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, ...

territorial collectivities A territorial collectivity (french: collectivité territoriale, previously '), or territorial authority, is a chartered subdivision of France with recognized governing authority. It is the generic name for any subdivision (subnational entity) wi ...

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

overseas regions The overseas departments and regions of France (french: départements et régions d'outre-mer, ; ''DROM'') are departments of France that are outside metropolitan France, the European part of France. They have exactly the same status as mainlan ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

Réunion Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

Saintongeais Saintongeais (''saintonjhais'') is a dialect of Poitevin-Santongeais spoken halfway down the western coast of France in the former provinces of Saintonge, Aunis and Angoumois, all of which have been incorporated into the current departments o ...

Gascony Gascony (; french: Gascogne ; oc, Gasconha ; eu, Gaskoinia) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part o ...

province of Auvergne The history of the Auvergne dates back to the early Middle Ages, when it was a historic province in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the Counts of Auvergne. History Auvergne was a province of France deriving its ...

Gallo Gallo may refer to: *Related to Gaul: ** Gallo-Roman culture **Gallo language, a regional language of France **Gallo-Romance, a branch of Romance languages **Gallo-Italic or Gallo-Italian language, a branch spoken in Northern Italy of the Romance ...

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

Burgundian Burgundian can refer to any of the following: *Someone or something from Burgundy. *Burgundians, an East Germanic tribe, who first appear in history in South East Europe. Later Burgundians colonised the area of Gaul that is now known as Burgundy (F ...

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (, , ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (french: région Centre, link=no, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley ...

province of Champagne Champagne () was a province in the northeast of the Kingdom of France, now best known as the Champagne wine region for the sparkling white wine that bears its name in modern-day France. The County of Champagne, descended from the early medieva ...

Corsica Corsica ( , Upper , Southern ; it, Corsica; ; french: Corse ; lij, Còrsega; sc, Còssiga) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of ...

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

Franc-Comtois Frainc-Comtou (french: franc-comtois) is a Romance language of the '' langues d'oïl'' language family spoken in the Franche-Comté region of France and in the Canton of Jura and Bernese Jura in Switzerland. Sample vocabulary References Bi ...

Free County of Burgundy The Free County of Burgundy or Franche-Comté (french: Franche Comté de Bourgogne; german: Freigrafschaft Burgund) was a medieval county (from 982 to 1678) of the Holy Roman Empire, predecessor to the modern region of Franche-Comté. The name ' ...

province of Champagne Champagne () was a province in the northeast of the Kingdom of France, now best known as the Champagne wine region for the sparkling white wine that bears its name in modern-day France. The County of Champagne, descended from the early medieva ...

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

Roussillon Roussillon ( , , ; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the reg ...

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

Angoumois Angoumois (), historically the County of Angoulême, was a county and province of France, originally inferior to the parent duchy of Aquitaine, similar to the Périgord to its east but lower and generally less forested, equally with occasional vin ...

Lorraine Franconian Lorraine Franconian (Lorraine Franconian: ''Plàtt'' or ''lottrìnger Plàtt''; french: francique lorrain or ''platt lorrain''; german: Lothringisch) is an ambiguous designation for dialects of West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch), ...

Lothair I Lothair I or Lothar I (Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bavar ...

Lorraine Franconian Lorraine Franconian (Lorraine Franconian: ''Plàtt'' or ''lottrìnger Plàtt''; french: francique lorrain or ''platt lorrain''; german: Lothringisch) is an ambiguous designation for dialects of West Central German (german: Westmitteldeutsch), ...

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Normandy , - , Midi-Pyrénées , , oc, Miègjorn-Pirenèus
oc, Mieidia-Pirenèus , Toulouse , align=center, 73 , None; created for Toulouse , - , Nord-Pas-de-Calais , , , Lille , align=center, 31 ,

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

and

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

departments , - ,

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

, , br, Broioù al Liger ,

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, align=center, 52 , None; created for

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, - ,

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

, , , Amiens , align=center, 22 , Former province of Picardy , - , Poitou-Charentes , , oc, Peitau-Charantas
Poitevin and

Saintongeais Saintongeais (''saintonjhais'') is a dialect of Poitevin-Santongeais spoken halfway down the western coast of France in the former provinces of Saintonge, Aunis and Angoumois, all of which have been incorporated into the current departments o ...

: ''Poetou-Chérentes'' ,

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

, align=center, 54 , Former provinces of

Angoumois Angoumois (), historically the County of Angoulême, was a county and province of France, originally inferior to the parent duchy of Aquitaine, similar to the Périgord to its east but lower and generally less forested, equally with occasional vin ...

, Aunis, Poitou and

Saintonge Saintonge may refer to: *County of Saintonge, a historical province of France on the Atlantic coast *Saintonge (region), a region of France corresponding to the historical province Places *Saint-Genis-de-Saintonge, a commune in the Charente-Mari ...

, - , Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) , (PACA) , style="white-space:nowrap;",

Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

:
() , Marseille , align=center, 93 , Former historical province of Provence and County of Nice annexed by France in 1860. , - , Rhône-Alpes , , frp, Rôno-Arpes
oc, Ròse Aups , Lyon , align=center, 82 , Created for Lyon from Dauphiné and Lyonnais provinces and

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

, - , Upper Normandy , ,

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

:
br, Normandi-Uhel ,

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

, align=center, 23 , Eastern half of former province of Normandy

Reform and mergers of regions

In 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 effective 1 January 2016. 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. The legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to "

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (, , ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (french: région Centre, link=no, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley ...

" with effect from January 2015. Two regions,

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names. File:France proposal regions (2009) map.svg , Édouard Balladur's proposal File:France proposal regions (2014) map.svg , Manuel Valls's proposal A File:France proposal regions (2014) map2.svg, Manuel Valls's proposal B File:France proposal regions (2014) map3.svg, President

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...

's proposal File:France assembly vote.svg, Regions as instituted by the National Assembly in 2014 Given below is a table of former regions and which new region they became part of.

List of administrative regions

}
frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Arpes , Lyon , align="right" , 69,711 , , 204 , align="center" , 84 , Auvergne
Rhône-Alpes , Laurent Wauquiez ( LR) , Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
(Burgundy-Free County) , frp, Borgogne-Franche-Comtât , Dijon , align="right" , 47,784 , , 100 , align="center" , 27 ,

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

Franche-Comté Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...

,

Marie-Guite Dufay Marie-Marguerite Dufay, best known as Marie-Guite Dufay (born 21 May 1949), is a French politician of the Socialist Party (PS) who serves as president of the regional council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Political career Dufay was first elected ...

( PS) ,

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Bretagne
(Brittany) , br, Breizh

Gallo Gallo may refer to: *Related to Gaul: ** Gallo-Roman culture **Gallo language, a regional language of France **Gallo-Romance, a branch of Romance languages **Gallo-Italic or Gallo-Italian language, a branch spoken in Northern Italy of the Romance ...

: ''Bertaèyn'' ,

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

, align="right" , 27,208 , , 83 , align="center" , 53 , ''unchanged'' ,

Loïg Chesnais-Girard Loïg Chesnais-Girard (; born 25 March 1977) is a French politician. A former member of the Socialist Party, he was mayor of Liffré from 2008 to 2017 and is the current President of the Regional Council of Brittany Brittany (; french: link ...

( PS) ,

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan ,

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (, , ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (french: région Centre, link=no, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley ...

(Centre-Loire Valley) , , Orléans , align="right" , 39,151 , , 77 , align="center" , 24 , ''unchanged'' ,

François Bonneau François Bonneau (; born 12 October 1953) is a French educationalist, politician, and incumbent President of the Regional Council of Centre-Val de Loire. He is a member of the Socialist Party. He has served as *a representative member of the ...

( PS) ,

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Corse
(Corsica) , co, Corsica ,

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the ''Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsica). ...

, align="right" , 8,680 , , 63 , align="center" , 94 , ''unchanged'' ,

Jean-Guy Talamoni Jean-Guy Talamoni (; born 6 May 1960) is a French politician and Corsican nationalist, who was President of the Corsican Assembly The Corsican Assembly ( co, Assemblea di Corsica; french: L'Assemblée de Corse) is the unicameral legislativ ...

(CL) ,

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Grand Est
(Great East) , german: Großer Osten ,

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, align="right" , 57,441 , , 169 , align="center" , 44 , Alsace
Champagne-Ardenne
Lorraine , Jean Rottner ( LR) , Grand Est in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan ,

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost Regions of France, region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its Prefectu ...

(Upper France) , , Lille , align="right" , 31,806 , , 170 , align="center" , 32 , Nord-Pas-de-Calais

Picardy Picardy (; Picard and french: Picardie, , ) is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region of Hauts-de-France. It is located in the northern part of France. Hi ...

, Xavier Bertrand ( LR) , Hauts-de-France in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Île-de-France
(Island of France) , br, Enez-Frañs , Paris , align="right" , 12,011 , , 209 , align="center" , 11 , ''unchanged'' , Valérie Pécresse ( LR) , Île-de-France in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Normandie
(Normandy) ,

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

: ''Normaundie''
br, Normandi ,

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

, align="right" , 29,907 , , 102 , align="center" , 28 , Upper Normandy
Lower Normandy , Hervé Morin ( LC) , Normandy in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Nouvelle-Aquitaine
(New Aquitaine) , oc, Nòva Aquitània / Nava Aquitània / Novela Aquitània
eu, Akitania Berria
, Bordeaux , align="right" , 84,036 , , 183 , align="center" , 75 , Aquitaine
Limousin
Poitou-Charentes ,

Alain Rousset Alain Rousset (born 16 February 1951) is the Socialist president of the Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region o ...

( PS) ,

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan ,

Occitanie Occitanie may refer to: *Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French *Occitania (administrative region) Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...

(Occitania) , oc, Occitània
ca, Occitània , Toulouse , align="right" , 72,724 , , 158 , align="center" , 76 , Languedoc-Roussillon
Midi-Pyrénées ,

Carole Delga Carole Delga (born 19 August 1971) is a French politician of the Socialist Party (PS) who has been serving as the President of Occitania since 2016. Political career Delga has been a member of the Socialist Party since 2004. Member of the Na ...

( PS) ,

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan ,

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

(Loire Countries) , br, Broioù al Liger ,

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

, align="right" , 32,082 , , 93 , align="center" , 52 , ''unchanged'' ,

Christelle Morançais Christelle Morançais (; born 28 January 1975) is a French politician of the Republicans (LR) who has been serving as the Regional Council President for the Pays de la Loire region since 2017. Early career A graduate of a business school, Moran ...

( LR) ,

, - , bgcolor="lightgray" , Metropolitan , Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
(Provence-Alps-Azure Coast) ,

Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

: ''Provença-Aups-Còsta d'Azur''
(''Prouvènço-Aup-Costo d'Azur'') , Marseille , align="right" , 31,400 , , 123 , align="center" , 93 , ''unchanged'' ,

Renaud Muselier Renaud Muselier (born 6 May 1959) is a French physician and politician who has served as President of the Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur since 2017. A former member of The Republicans (LR), he previously was a Member of the Euro ...

( LR) ,

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="cyan" , Overseas ,

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

, Antillean Creole: ''Gwadloup'' , Basse-Terre , align="right" , 1,628 , , 41 , align="center" , 01 , ''unchanged'' , Ary Chalus ( GUSR) , Guadeloupe in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="cyan" , Overseas , Guyane
(French Guiana) , ,

Cayenne Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...

, align="right" , 83,534 , , 51 , align="center" , 03 , ''unchanged'' ,

Rodolphe Alexandre Rodolphe Alexandre (born 26 September 1953 in Cayenne) is a French politician from French Guiana. The former Mayor of Cayenne, he was president of the Guiana Assembly, the deliberative assembly of French Guiana, since its establishment on 1 Janua ...

( PSG) ,

, - , bgcolor="cyan" , Overseas , La Réunion
(Réunion) ,

Reunion Creole Reunion may refer to: * Class reunion * Family reunion Reunion, Réunion, Re-union, Reunions or The Reunion may also refer to: Places * Réunion, a French overseas department and island in the Indian Ocean * Reunion, Commerce City, Colorado, ...

: ''La Rényon'' , Saint-Denis , align="right" , 2,504 , , 45 , align="center" , 04 , ''unchanged'' ,

Didier Robert Didier Robert (born 26 April 1964) is a French politician who is a member of the Republicans party. He represents the island of Réunion, and was a member of the Union for a Popular Movement. Robert has served as President of the Regional ...

( LR) ,

, - , bgcolor="cyan" , Overseas , Martinique , Antillean Creole: ''Matinik'' ,

Fort-de-France Fort-de-France (, , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Fodfwans) is a Communes of France, commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. It is also one of the major cities in the ...

, align="right" , 1,128 , , 51 , align="center" , 02 , ''unchanged'' , Claude Lise (RDM) , Martinique in France 2016

, - , bgcolor="cyan" , Overseas , Mayotte ,

Shimaore Maore Comorian, or ''Shimaore'' ( French ''Mahorais''), is one of the two indigenous languages spoken in the French-ruled Comorian islands of Mayotte; Shimaore being a dialect of the Comorian language, while ShiBushi is an unrelated Malayo-P ...

: ''Maore''
Malagasy: ''Mahori'' , Mamoudzou , align="right" , 374 , , 26 , align="center" , 06 , ''unchanged'' , Soibahadine Ibrahim Ramadani (LR) , Mayotte in France 2016

, - ! ! ! ! !632,734 !68,035,000 !1,910 ! ! ! !

Role

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 Regional Council may refer to: * Regional Council (Hong Kong), disbanded in 1999 ** Regional Council (constituency) Regional council may refer to: * Regional council (Cameroon) * Regional council (France), the elected assembly of a region of Fra ...

''(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

Number of regions controlled by each coalition since

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

.

Overseas regions

Overseas region (french: Région d'outre-mer) is a recent designation, given to the

overseas department The overseas departments and regions of France (french: départements et régions d'outre-mer, ; ''DROM'') are departments of France that are outside metropolitan France, the European part of France. They have exactly the same status as mainlan ...

s that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. As integral parts 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 ...

, they are represented in the National Assembly,

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 ...

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 Decentralization or decentralisation is the process by which the activities of an organization, particularly those regarding planning and decision making, are distributed or delegated away from a central, authoritative location or group. Conce ...

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 Réunion (; french: La Réunion, ; previously ''Île Bourbon''; rcf, label= Reunionese Creole, La Rényon) is an island in the Indian Ocean that is an overseas department and region of France. It is located approximately east of the island ...

* in the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

: ** French Guiana in South America **

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

in the Antilles (

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

) ** Martinique in the Antilles (

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

) : ^ Saint Pierre and Miquelon (off Canada, in North America), once an overseas department, was demoted to a territorial collectivity in 1985. France-Constituent-Lands.png Outre-mer en sans Terre Adelie.png

Notes

References

External links

*
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

{{Articles on first-level administrative divisions of European countries France 1 Regions, France Regions Regions Subdivisions of France France

History

1982–2015

Reform and mergers of regions

List of administrative regions

Role

Regional control

Overseas regions

See also

Notes

References

External links