Explore the departments of France

France is officially divided into 22 administrative regions (plus four overseas), then further divided into 96 departments.

Note: since 1 January 2016 there are only 13 regions in mainland France (including Corsica). The new regions are noted below as ncessary but we have also retained the old region names for information purposes

Each French department falls entirely within one region, and has its own local 'capital' town - called a prefecture. Each department is further subdivided into 'communes' - locally administered areas (there are approximately 36,500 communes in France, approximately representing each place in France).

Confusingly some parts of France that you might visit are best known by their 'department' name e.g. Dordogne is a department forming part of the Aquitaine region, while others are better known under their region name eg Brittany (where the region includes several departments)

The departments below are listed by department number - these department numbers are very widely used, including being the first two digits of French postcodes.

 

Dept No.: Department
Region / Prefecture
Communes*
 

01: Ain
Rhone Alpes (new region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) / Bourg-en-Bresse
 

02: Aisne
Picardy (new region: Hauts-de-France) / Laon
 

2A: Corse-du-Sud
Corsica / Ajaccio
 

2B: Haute-Corse
Corsica / Bastia
see Corsica above
 

03: Allier
Auvergne (new region: Auvergne Rhône-Alpes) / Moulins
 

 
 
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Rhone Alpes (new region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) / Privas
 

08: Ardennes
Champagne Ardenne (new region: Grand Est)/ Charleville-Mezieres
 

Midi Pyrenees (new region: Occitaine) / Foix
 

10: Aube
Champagne Ardenne (new region: Grand Est)/ Troyes
 

11: Aude
Languedoc-Roussillon (new region: Occitaine) / Carcassonne
 

Midi Pyrenees (new region: Occitaine) / Rodez
 

 

Normandy / Caen
 

15: Cantal
Auvergne (new region: Auvergne Rhône-Alpes) / Aurillac
 

Poitou Charentes (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Angouleme
 

Poitou Charentes (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / La Rochelle
 

18: Cher
Centre (Loire Valley) / Bourges
 

Limousin (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Tulle
 

Burgundy (new region: Bourgogne Franche-Comte) / Dijon
 

Brittany / Saint-Brieuc
 

23: Creuse
Limousin (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Guéret
 

Aquitaine (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Périgueux
 

25: Doubs
Franche Comte / Besancon
 

26: Drôme
Rhone Alpes (new region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) / Valence
 

27: Eure
Normandy / Evreux
 

Centre (new region: Centre-Val de Loire) (Loire Valley) / Chartres
 

Brittany / Quimper
 

30: Gard
Languedoc-Roussillon (new region: Occitaine) / Nimes
 

Midi Pyrenees (new region: Occitaine) / Toulouse
 

32: Gers (see Gascony)
Midi Pyrenees (new region: Occitaine) / Auch
 

Aquitaine (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Bordeaux
 

Languedoc-Roussillon (new region: Occitaine) / Montpellier
 

 

36: Indre
Centre (new region: Centre-Val de Loire) (Loire Valley) / Chateauroux
 

Centre (new region: Centre-Val de Loire) (Loire Valley) / Tours
 

38: Isère
Rhone Alpes (new region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) / Grenoble
 

39: Jura
Franche Comte / Lons-le-Saunier
 

40: Landes
Aquitaine (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Mont-de-Marsan
 

Centre (new region: Centre-Val de Loire) (Loire Valley) / Blois
 

42: Loire
Rhone Alpes (new region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) / Saint-Etienne
 

Auvergne (new region: Auvergne Rhône-Alpes) / Le Puy-en-Velay
 

Pays de la Loire / Nantes
 

45: Loiret
Centre (new region: Centre-Val de Loire) (Loire Valley) / Orleans
 

46: Lot
Midi Pyrenees (new region: Occitaine) / Cahors
 

Aquitaine (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Agen
 

Languedoc-Roussillon (new region: Occitaine) / Mende
 

49: Maine-et-Loire (see Anjou)
Pays de la Loire / Angers
 

50: Manche
Normandy / Saint-Lô
 

51: Marne
Champagne Ardenne (new region: Grand Est)/ Chalons-en-Champagne
 

52: Haute-Marne
Champagne Ardenne (new region: Grand Est)/ Chaumont
 

Pays de la Loire / Laval
 

54: Meurthe-et-Moselle
Lorraine (new region: Grand Est) / Nancy
 

55: Meuse
Lorraine (new region: Grand Est) / Bar-le-Duc
 

Brittany / Vannes
 

57: Moselle
Lorraine (new region: Grand Est) / Metz
 

Burgundy (new region: Bourgogne Franche-Comte) / Nevers
 

59: Nord
Nord Pas de Calais (new region: Hauts-de-France) / Lille
 

60: Oise
Picardy (new region: Hauts-de-France) / Beauvais
 

61: Orne
Normandy / Alencon
 

62: Pas-de-Calais
Nord Pas de Calais (new region: Hauts-de-France) / Arras
 

Auvergne (new region: Auvergne Rhône-Alpes) / Clermont-Ferrand
 

Aquitaine (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Pau
 

Midi Pyrenees (new region: Occitaine) / Tarbes
 

Languedoc-Roussillon (new region: Occitaine) / Perpignan
 

Alsace (new region: Grand Est) / Strasbourg
 

Alsace (new region: Grand Est) / Colmar
 

69: Rhône
Rhone Alpes (new region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) / Lyon
 

70: Haute-Saône
Franche Comte / Vesoul
 

Burgundy (new region: Bourgogne Franche-Comte) / Macon
 

72: Sarthe
Pays de la Loire / Le Mans
 

73: Savoie
Rhone Alpes (new region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) / Chambery
 

Rhone Alpes (new region: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) / Annecy
 

75: Paris
Paris / Paris
 
 

 

77: Seine-et-Marne
Paris / Melun
 

78: Yvelines
Paris / Versailles
 

79: Deux-Sèvres
Poitou Charentes (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Niort
 

80: Somme
Picardy (new region: Hauts-de-France) / Amiens
 

81: Tarn
Midi Pyrenees (new region: Occitaine) / Albi
 

Midi Pyrenees (new region: Occitaine) / Montauban
 

83: Var
Provence / Toulon
 

Provence / Avignon
 

Pays de la Loire / La Roche-sur-Yon
 

86: Vienne
Poitou Charentes (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Poitiers
 

Limousin (new region: Nouvelle Aquitaine) / Limoges
 

88: Vosges
Lorraine (new region: Grand Est) / Epinal
 

89: Yonne
Burgundy (new region: Bourgogne Franche-Comte) / Auxerre
 

90: Territoire de Belfort
Franche Comte / Belfort
 

91: Essonne
Paris / Evry
see Paris (no 75 above)
 

92: Hauts-de-Seine
Paris / Nanterre
see Paris (no 75 above)
 

93: Seine-Saint-Denis
Paris / Bobigny
see Paris (no 75 above)
 

94: Val-de-Marne
Paris / Créteil
see Paris (no 75 above)
 

95: Val-d’Oise
Paris / Cergy-Pontoise
see Paris (no 75 above)
 
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* Note: these listings provide complete alphabetical list of all the communes in France, by department - which in turn will provide you with maps, tourist information, hotels and places of interest for each of these communes (Paris communes are grouped together).

The four overseas departments are Guadelope, Martinique, La Réunion and Guyane

See 'Places to visit in France' for a map of the regions of France. This list of departments in France should help if you know what department you want to visit e.g. Dordogne 24 but you don't know which region it forms part of.

Map of the departments of France.

map of the departments of france