Regions of France: Map

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France

is administratively divided into 25 regions ( ), of which 21 are on mainland France, and four are overseas. Corsica

is a territorial collectivity ( ), but is considered a region in mainstream usage, and is even shown as such on the INSEE website. Each mainland region and Corsica are further subdivided into two to eight departments.

General characteristics

In mainland France (excluding Corsica), the median land area of a region is 25,809 km² (9,965 sq mi), which is just a bit larger than the state of Vermont

, and only 4% as large as the median land area of a Canadian province, but 15% larger than the median land area of a German region/land, and 67% larger than the area of a region of England.

In 2004, the median population of a region in continental France was 2,329,000 inhabitants, which is a little less than one half of the median population of a region of England, and three quarters of the median population of a German Land (state), but more than twice the median population of a Canadian province.

Role

Regions do not have separate legislative authority and cannot therefore 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 contend that tax revenue is insufficient to be allocated to pay for the resulting costs and such measures would increase regional inequalities.

Apart from these legal attributions, regions have considerable discretionary powers for infrastructural spending, e.g., education, public transit, funding universities and research, and assistance for business owners. Because of this, being the regional head of a wealthy region such as Île-de-France

or Rhône-Alpes can be quite a high-profile position.

Occasional discussions about giving limited legislative autonomy to the regions remain controversial. There are also proposals to transfer certain local government powers of the departments to their respective regions, leaving the departments with very limited authority.

Regional Control

Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986.

Red: left, blue: right

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DateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:0 till:22TimeAxis = orientation:verticalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:4 start:0

PlotData=

 bar:1986 color: red from:start till:2 text:2
 bar:1986 color: oceanblue from:2 till:22 text:20
 bar:1992 color: red from:start till:2 text:2
 bar:1992 color: oceanblue from:2 till:22 text:20
 bar:1998 color: red from:start till:8 text:8
 bar:1998 color: oceanblue from:8 till:22 text:14
 bar:2004 color: red from:start till:20 text:20
 bar:2004 color: oceanblue from:20 till:22 text:2

Regions and their capitals

Metropolitan Regions
Region	French name	Regional Name(s)	Capital	INSEE No.	Notes
Alsace	Alsace	Alsatian: Elsàss	Strasbourg	42
Aquitaine	Aquitaine	;	Bordeaux	72
Auvergne	Auvergne		Clermont-Ferrand	83	Takes its name from the province of Auvergne
Burgundy	Bourgogne	Burgundian: Bregogne ou Borgoégne;	Dijon	26	Takes its name from the Duchy of Burgundy
Brittany	Bretagne	; Gallo: Bertaèyn	Rennes	53	Does not include Loire Atlantique , which is traditionally part of Brittany
Centre	Centre	—	Orléans	24	Takes its name from its position in France
Champagne-Ardenne	Champagne-Ardenne	—	Châlons-en-Champagne	21
Corsica	Corse		Ajaccio	94	Technically not a region but a Territorial Collectivity
Franche-Comté	Franche-Comté	Franc-Comtois: Fràntche-Comté;	Besançon	43	Takes its name from the Free County of Burgundy (Franche Comté in French)
French Guiana	Guyane	—	Cayenne	03	Overseas region
Guadeloupe	Guadeloupe	Antillean Creole: Gwadloup; Tamil: குவாதலூப்பே	Basse-Terre	01	Overseas region
Île-de-France	Ile-de-France	—	Paris	11	Takes its name from the province of Ile-de-France , but also includes parts of Champagne
Languedoc-Roussillon	Languedoc-Roussillon	;	Montpellier	91	Takes its name from the provinces of Languedoc and Roussillon
Limousin	Limousin		Limoges	74	Takes its name from the province of Limousin , but also includes parts of Marche, Berry, Auvergne, Poitou, and Angoumois
Lorraine	Lorraine		Metz	41	Takes its name from the province of Lorraine, but also includes the Barrois and the Three Bishoprics
Lower Normandy	Basse-Normandie	Norman: Basse-Normaundie	Caen	25
Martinique	Martinique	—	Fort-de-France	02	Overseas region
Midi-Pyrénées	Midi-Pyrénées		Toulouse	73	Artificial region, with no historical links, created as a region for Toulouse
Nord-Pas-de-Calais	Nord-Pas-de-Calais		Lille	31	Takes its name from the departments of Nord and Pas de Calais
Pays de la Loire	Pays de la Loire	—	Nantes	52	Artificial region, with no historical links, created as a region for Nantes
Picardy	Picardie	—	Amiens	22
Poitou-Charentes	Poitou-Charentes	—	Poitiers	54
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	Provençal Occitan: Provença-Aups-Còsta d'Azur (Classical norm) or Prouvènço-Aup-Costo d'Azur (Mistralian norm)	Marseille	93
Reunion	Réunion	Tamil: இறியூனியன்	Saint-Denis	04	Overseas region
Rhône-Alpes	Rhône-Alpes	;	Lyon	82	Artificial region, with no historical links, created as a region for Lyon
Upper Normandy	Haute-Normandie	Norman: Ĥâote-Normaundie	Rouen	23