| Departments Of France |
Article Index for Departments Of |
Website Links For Departments |
Information AboutDepartments Of France |
|
Departments ( and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to English Counties . The 100 French departments are now grouped into 22 Metropolitan and four Overseas Region s. All regions have identical legal status as integral parts of France. They are subdivided into 342 Arrondissements . GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS In continental France ( Metropolitan France excluding Corsica ), the Median land area of a department is 5,965 Km&2 (2,303 Square Mile s), which is two-and-a-half times the median land area of a Ceremonial County of England , and a little more than three-and-half times the median land area of a County in the United States . At the 1999 census, the median population of a department in continental France was 511,012 inhabitants, which is 21 times the median population of a U.S. county, but just a little less than two-thirds of the median population of a ceremonial county of England. The ''chef-lieu de département'' normally lies at the geographical centre of the ''département''. This was determined according to the time taken to travel on horseback from the periphery of the ''département''. The goal was for the ''chef-lieu'' to be accessible from any town in the ''département'' on horseback within 24 hours. ADMINISTRATIVE ROLE Each ''département'' is administered by a ''conseil Général'' (general council) elected for six years, and its executive is, since 1982, headed by the president of that council (formerly it was headed by the Prefect ). The French National Government is represented in the ''département'' by a prefect appointed by the national executive (the President or the Prime Minister ). The prefect is assisted by one or more sub-prefects based in district centres outside the capital of the ''département''. The center of administration of a ''département'' is called a ''préfecture'' (prefecture) or ''chef-lieu de département''. ''Départements'' are divided into one to seven Arrondissements . The capital city of an arrondissement is called the ''sous-préfecture'' (subprefecture) or ''chef-lieu d'arrondissement''. The public official in charge is called the ''sous-préfet'' (sub-prefect). The ''départements'' are also further divided into Communes , governed by Municipal Councils . France (as of 1999) has 36,779 communes. Most of the ''départements'' have an area of around 4,000–8,000 km&2 and a population between 250,000 and one million. The largest in terms of area is The ''départements'' are numbered: their two-digit numbers appear in Postal Codes , in INSEE codes (including "social security numbers") and on vehicle number-plates. This final usage will mostly disappear with a new car plate scheme due for 2008 (for details see French Vehicle Registration Plates . Note that there is no number 20, but 2A and 2B instead. Note also that the two-digit code "98" is used by Monaco . Together with the ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 country code FR the numbers form the ISO 3166-2 country subdivision codes for the metropolitan ''départements''. The overseas ''départements'' get two letters for the ISO 3166-2 code, e.g. 971 for Guadeloupe (see table below). HISTORY ic departments]] Departments were created on January 4 , 1790 by the Constituent Assembly to replace the country's former Provinces with a more rational structure. They were also designed to deliberately break up France's historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences and build a more homogeneous nation. Most departments are named after the area's principal river(s) or other physical features. The number of departments, initially 83, increased to 130 by was created from Nice and a portion of the Var department. The 89 departments were given numbers, based on their alphabetical order. Three departments in Alsace-Lorraine ( Haut-Rhin , Bas-Rhin , and Moselle ) were ceded to the German Empire in 1871 , following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War . A small part of the department of Haut-Rhin, called the Territoire De Belfort , was detached from the rest of Alsace-Lorraine and remained French. In 1919 , following World War I , France regained Alsace-Lorraine. Territoire de Belfort was not reintegrated into Haut-Rhin, but was instead made a full-status department in 1922 , becoming the 90th department of France. Reorganisations of the Paris region ( 1968 ) and the division of Corsica ( 1975 ) have added a further six departments, raising the total to one hundred — including the four Overseas Department s of Guyane ( French Guiana ) in South America , Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Lesser Antilles , and Réunion in the Indian Ocean . MAP AND LIST OF DEPARTMENTS French regions and departments Notes: # The number 75 was formerly assigned to Seine # The number 78 was formerly assigned to Seine-et-Oise # The number 91 was formerly assigned to Alger , in French Algeria # The number 92 was formerly assigned to Oran , in French Algeria # The number 93 was formerly assigned to Constantine , in French Algeria # The prefecture of Val-d'Oise was established in Pontoise when the department was created, but moved ''de facto'' to the neighbouring commune of Cergy ; currently, both form the ''ville nouvelle'' of Cergy-Pontoise . # The Overseas Department s are former colonies outside France that now enjoy a status identical to ''metropolitan'' France. They '''are part of France and of the EU ''', though Special EU Rules Apply . Each of them constitutes a Region at the same time. FORMER DEPARTMENTS On the current territory of France Name changes A few departments have changed names, in most cases, to lose the terms "lower" and "inferior": French Algeria of French Algeria ]] Before 1957 1957–1962 In the former colonies of France Napoleonic Empire There are a number of former departments in territories conquered by France during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Empire that are now not part of France: Notes: # Where a Napoleonic ''département'' was composed of parts from more than one country, the nation-state containing the prefecture is listed. Please expand this table to list all countries containing significant parts of the ''département''. # Territories that were a part of Austrian Netherlands were also a part of Holy Roman Empire . # The Bishopric Of Basel was a German Prince-Bishop ric, not to be confused with the adjacent Swiss Canton Of Basel . # The territories of the were lost to France, becoming the Septinsular Republic , a nominal Protectorate of the , from 1800 – 07 . After reverting to France as the Illyrian Provinces , these territories then became a British protectorate, as the United States Of The Ionian Islands # Maastricht was a Condominium of the Dutch Republic and the Bishopric Of Liège . # On 6 June 1805 , as a result of the annexation of the Ligurian Republic (the Puppet Successor State to the Republic Of Genoa ), Tanaro was abolished and its territory divided between the départements of Marengo , Montenotte and Stura . # Before becoming the ''département'' of Apennins , the Republic Of Genoa was converted to a Puppet Successor State , the Ligurian Republic . # Before becoming the ''département'' of Arno , the Grand Duchy Of Tuscany was converted to a Puppet Successor State , the Kingdom Of Etruria . # Before becoming the ''département'' of Taro , the Duchy Of Parma And Piacenza was annexed to the Cisalpine Republic until 1802, the Italian Republic , from 1802 until 1805 and the Kingdom Of Italy , from 1805 until 1808 . # Rome was known as the '''' until 1810 . # Before becoming the ''départements'' of Bouches-du-Rhin , Bouches-de-l'Escaut , Bouches-de-la-Meuse , Bouches-de-l'Yssel , Ems-Occidental , Frise , Yssel-Supérieur and Zuyderzée , these territories of the Dutch Republic were converted to a Puppet Successor State , the Batavian Republic ( 1795 – 1806 ), then those territories that had not already been annexed (all except the first two ''départements'' here), along with the Prussian County Of East Frisia , were converted to another puppet state, the Kingdom Of Holland . # Before becoming the ''département'' of Simplon , the République Des Sept Dizains was converted to a revolutionary République du Valais ( March 16 1798 ) which was swiftly incorporated ( May 1 1798 ) into the Puppet Helvetic Republic until 1802 when it became the independent Rhodanic Republic. # In the months before Lippe was formed, the '' Arrondissements '' of Rees and Münster were part of Yssel-Supérieur , the ''arrondissement'' of Steinfurt was part of Bouches-de-l'Yssel and the ''arrondissement'' of Neuenhaus was part of Ems-Occidental . See also: The 130 Departments of the Napoleonic Empire |
|
|