Regions of France

France top-level territorial subdivision (1956-)

France is split into 18 administrative regions (regions). These regions are a kind of local government.

Thirteen regions are in Metropolitan France (the part of the country that is in Europe). Each region contains a few of the Departments of France. Corsica has a different status than the other 12 metropolitan regions. It is called collectivist territorial. Five regions are overseas.

There used to be 27 regions. In 2016, some regions were combined and there are now 18.

Regions of France
Flag[1]RegionCapitalKm2Etymology
Auvergne-Rhône-AlpesLyon69 711Auvergne, Rhône-Alpes
Bourgogne-Franche-ComtéDijon47 784Burgundy, Franche-Comté
Flag of BrittanyBrittanyRennes27 208Duchy of Brittany
Flag of Centre-Val de LoireCentre-Val de Loire[2]Orléans39 151North-central France; crosses the middle of the Loire Valley
Flag of CorsicaCorsicaAjaccio8 722Territorial collectivity
Grand EstStrasbourg57 433
Hauts-de-FranceLille31 813
Flag of Île-de-FranceÎle-de-FranceParis12 012Province of Île-de-France
Flag of NormandyNormandyRouen30,627Duchy of Normandy
Flag of AquitaineNouvelle-AquitaineBordeaux84 061
OccitanieToulouse72 724
Flag of Pays-de-la-LoirePays de la LoireNantes32 082None; created for Nantes
Flag of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'AzurProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA)Marseille31 400Former province of Provence
The following five overseas departments also have the special status of overseas region.
Flag of French GuianaFrench GuianaCayenne83 534Overseas region
Flag of GuadeloupeGuadeloupeBasse-Terre1 628Overseas region
Flag of MartiniqueMartiniqueFort-de-France1 128Overseas region
unofficial flag of MayotteMayotteMamoudzou374Overseas region
Flag of RéunionRéunionSaint-Denis2 512Overseas region

References