Regions of France

Regions of France
Régions (French)
  • Also known as:
  • Rannvroioù Bro-C'hall (Breton), Règion francêsa (Arpitan), Region francesa (Occitan), Regió francesa (Catalan)
CategoryUnitary state
LocationFrench Republic
Number18
Possible status
Additional status
Populations279,471 (Mayotte) – 12,997,058 (Île-de-France)
Areas376 km2 (145 sq mi) (Mayotte) – 84,061 km2 (32,456 sq mi) (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
Government
Subdivisions

France is divided into eighteen administrative regions (French: régions, singular région [ʁeʒjɔ̃]), 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 have a semi-autonomous status).[1]

All of the thirteen metropolitan administrative regions (including Corsica as of 2019) are further subdivided into two to thirteen administrative departments, with the prefect of each region's administrative centre's department also acting as the regional prefect. The overseas regions administratively consist of only one department each and hence also have the status of overseas departments.

Most administrative regions also have the status of regional territorial collectivities, which comes with a local government, with departmental and communal collectivities below the region level. The exceptions are Corsica, French Guiana, Mayotte and Martinique, where region and department functions are managed by single local governments having consolidated jurisdiction and which are known as single territorial collectivities.

  1. ^ "Statistiques locales: France par région" (in French). INSEE. Retrieved 4 July 2022.