Maps of France
The French Country is divided into 26 regions and 96 départements, referring only to the Metropolitan France. This ancient European country is commonly said to have complex administrative divisions, splitting the territory into about 7 levels (without considering overseas French territories and collectivities)!
The French country is managed by several levels of Administrations.
The highest scale refers to the
26 administrative Régions (regions): 21 are strictly located on the
France Métropolitaine territory, one is for the Corsica Island (officially called "territorial collectivity" but commonly considered a French region) and the last 4 designate the
DOM-TOM overseas regions (Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion, Guyane - Mayotte may be granted this status in 2011).
Map of Regions and Departments
All these regions are then divided at least into 2
Départements - often referred to as "Departments" in English. The
départements - numbered in alphabetical order - are actually the most used administrative division in France as they are used for
postcodes (first 2 numbers of the code) and
number plates (last 2-digit number).
One of the French children's favourite games during long car journeys on the road to holidays: spotting the surrounding number plates and finding where the holidaymakers come from! Better to memorize the list of the Départements before going on family holidays to France!
Every French department has an administrative centre named
Préfecture, normally established in the county town (
Chef-lieu, major city of the departement and headquarters of the General Council), except for
Val d'Oise.
French divisions deal foremost with
administrative duties, but Regions, Departements and Communes also possess an executive and are represented by elected counsellors. The latter are gathered in local assemblies, respectively the
Conseil Régional, Conseil Général and Conseil Municipal which discuss the budget and various projects for their own administrative division.
This takes part into the French national programme of "administration decentralizing".
Nonetheless, many
debates have come out amongst the French Government about the
future of the Regions and Departements of France. Many French officials would like to simplify the administrative French "layout" whilst purists value the traditional division of the land as a mark of the History of France.
Learn more
Map of the Former French Provinces
The regions of France originally matched the historical
Provinces, some of which are still known for their popular habits and feasts, food and wine or simply for their beautiful, wild landscapes. The provinces of
Burgundy, Touraine and Berry are some of them.
Map of the Major Cities in France
Below is the map of the major cities in France, hover on the map to enlarge it:
Map of the Train Lines in France
Below is the map of the major cities train lines in France, just hover on the map to enlarge it:
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