Departments of France

In the administrative divisions of France, the department (Template:Langx, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 departments, consisting of ninety-six departments in metropolitan France, and five overseas departments, which are also classified as overseas regions. Departments are further subdivided into 333 arrondissements and 2,054 cantons (as of 2023). These last two levels of government have no political autonomy, instead serving as the administrative basis for the local organisation of police, fire departments, and, in certain cases, elections.

Each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council (Template:Singular , Template:Plural form ). From 1800 to April 2015, these were called general councils (Template:Singular , Template:Plural form ). Each council has a president. Their main areas of responsibility include the management of a number of social and welfare allowances, of junior high school () buildings and technical staff, and local roads and school and rural buses, and a contribution to municipal infrastructures. Local services of the state administration are traditionally organised at departmental level, where the prefect represents the government; however, regions have gained importance since the 2000s, with some department-level services merged into region-level services.

The departments were created in 1790 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity; the title "department" is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after physical geographical features (rivers, mountains, or coasts), rather than after historical or cultural territories, which could have their own loyalties, or after their own administrative seats. The division of France into departments was a project particularly identified with the French revolutionary leader the Abbé Sieyès, although it had already been frequently discussed and written about by many politicians and thinkers. The earliest known suggestion of it is from 1665 in the writings of d'Argenson. They have inspired similar divisions in many countries, some of them former French colonies. The 1822 territorial division of Spain (reverted due to the 1823 French intervention ending the trienio liberal) and the 1833 territorial division of Spain, which forms the basis of the present day provinces of Spain with minor modifications, are also based on the French model of departments of roughly equal size.

Most French departments are assigned a two-digit number, the Official Geographical Code, allocated by the (). Overseas departments have a three-digit number. The number is used, for example, in the postal code and was, until the introduction of the SIV scheme in 2009, part of the vehicle registration plate number. Residents commonly use the numbers to refer to their own department or a neighbouring one, for example inhabitants of Loiret may refer to their department as "the 45". More distant departments are generally referred to by their names, as few people know the numbers of all the departments.

In 2014, President François Hollande proposed abolishing departmental councils by 2020, which would have maintained the departments as administrative divisions, and transferring their powers to other levels of governance. This reform project has since been scrapped.

History

File:Chassis figuratif - France.jpg

Geometrical proposition rejected

File:Départements et provinces de France.svg

French provinces before 1790 (color) and today's departments (black borders)

The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René d'Argenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées (Bridges and Highways) infrastructure administration.

Before the French Revolution, France gained territory gradually through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the end of the Ancien Régime it was organised into provinces. During the Revolution they were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties. The National Constituent Assembly decided to create a more uniform division into departments (département) and districts in late 1789. The process began on 4 August 1789 with the elimination of provincial privileges, and a 22 December 1789 decree (with letters patent in January 1790) provided for the termination of the provincial governments.

The modern department system, as all-purpose units of the government, was decreed on 26 February 1790 (with letters patent on 4 March 1790) by the National Constituent Assembly. Their boundaries served two purposes:

• Boundaries were chosen to break up France's historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences and build a more homogeneous nation.
• Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a day's ride of the capital of a department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the entire national territory under close control.

File:France L-2 (1812)-fr.svg

Departments at the maximum extent of the First French Empire (1812)

The old nomenclature was carefully avoided in naming the new departments. Most were named after an area's principal river or other physical features. Even Paris was in the department of Seine. Savoy, during its temporary occupation, became the department of Mont-Blanc. The provinces continued to exist administratively until 21 September 1791.

The number of departments, initially 83, had been increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following the defeats of Napoleon in 1814–1815 the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size and the number of departments was reduced to 86 (three of the original departments having been split). In 1860 France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice and a portion of the Var department. The 89 departments were given numbers based on the alphabetical order of their names.

The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle, Vosges and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871 following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. A small part of Haut-Rhin, however, remained French and became known as the Territoire de Belfort; the remaining parts of Meurthe and Moselle were merged into a new Meurthe-et-Moselle department. When France regained the ceded departments after World War I, the Territoire de Belfort was not reintegrated into Haut-Rhin. In 1922 it became France's 90th department. Likewise the Lorraine departments were not changed back to their original boundaries, and a new Moselle department was created in the regained territory, with slightly different boundaries from the pre-war department of the same name.

The reorganisation of Île-de-France in 1968 and the division of Corsica in 1975 added six more departments, raising the total in Metropolitan France to 96. By 2011, when the overseas collectivity of Mayotte became a department, joining the earlier overseas departments of the Republic (all created in 1946) – French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique and Réunion – the total number of departments in the French Republic had become 101. In 2015 the Urban Community of Lyon was split from Rhône to form the Métropole de Lyon, a sui generis entity, with the powers of both an intercommunality and those of a department on its territory, formally classified as a "territorial collectivity with particular status" (Template:Langx) and as such not belonging to any department. As of 2019 Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse are still administrative departments, although they no longer have the status of departmental "territorial collectivities": region and department functions have been managed by a "single territorial collectivity" since 2018.

Despite the intention to avoid the old nomenclature, often the names of pre-1790 provinces remained in use. For example, the name of Berry, though no longer having an official status, remains in widespread use in daily life.

General characteristics

Government and administration

File:Administration territoriale française.svg

Administrative divisions of France

The departmental seat of government is known as the prefecture () or and is generally a town of some importance roughly at the geographical centre of the department. This was determined according to the time taken to travel on horseback from the periphery of the department. The goal was for the prefecture to be accessible on horseback from any town in the department within 24 hours. The prefecture is not necessarily the largest city in the department: for instance, in Saône-et-Loire department the capital is Mâcon, but the largest city is Chalon-sur-Saône. Departments may be divided into . The capital of an arrondissement is called a subprefecture () or .

Each department is administered by a departmental council (), an assembly elected for six years by universal suffrage, with the President of the Departmental Council as executive of the department. Before 1982, the chief executive of the department was the prefect (), who represents the Government of France in each department and is appointed by the President of the French Republic. The prefect is assisted by one or more sub-prefects () based in the subprefectures of the department. Since 1982, the prefect retains only the powers that are not delegated to the department councils. In practice, their role has been largely limited to preventing local policy from conflicting with national policy.

The departments are further divided into communes, governed by municipal councils. As of 2025, there were 34,746 communes in France. In the overseas territories, some communes play a role at departmental level. Paris, the country's capital city, is a commune as well as a department.

File:Carte démographique de la France.svg

Population density in the departments (2007). The broken lines mark the approximate boundaries of the empty diagonal. The solid line is the Le Havre-Marseille line, to the east of which lives 60% of the French population.

In mainland France (metropolitan France, excluding Corsica), the median land area of a department is , which is two-and-a-half times the median land area of the ceremonial counties of England and the preserved counties of Wales and slightly more than three-and-half times the median land area of a county of the United States. At the 2001 census, the median population of a department in continental France was 511,000 inhabitants, which is 21 times the median population of a United States county, but less than two-thirds of the median population of a ceremonial county of England and Wales. Most of the departments have an area of between 4,000 and 8,000 km² (1500 to 3000 sq. mi), and a population between 320,000 and 1 million. The largest in area is Gironde (), while the smallest is the city of Paris (). The most populous is Nord (2,550,000) and the least populous is Lozère (74,000).

Numbering

The departments are numbered: their two-digit numbers appear in postal codes, in INSEE codes (including "social security numbers") and on vehicle number plates. Initially the numbers corresponded to the alphabetical order of the names of the departments, but several changed their names and some have been divided, so the correspondence became less exact. Alphanumeric codes 2A and 2B were used for Corsica while it was split but it has since reverted to 20. 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 departments. The overseas departments have three digits.

Relation to national government

Originally, the relationship between the departments and the central government was left somewhat ambiguous. While citizens in each department elected their own officials, the local governments were subordinated to the central government, becoming instruments of national integration. By 1793, however, the revolutionary government had turned the departments into transmission belts for policies enacted in Paris. With few exceptions, the departments had this role until the early 1960s.

Political party preferences

These maps cannot be used as a useful resource of voter preferences, because Departmental Councils are elected on a two-round system, which drastically limits the chances of fringe parties, if they are not supported on one of the two rounds by a moderate party. After the 1992 election, the left had a majority in only 21 of the 100 departments; after the 2011 election, the left dominated 61 of the 100 departments. (Mayotte only became a department after the election.)

• Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the cantonal elections of 1998
  Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the cantonal elections of 1998
• Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2001
  Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2001
• Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2004
  Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2004
• Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2008
  Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2008
• Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2011
  Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2011
• Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2015
  Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2015

Key to the parties:

• Divers Centre = Independents of the centre or Democratic Movement (Mouvement démocrate)
• Divers Droite (DVD) = Independent conservatives
• Divers Gauche (DVG) = Independent left-wing politicians
• MPF = Movement for France (Mouvement pour la France) (right)
• Nouveau Centre = New Centre (centre or centre-right)
• PCF = French Communist Party (Parti communiste français)
• PRG = Radical Party of the Left (Parti radical de gauche)
• PS = Socialist Party (Parti socialiste)
• UDF = Union for French Democracy (Union pour la démocratie française) succeeded by Democratic Movement
• UMP = Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un mouvement populaire)

Future

The removal of one or more levels of local government has been discussed for some years; in particular, the option of removing the departmental level. Frédéric Lefebvre, spokesman for the UMP, said in December 2008 that the fusion of the departments with the regions was a matter to be dealt with soon. This was soon refuted by Édouard Balladur and Gérard Longuet, members of the committee for the reform of local authorities, known as the Balladur Committee.

In January 2008, the Attali Commission recommended that the departmental level of government should be eliminated within ten years.

Nevertheless, the Balladur Committee has not retained this proposition and does not advocate the disappearance of the departments, but simply "favors the voluntary grouping of departments", which it suggests also for the regions, with the aim of reducing the number of regions to 15. This committee advocates, on the contrary, the suppression of the cantons.

Maps and tables

Current departments

Each department has a coat of arms and a flag with which it is commonly associated, though not all are officially recognised or used.

INSEE code Arms 1 Date of establishment Department Capital Region Named after 01 Coat of arms of department 01 26 February 1790 Ain Bourg-en-Bresse Template:Country data Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Ain (river) 02 Coat of arms of department 02 Aisne Laon Template:Country data Hauts-de-France Aisne (river) 03 Coat of arms of department 03 Allier Moulins Template:Country data Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Allier (river) 04 Coat of arms of department 04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 2 Digne-les-Bains Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Alps mountains and Provence region 05 Coat of arms of department 05 Hautes-Alpes Gap Alps mountains 06 Coat of arms of department 06 Alpes-Maritimes Nice 07 Coat of arms of department 07 Privas Template:Country data Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Ardèche (river) 08 Coat of arms of department 08 Ardennes Template:Country data Grand Est Ardennes Forest 09 Coat of arms of department 09 Foix Template:Country data Occitanie Ariège (river) 10 Coat of arms of department 10 Aube Troyes Template:Country data Grand Est Aube (river) 11 Coat of arms of department 11 Aude Carcassonne Template:Country data Occitanie Aude (river) 12 Coat of arms of department 12 Aveyron Rodez Aveyron (river) 13 Coat of arms of department 13 Marseille Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Rhône (river) 14 Coat of arms of department 14 Calvados Caen Normandy Latin ("bare backs"), referring to two offshore rocks 15 Coat of arms of department 15 Cantal Aurillac Template:Country data Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Mounts of Cantal 16 Coat of arms of department 16 Charente Template:Country data Nouvelle-Aquitaine Charente (river) 17 Coat of arms of department 17 Charente-Maritime 3 La Rochelle 18 Coat of arms of department 18 Cher Bourges Centre-Val de Loire Cher (river) 19 Coat of arms of department 19 Tulle Template:Country data Nouvelle-Aquitaine Corrèze (river) 2A Coat of arms of department 2A 1 January 1979 Corse-du-Sud 19 Ajaccio Corsica Island of Corsica and South cardinal direction 2B Haute-Corse 19 Bastia Island of Corsica 21 Coat of arms of department 21 26 February 1790 Dijon Template:Country data Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Côte d'Or (escarpment) 22 Coat of arms of department 22 Saint-Brieuc Template:Flagicon Brittany coasts of Armorica 23 Coat of arms of department 23 Creuse Template:Country data Nouvelle-Aquitaine Creuse (river) 24 Coat of arms of department 24 Dordogne Dordogne (river) 25 Coat of arms of department 25 Doubs Template:Country data Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Doubs (river) 26 Coat of arms of department 26 Valence Template:Country data Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Drôme (river) 27 Coat of arms of department 27 Eure Normandy Eure (river) 28 Coat of arms of department 28 Eure-et-Loir Chartres Centre-Val de Loire Eure and Loir rivers 29 Coat of arms of department 29 Quimper Template:Flagicon Brittany Latin ("end of earth") 30 Coat of arms of department 30 Gard Template:Country data Occitanie Occitan name for Gardon river 31 Coat of arms of department 31 Haute-Garonne Toulouse Garonne (river) 32 Coat of arms of department 32 Gers Auch Gers (river) 33 Coat of arms of department 33 Gironde 5 Bordeaux Template:Country data Nouvelle-Aquitaine Gironde estuary 34 Coat of arms of department 34 Montpellier Template:Country data Occitanie Hérault (river) 35 Coat of arms of department 35 Ille-et-Vilaine Rennes Template:Flagicon Brittany Ille and Vilaine rivers 36 Coat of arms of department 36 Indre Centre-Val de Loire Indre (river) 37 Coat of arms of department 37 Indre-et-Loire Tours Indre and Loire rivers 38 Coat of arms of department 38 Grenoble Template:Country data Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Isère (river) 39 Coat of arms of department 39 Jura Lons-le-Saunier Template:Country data Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Jura Mountains 40 Coat of arms of department 40 Landes Mont-de-Marsan Template:Country data Nouvelle-Aquitaine Heathlands (lande) that dominated the region at the time 41 Coat of arms of department 41 Loir-et-Cher Blois Centre-Val de Loire Loir and Cher rivers 42 Coat of arms of department 42 12 August 1793 Loire Template:Country data Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Loire (river) 43 Coat of arms of department 43 26 February 1790 Haute-Loire Le Puy-en-Velay 44 Coat of arms of department 44 Loire-Atlantique 6 Nantes Pays de la Loire Loire (river) and Atlantic Ocean 45 Coat of arms of department 45 Loiret Centre-Val de Loire Loiret (river) 46 Coat of arms of department 46 Lot Cahors Template:Country data Occitanie Lot (river) 47 Coat of arms of department 47 Lot-et-Garonne Agen Template:Country data Nouvelle-Aquitaine Lot and Garonne rivers 48 Coat of arms of department 48 Mende Template:Country data Occitanie Mont Lozère 49 Coat of arms of department 49 Maine-et-Loire 7 Angers Pays de la Loire Maine and Loire rivers 50 Coat of arms of department 50 Manche Normandy English Channel 51 Coat of arms of department 51 Marne Template:Country data Grand Est Marne (river) 52 Coat of arms of department 52 Haute-Marne Chaumont 53 Coat of arms of department 53 Mayenne Laval Pays de la Loire Mayenne (river) 54 Coat of arms of department 54 7 September 1871 Meurthe-et-Moselle Nancy Template:Country data Grand Est Meurthe and Moselle rivers 55 Coat of arms of department 55 26 February 1790 Meuse Bar-le-Duc Meuse (river) 56 Coat of arms of department 56 Morbihan Vannes Template:Flagicon Brittany Gulf of Morbihan 57 Coat of arms of department 57 Moselle Metz Template:Country data Grand Est Moselle (river) 58 Coat of arms of department 58 Nevers Template:Country data Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Nièvre (river) 59 Coat of arms of department 59 Nord Lille Template:Country data Hauts-de-France North cardinal direction 60 Coat of arms of department 60 Oise Beauvais Oise (river) 61 Coat of arms of department 61 Orne Normandy Orne (river) 62 Coat of arms of department 62 Pas-de-Calais Arras Template:Country data Hauts-de-France Strait of Dover 63 Coat of arms of department 63 Clermont-Ferrand Template:Country data Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Puy de Dôme volcano 64 Coat of arms of department 64 Pau Template:Country data Nouvelle-Aquitaine Pyrenees mountains and Atlantic Ocean 65 Coat of arms of department 65 Tarbes Template:Country data Occitanie Pyrenees mountains 66 Coat of arms of department 66 Perpignan Pyrenees mountains and East cardinal direction 67 Coat of arms of department 67 Bas-Rhin Strasbourg Template:Country data Grand Est Rhine (river) 68 Coat of arms of department 68 Haut-Rhin Colmar 69D Coat of arms of department 69 12 August 1793 Lyon (provisional) Template:Country data Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Rhône (river) 69M Coat of arms of Lyon 1 January 2015 18 Lyon commune of Lyon 70 Coat of arms of department 70 26 February 1790 Vesoul Template:Country data Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Saône (river) 71 Coat of arms of department 71 Saône and Loire rivers 72 Coat of arms of department 72 Sarthe Le Mans Pays de la Loire Sarthe (river) 73 Coat of arms of department 73 15 June 1860 Savoie Template:Country data Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Savoy 74 Coat of arms of department 74 Haute-Savoie Annecy 75 Coat of arms of department 75 1 January 1968 Paris 9 Paris Île-de-France commune of Paris 76 Coat of arms of department 76 26 February 1790 Seine-Maritime 10 Rouen Normandy Seine (river) 77 Coat of arms of department 77 Seine-et-Marne Melun Île-de-France Seine and Marne rivers 78 Coat of arms of department 78 1 January 1968 Yvelines 11 Versailles Forest of Yvelines 79 Coat of arms of department 79 26 February 1790 Niort Template:Country data Nouvelle-Aquitaine Sèvre Nantaise and Sèvre Niortaise rivers 80 Coat of arms of department 80 Somme Amiens Template:Country data Hauts-de-France Somme (river) 81 Coat of arms of department 81 Tarn Albi Template:Country data Occitanie Tarn (river) 82 Coat of arms of department 82 4 November 1808 Tarn-et-Garonne Montauban Tarn and Garonne rivers 83 Coat of arms of department 83 26 February 1790 Var Toulon Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Var (river) 84 Coat of arms of department 84 25 June 1793 Vaucluse Avignon Fontaine de Vaucluse spring 85 Coat of arms of department 85 26 February 1790 La Roche-sur-Yon Pays de la Loire Vendée (river) 86 Coat of arms of department 86 Vienne Poitiers Template:Country data Nouvelle-Aquitaine Vienne (river) 87 Coat of arms of department 87 Haute-Vienne Limoges 88 Coat of arms of department 88 Vosges Template:Country data Grand Est Vosges Mountains 89 Coat of arms of department 89 Yonne Auxerre Template:Country data Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Yonne (river) 90 Coat of arms of department 90 11 March 1922 Territoire de Belfort Belfort commune of Belfort 91 Coat of arms of department 91 1 January 1968 Essonne 12 Évry-Courcouronnes Île-de-France Essonne (river) 92 Coat of arms of department 92 Hauts-de-Seine 13 Nanterre Seine (river) 93 Coat of arms of department 93 Seine-Saint-Denis 14 Bobigny Seine (river) and commune of Saint-Denis 94 Coat of arms of department 94 Val-de-Marne Créteil Marne (river) 95 Coat of arms of department 95 Val-d'Oise Pontoise 15 Oise (river) 971 Coat of arms of Guadeloupe 19 March 1946 Guadeloupe 16 Basse-Terre Guadeloupe Island of Guadeloupe 972 Coat of arms of Martinique Martinique 16 Fort-de-France Martinique Island of Martinique 973 Coat of arms of Guyane Guyane 16 Cayenne French Guiana The Guianas 974 Coat of arms of Réunion Saint-Denis Réunion Island of Réunion 976 Coat of arms of Mayotte 9 August 2009 31 March 2011 Mayotte 17 Mamoudzou Mayotte Island of Mayotte

File:Départements de France English.svg Regions and departments of metropolitan France; the numbers are those of the first column (except for Corsica, which shows the division of the island until 2018, and the division of the Metropolis of Lyon from Rhône is not shown). File:Petite couronne-2.svg The departments in the immediate vicinity of Paris; the numbers are those of the first column.

Former departments

Former departments of the current territory of France

No.	Department	Prefecture	Dates in existence	Named after	Subsequent history
–	Rhône-et-Loire	Lyon	1790–1793	Rhône and Loire rivers	Divided into Rhône and Loire.
–	Corse	Bastia		Island of Corsica	Divided into Golo and Liamone.
–	Golo		1793–1811	Golo (river)	Reunited with Liamone into Corse.
–	Liamone	Ajaccio		Liamone (river)	Reunited with Golo into Corse.
–	Mont-Blanc	Chambéry	1792–1815	Mont Blanc mountain	Formed from part of the Duchy of Savoy, a territory of the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia which was restored to its former status at the Treaty of Paris (1815). The territory returned to French rule in 1860 and it corresponds approximately to the present departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie.
–	Léman	Geneva	1798–1814	Lake Geneva	Formed when the Republic of Geneva was annexed into the French First Republic and added to territory taken from other departments. Corresponds to the present Swiss canton of Geneva and parts of the current departments of Ain and Haute-Savoie.
–	Meurthe	Nancy	1790–1871	Meurthe (river)	Ceased to exist following the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine by the German Empire in 1871 and was not recreated after the province was restored to France by the Treaty of Versailles.
75	Seine	Paris	1790–1967	Seine (river)	Divided into four new departments on 1 January 1968: Paris, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne (the last also incorporating a small amount of territory from Seine-et-Oise).
78	Seine-et-Oise	Versailles		Seine and Oise rivers	Divided into four new departments on 1 January 1968: Yvelines, Val-d'Oise, Essonne, Val-de-Marne (the last largely comprising territory from Seine).
20	Corse	Ajaccio	1811–1975	Island of Corsica	Divided into Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse.
975	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Saint-Pierre	1976–1985	Islands of Saint Pierre and Miquelon	Converted to an overseas collectivity.

Departments of Algeria ()

File:Algérie fr.jpg

The three Algerian departments in 1848

File:Map showing the Départements of Algeria from 1962-1968 and 1968-1974.svg

Departments of French Algeria from 1957 to 1962

Unlike the rest of the French possessions in Africa, Algeria was divided into departments just like Corsica or Normandy from 1848 until its independence in 1962. These departments were supposed to be "assimilated" or "integrated" to France sometime in the future.

Before 1957 No. Department Prefecture Dates of existence 91 Alger Algiers 1848–1957 92 Oran Oran 93 Constantine Constantine – Bône Annaba 1955–1957

1957–1962 No. Department Prefecture Dates of existence 8A Oasis Ouargla 1957–1962 8B Saoura Béchar 9A Alger Algiers 9B Batna Batna 9C Bône Annaba 1955–1962 9D Constantine Constantine 1957–1962 9E Médéa Médéa 9F Mostaganem Mostaganem 9G Oran Oran 9H Orléansville Chlef 9J Sétif Sétif 9K Tiaret Tiaret 9L Tizi Ouzou Tizi Ouzou 9M Tlemcen Tlemcen 9N Aumale Sour El-Ghozlane 1958–1959 9P Bougie Béjaïa 1958–1962 9R Saïda Saïda

Departments in former French colonies

Department	Named after	Current location	Dates in existence
Template:Interlanguage link	South cardinal direction	Haiti	1795–1800
Template:Ill		Dominican Republic, Haiti
Template:Ill	North cardinal direction	Haiti
Template:Interlanguage link	West cardinal direction
Template:Ill	Samaná Bay	Dominican Republic
Sainte-Lucie	Island of St Lucia	Saint Lucia, Tobago
Île de France	Island of Mauritius	Mauritius, Seychelles
Indes-Orientales	India and East cardinal direction	India: Pondicherry Union Territory (Pondichéry, Karikal, Yanaon, Mahé) West Bengal (Chandernagore)

Departments of the Napoleonic Empire in Europe

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:

Department	Prefecture (French name if different)	Named after	Current location1	Contemporary location2	Dates in existence
Mont-Terrible	Porrentruy	Mont Terri mountain	Switzerland France (Doubs)	Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Basel3 County of Montbéliard	1793–1800
Dyle	Brussels	Dyle (river)	Belgium	Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Brabant County of Hainaut	1795–1814
Escaut	Ghent	Scheldt river	Belgium Netherlands	Austrian Netherlands: County of Flanders Dutch Republic: Flanders of the States
Forêts	Luxembourg	Ardennes forest	Luxembourg Belgium Germany	Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Luxembourg
Jemmape	Mons	Battle of Jemappes	Belgium	Austrian Netherlands: County of Hainaut Lordship of Tournai County of Namur Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Liège
Lys	Bruges	Lys (river)		Austrian Netherlands: County of Flanders
Meuse-Inférieure	Maastricht	Meuse river	Belgium Netherlands	Austrian Netherlands: Austrian Upper Guelders Duchy of Limburg Dutch Republic: Dutch Upper Guelders Overmaas of the States Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Liège: County of Horne County of Loon Thorn Abbey Maastricht5
Deux-Nèthes	Antwerp	Two branches of the Nete (river)		Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Brabant Dutch Republic: Brabant of the States (after 1810)
Ourthe	Liège	Ourthe river	Belgium Germany	Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Brabant Duchy of Limburg Duchy of Luxembourg County of Namur Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Liège Imperial Abbey of Stavelot-Malmedy
Sambre-et-Meuse	Namur	Sambre and Meuse rivers	Belgium	Austrian Netherlands: Duchy of Brabant Duchy of Luxembourg Holy Roman Empire: Prince-Bishopric of Liège
Corcyre	Corfu	Island of Corfu (archaic French form)	Greece	Republic of Venice4	1797–1799
Ithaque	Argostoli	Island of Ithaca			1797–1798
Mer-Égée	Zakynthos	Aegean Sea
Mont-Tonnerre	Mainz	Donnersberg mountain	Germany	Holy Roman Empire: Archbishopric of Mainz Electorate of the Palatinate Bishopric of Speyer	1801–1814
Rhin-et-Moselle	Koblenz	Rhine and Moselle rivers		Holy Roman Empire: Archbishopric of Cologne Electorate of the Palatinate Archbishopric of Trier
Roer	Aachen	Roer river	Germany Netherlands	Holy Roman Empire: Free Imperial City of Aachen Archbishopric of Cologne Electorate of the Palatinate: Grand Duchy of Berg Duchy of Jülich Kingdom of Prussia: Prussian Guelders Imperial Free City of Wesel (after 1805)
Sarre	Trier	Saar (river)	Belgium Germany	Holy Roman Empire: Electorate of the Palatinate: County of Veldenz Duchy of Zweibrücken Archbishopric of Trier
Doire	Ivrea	Dora Baltea river	Italy	Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia: Duchy of Savoy	1802–1814
Marengo	Alessandria	Battle of Marengo
Pô	Turin	Po (river)
Sésia	Vercelli	Sesia river
Stura	Cuneo	Stura di Demonte river
Tanaro6	Asti	Tanaro (river)			1802–1805
Apennins	Chiavari	Apennine mountains		Republic of Genoa7	1805–1814
Gênes	Genoa	City of Genoa
Montenotte	Savona	Battle of Montenotte
Arno	Florence	Arno (river)		Grand Duchy of Tuscany8	1808–1814
Méditerranée	Livorno	Mediterranean Sea
Ombrone	Siena	Ombrone river
Taro	Parma	Taro (river)		Holy Roman Empire: Duchy of Parma & Piacenza
Rome9	Rome	City of Rome		Papal States	1809–1814
Trasimène	Spoleto	Lake Trasimeno
Bouches-du-Rhin	's-Hertogenbosch	Rhine river	Netherlands	Dutch Republic:10 Batavian Brabant (Brabant of the States) Dutch Guelders	1810–1814
Bouches-de-l'Escaut	Middelburg	Scheldt river		Dutch Republic:10 County of Zeeland
Simplon	Sion	Simplon Pass	Switzerland	République des Sept-Dizains11
Bouches-de-la-Meuse	The Hague	Meuse river	Netherlands	Dutch Republic:10 County of Holland	1811–1814
Bouches-de-l'Yssel	Zwolle	IJssel river		Dutch Republic:10 Overijssel
Ems-Occidental	Groningen	Ems (river)	Netherlands Germany	Dutch Republic:10 Dutch Upper Guelders
Ems-Oriental	Aurich		Germany	Holy Roman Empire: Kingdom of Prussia: County of East Frisia10
Frise	Leeuwarden	Friesland region	Netherlands	Dutch Republic:10 Friesland
Yssel-Supérieur	Arnhem	IJssel river		Dutch Republic:10 Dutch Upper Guelders
Zuyderzée	Amsterdam	Zuiderzee inlet		Dutch Republic:10 County of Holland Lordship of Utrecht
Bouches-de-l'Elbe	Hamburg	Elbe river	Germany	Holy Roman Empire: Free Hanseatic City of Hamburg Electorate of Hanover Free Hanseatic City of Lübeck
Bouches-du-Weser	Bremen	Weser river		Holy Roman Empire: Free Hanseatic City of Bremen Electorate of Hanover Duchy of Oldenburg
Ems-Supérieur	Osnabrück	Ems (river)		Holy Roman Empire: Electorate of Hanover Bishopric of Osnabrück Kingdom of Prussia: Town and County of Lingen Principality of Minden County of Ravensberg
Lippe12	Münster	Lippe (river)		Holy Roman Empire: Bishopric of Münster Electorate of the Palatinate: Grand Duchy of Berg
Bouches-de-l'Èbre	Lleida	Ebro river	Spain	Kingdom of Spain: Catalonia	1812–1813
Montserrat	Barcelona	Montserrat (mountain)
Sègre	Puigcerdà	Segre (river)
Ter	Girona	Ter (river)
Bouches-de-l'Èbre-Montserrat	Barcelona	Ebro river and Montserrat mountain	Previously the departments of and		1813–1814
Sègre-Ter	Girona	Segre and Ter rivers	Previously the departments of and

Notes for Table 7:

1. Where a Napoleonic department 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 department.
2. Territories that were a part of Austrian Netherlands were also a part of Holy Roman Empire.
3. The Bishopric of Basel was a German Prince-Bishopric, not to be confused with the adjacent Swiss Canton of Basel.
4. The Ionian Islands were annexed by France after the Fall of the Republic of Venice. They were lost to France, becoming the Septinsular Republic, a Russo-Ottoman vassal state, from 1800 to 1807, before reverting to France at the Treaty of Tilsit. The second period of French rule lasted until 1810/14, after which these territories became a British protectorate, as the United States of the Ionian Islands
5. Maastricht was a condominium of the Dutch Republic and the Prince-Bishopric of Liège.
6. 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 departments of Marengo, Montenotte and Stura.
7. Before becoming the department of Apennins, the Republic of Genoa was converted to a puppet successor state, the Ligurian Republic.
8. Before becoming the department of Arno, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany was converted to a puppet successor state, the Kingdom of Etruria.
9. Rome was known as the until 1810.
10. Before becoming the departments of , , , , , , and , 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 departments here), along with the Prussian County of East Frisia, were converted to another puppet state, the Kingdom of Holland.
11. Before becoming the department of Simplon, the was converted to a revolutionary (16 March 1798) which was swiftly incorporated (1 May 1798) into the puppet Helvetic Republic until 1802 when it became the independent Rhodanic Republic.
12. In the months before Lippe was formed, the arrondissements of Rees and Münster were part of , the arrondissement of Steinfurt was part of and the arrondissement of Neuenhaus was part of .

See also

• ISO 3166-2:FR
• List of French departments by population, area and population density
• Overseas departments and regions of France