Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region came into existence on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections of December 2015, electing 100 members to the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The region covers an area of and eight departments; it had a population of 2,811,423 in 2017. Its

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 ...

and largest city is Dijon, although the regional council sits in Besançon, making Bourgogne-Franche-Comté one of two regions in France (along with

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

) in which the

prefect 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' ...

does not sit in the same city as the regional council.

Toponymy

The text of the territorial reform law gives interim names for most of the merged regions, combining the names of their constituent regions separated by hyphens. Permanent names would be proposed by the new regional councils and confirmed by the by 1 October 2016. Hence the interim name of the new administrative region is composed of the names of former administrative regions of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The region chose to retain its interim name as its permanent name, a decision made official by the Conseil d'État on 28 September 2016. The merger represents a historic reunification of the Duchy of Burgundy () and the Free County of Burgundy () that were created by the partition of the

Kingdom of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various successive Monarchy, kingdoms centered in the historical region of Burgundy during the Middle Ages. The heartland of historical Burgundy correlates with the border area between France and Switze ...

in the 843

Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun (; ), agreed to on 10 August 843, ended the Carolingian civil war and divided the Carolingian Empire between Lothair I, Louis the German, Louis II and Charles the Bald, Charles II, the surviving sons of the emperor Louis the ...

History

Middle Ages

The territory that is now Burgundy and Franche-Comté was already united under the

(from the 5th to the 8th century). It was divided into two parts: the Duchy of Burgundy (now Burgundy) of France, and the County of Burgundy (now Franche-Comté) of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. The County was reintegrated as a free province within the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the Middle Ages, medieval and Early modern France, early modern period. It was one of the most powerful states in Europe from th ...

in the 17th century, separately from the Duchy which remained a vassal province of the Kingdom of France. These two former provinces were abolished during the French Revolution. Le royaume Burgonde au Ve siècle.png, The

during the 5th century. Duché et Comté de Bourgogne au XIVe siecle.svg,

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

and County of Burgundy during the 14th century.

Modern times

Most of the area making up the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté used to belong to the former provinces of Burgundy and Franche-Comté, but it also includes a significant part of the former provinces of Nivernais (now Nièvre), Champagne (now the northern part of Yonne), Orléanais (now the southwestern part of Yonne), the Territoire de Belfort (the region of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

that remained French territory after 1871) and a small portion of

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

(now the northwestern part of Yonne). From 1941 to 1944 the regional

of Vichy reunited Burgundy and Franche-Comté, as did the ' of Dijon from 1948 to 1964. During the formation of the

regions of France France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (, singular ), of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France (in Europe), while the other five are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which ha ...

, Burgundy and Franche-Comté once again became two separate regions, first as public establishments in 1972, then as territorial collectivities in 1982. On 14 April 2014, François Patriat and Marie-Guite Dufay (the presidents of Burgundy and Franche-Comté, respectively) announced in a press conference the desire for the merger of the two regions, further to the declarations of Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who proposed a simplification of the administrative divisions of France. On 2 June 2014 a map presented by 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. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

showed the two regions as one. These two regions were the only ones to have voluntarily discussed a merger, and their alliance was the only one not needing revision by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

or the Senate. ''Acte III de la décentralisation'' officially adopted the merger of the two regions on 17 December 2014. It became effective on 1 January 2016.

Geography

The region borders

Grand Est Grand Est (; ) is an Regions of France, administrative region in northeastern France. It superseded three former administrative regions, Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine, on 1 January 2016 under the provisional name of Alsace-Champagne-A ...

to the north,

to the northwest,

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (; ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley in the interior ...

to the west, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the south and

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

(the cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura) to the east.

Departments

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté comprises eight departments: Côte-d'Or, Doubs, Jura, Nièvre, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, Yonne, Territoire de Belfort.

Major communities

The largest communes are (population as of 2017):Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2017
INSEE. * Dijon (156,920; headquarters regional prefecture) * Besançon (115,934; headquarters regional council) * Belfort (47,656) * Chalon-sur-Saône (45,096) * Auxerre (34,634) * Mâcon (33,638) * Nevers (32,990)

Economy

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was €75.6 billion in 2018, accounting for 3.2% of the total economic output of France. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was €24,200 or 80% of the European Union average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 96% of the EU average.

Gallery

File:Besancon boucle Doubs.jpg, The old city of Besançon in the oxbow of the Doubs River File:Rue Verrerie 005.jpg, Verrerie Street, Dijon File:Belvoir, le château.jpg, Belvoir Castle File:Hôtel du département 1.JPG, Departmental Council building, Belfort File:Nevers-Palais ducal.JPG, Palais ducal de Nevers File:Port fluvial d'Auxerre en 2006.jpg, The Yonne River at Auxerre File:Vignobles de Volnay.jpg, Vineyards in Volnay

References

External links

Merger of the regions - France 3
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourgogne-Franche-Comte Regions of France 2016 establishments in France States and territories established in 2016