France isdividedinto eighteen administrativeregions(French:régions,singularrégion[ʁeʒjɔ̃]), of which thirteen are located inmetropolitan France(in Europe), while the other five areoverseas regions(not to be confused with theoverseas collectivities,which have a semi-autonomous status).[1]
| Regions of France Régions(French) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Category | Unitary state |
| Location | French Republic |
| Number | 18 |
| Possible status |
|
| Additional status |
|
| Populations | 279,471 (Mayotte) – 12,997,058 (Île-de-France) |
| Areas | 376 km2(145 sq mi) (Mayotte) – 84,061 km2(32,456 sq mi) (Nouvelle-Aquitaine) |
| Government |
|
| Subdivisions | |
All of the thirteen metropolitan administrative regions (includingCorsicaas of 2019[update]) are further subdivided into two to thirteen administrativedepartments,with theprefectof 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 regionalterritorial collectivities,which comes with alocal government,with departmental and communal collectivities below the region level. The exceptions are Corsica,French Guiana,MayotteandMartinique,where region and department functions are managed by single local governments having consolidated jurisdiction and which are known assingle territorial collectivities.
History
edit1982–2015
editThe termrégionwas officially created by theLaw of Decentralisation(2 March 1982), which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for regional representatives took place on 16 March 1986.[2]
Between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were fouroverseas regions(French Guiana,Guadeloupe,Martinique,andRéunion); in 2011Mayottebecame the fifth.
|
Reform and mergers of regions
editIn 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 effective 1 January 2016.[5]
The law gave interim names for most of the new regions by combining the names of the former regions, e.g. the region composed ofAquitaine,Poitou-CharentesandLimousinwas temporarily calledAquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes.However, the combined region of Upper and Lower Normandy was simply called "Normandy" (Normandie). Permanent names were proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016 and new names confirmed by theConseil d'Étatby 30 September 2016.[6][7]The legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to "Centre-Val de Loire"with effect from January 2015.[8] Two regions,Auvergne-Rhône-AlpesandBourgogne-Franche-Comté,opted to retain their interim names.[9][10]
- Overview of merger proposals for the metropolitan territory
-
Édouard Balladur's proposal -
Manuel Valls's proposal A -
Manuel Valls's proposal B -
PresidentFrançois Hollande's proposal -
Regions as instituted by theNational Assemblyin 2014
Given below is a table of former regions and which new region they became part of.
| Former region | New region | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Interim name | Final name | ||
| Auvergne | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | ||
| Rhône-Alpes | |||
| Burgundy | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté | ||
| Franche-Comté | |||
| Brittany | |||
| Centre-Val de Loire | |||
| Corsica | |||
| French Guiana | |||
| Alsace | Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine | Grand Est | |
| Champagne-Ardenne | |||
| Lorraine | |||
| Guadeloupe | |||
| Nord-Pas-de-Calais | Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie | Hauts-de-France | |
| Picardy | |||
| Île-de-France | |||
| Martinique | |||
| Mayotte | |||
| Lower Normandy | Normandy | ||
| Upper Normandy | |||
| Aquitaine | Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes | Nouvelle-Aquitaine | |
| Limousin | |||
| Poitou-Charentes | |||
| Languedoc-Roussillon | Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées | Occitanie | |
| Midi-Pyrénées | |||
| Pays de la Loire | |||
| Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | |||
| Réunion | |||
List of administrative regions
edit| Type | Region | Other local name(s) | ISO | INSEENo.[11] | Capital | Area (km2) | Population[a][12] | Seats in Regional council |
Former regions (until 2016) |
President of the Regional Council | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metropolitan | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (Auvergne-Rhône-Alps) |
Occitan:Auvèrnhe-Ròse-Aups Arpitan:Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Arpes |
FR-ARA | 84 | Lyon | 69,711 | 8,042,936
|
204 | Auvergne Rhône-Alpes |
Laurent Wauquiez(LR) | 
|
| Metropolitan | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (Burgundy-Free-County) |
Arpitan:Borgogne-Franche-Comtât | FR-BFC | 27 | Dijon | 47,784 | 2,805,580
|
100 | Burgundy Franche-Comté |
Marie-Guite Dufay(PS) | 
|
| Metropolitan | Bretagne (Brittany) |
Breton:Breizh Gallo:Bertaèyn |
FR-BRE | 53 | Rennes | 27,208 | 3,354,854
|
83 | unchanged | Loïg Chesnais-Girard(PS) | 
|
| Metropolitan | Centre-Val de Loire[4] (Central-Vale of the Loire) |
FR-CVL | 24 | Orléans | 39,151 | 2,573,180
|
77 | unchanged | François Bonneau(PS) | 
| |
| Metropolitan | Corse (Corsica) |
Corsican:Corsica | FR-20R | 94 | Ajaccio | 8,680 | 340,440
|
63 | unchanged | Jean-Guy Talamoni(CL) | 
|
| Metropolitan | Grand Est (Greater East) |
German:Großer Osten | FR-GES | 44 | Strasbourg | 57,441 | 5,556,219
|
169 | Alsace Champagne-Ardenne Lorraine |
Jean Rottner(LR) | 
|
| Metropolitan | Hauts-de-France (Heights-of-France) |
FR-HDF | 32 | Lille | 31,806 | 6,004,947
|
170 | Nord-Pas-de-Calais Picardy |
Xavier Bertrand(LR) | 
| |
| Metropolitan | Île-de-France (Isle-of-France) |
Breton:Enez-Frañs | FR-IDF | 11 | Paris | 12,011 | 12,262,544
|
209 | unchanged | Valérie Pécresse(LR) | 
|
| Metropolitan | Normandie (Normandy) |
Norman:Normaundie Breton:Normandi |
FR-NOR | 28 | Rouen | 29,907 | 3,325,032
|
102 | Upper Normandy Lower Normandy |
Hervé Morin(LC) | 
|
| Metropolitan | Nouvelle-Aquitaine (New Aquitaine) |
Occitan:Nòva Aquitània / Nava Aquitània / Novela Aquitània Basque:Akitania Berria |
FR-NAQ | 75 | Bordeaux | 84,036 | 6,010,289
|
183 | Aquitaine Limousin Poitou-Charentes |
Alain Rousset(PS) | 
|
| Metropolitan | Occitanie
(Occitania) |
Occitan:Occitània Catalan:Occitània |
FR-OCC | 76 | Toulouse | 72,724 | 5,933,185
|
158 | Languedoc-Roussillon Midi-Pyrénées |
Carole Delga(PS) | 
|
| Metropolitan | Pays de la Loire (Lands of the Loire) |
Breton:Broioù al Liger | FR-PDL | 52 | Nantes | 32,082 | 3,806,461
|
93 | unchanged | Christelle Morançais(LR) | 
|
| Metropolitan | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (Provence-Alps-Azure Coast) |
Provençal:Provença-Aups-Còsta d'Azur (Prouvènço-Aup-Costo d'Azur) |
FR-PAC | 93 | Marseille | 31,400 | 5,081,101
|
123 | unchanged | Renaud Muselier(LR) | 
|
| Overseas | Guadeloupe | Antillean Creole:Gwadloup | GP | 01 | Basse-Terre | 1,628 | 384,239
|
41 | unchanged | Ary Chalus(GUSR) | 
|
| Overseas | Guyane (French Guiana) |
French Guianese Creole:LagwiyannorGwiyann | GF | 03 | Cayenne | 83,534[13] | 281,678
|
51 | unchanged | Rodolphe Alexandre(PSG) | 
|
| Overseas | La Réunion (Réunion) |
Reunion Creole:La Rényon | RE | 04 | Saint-Denis | 2,504 | 861,210
|
45 | unchanged | Didier Robert(LR) | 
|
| Overseas | Martinique | Antillean Creole:Matinik | MQ | 02 | Fort-de-France | 1,128 | 364,508
|
51 | unchanged | Claude Lise(RDM) | 
|
| Overseas | Mayotte | Shimaore:Maore Malagasy:Mahori |
YT | 06 | Mamoudzou | 374 | 26 | unchanged | Soibahadine Ibrahim Ramadani(LR) | 
| |
| 632,734 | 68,035,000 | 1,910 |
Role
editRegions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law. They levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing[clarification needed]part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by aregional council(conseil régional)made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections.
A region's primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools. In March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the resulting costs, and that such measures would increase regional inequalities.
In addition, regions have considerable discretionary power over infrastructural spending, e.g., education, public transit, universities and research, and assistance to business owners. This has meant that the heads of wealthy regions such asÎle-de-FranceorRhône-Alpescan be high-profile positions.
Proposals to give regions limited legislative autonomy have met with considerable resistance; others propose transferring certain powers from the departments to their respective regions, leaving the former with limited authority.
Regional control
editNumber of regions controlled by each coalition since1986.
| Elections | Presidencies | Map | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Left
|
Right
|
Other
| ||
| 1986 | 5 | 21 | – | 
|
| 1992 | 4 | 21 | 1 | 
|
| 1998 | 10 | 15 | 1 | 
|
| 2004 | 23 | 2 | 1 | 
|
| 2010 | 23 | 3 | – | 
|
| 2015 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 
|
| 2021 | 6 | 8 | 4 | 
|
Overseas regions
editOverseas region(French:Région d'outre-mer) is a recent designation, given to theoverseas departmentsthat have similar powers to those of the regions ofmetropolitan France.As integral parts of theFrench Republic,they are represented in theNational Assembly,SenateandEconomic and Social Council,elect a Member of theEuropean Parliament(MEP) and use theeuroas their currency.
Although these territories have had these political powers since 1982, when France'sdecentralisationpolicy dictated that they be given electedregional councilsalong with other regional powers, the designationoverseas regionsdates only to the 2003 constitutional change; indeed, the new wording of the constitution aims to give no precedence to either appellationoverseas departmentoroverseas region,although the second is still virtually unused by French media.
The following have overseas region status:
- in theIndian Ocean(Africa):
- in theAmericas:
- French GuianainSouth America
- Guadeloupein theAntilles(Caribbean)
- Martiniquein theAntilles(Caribbean)
- ^Saint Pierre and Miquelon(located just south of Newfoundland, Canada, in North America), once an overseas department, was demoted to aterritorial collectivityin 1985.
See also
edit
- List of current presidents of the regional councils of France and the Corsican Assembly
- Ranked list of French regions
- Administrative divisions of France
- List of French regions and overseas collectivities by GDP
- List of French regions by Human Development Index
- List of regions of France by population
- Flags of the regions of France
- ISO 3166-2:FR
General:
- Decentralisation in France
- Budget of France
- Regional councils of France
- Administrative divisions of France
- Overseas
Explanatory notes
editReferences
edit- ^"Statistiques locales: France par région"(in French).INSEE.Retrieved4 July2022.
- ^Jean-Marie Miossec (2009),Géohistoire de la régionalisation en France,Paris: Presses universitaires de FranceISBN978-2-13-056665-6.
- ^"Code officiel géographique au 1er janvier 2014: Liste des régions".INSEE.
- ^abNew name as of 17 January 2015; formerly namedCentre.
- ^La carte à 13 régions définitivement adoptée,Le Monde,17 December 2014, accessed 2 January 2015
- ^Quel nom pour la nouvelle région? Vous avez choisi...,Sud-Ouest,4 December 2014, accessed 2 January 2015
- ^"Nouveau nom de la région: dernier jour de vote, Occitanie en tête".midilibre.fr.
- ^"Journal officielof 17 January 2015 ".Légifrance(in French). 17 January 2015.Retrieved10 March2015.
- ^"Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: fini la consultation, Laurent Wauquiez a tranché - Place Gre'net".placegrenet.fr.31 May 2016.
- ^"Région Bourgogne-Franche-Comté".www.bourgognefranchecomte.fr.
- ^"La nouvelle nomenclature des codes régions"(in French).INSEE.Retrieved17 January2016.
- ^Populations légales des régions en vigueur au 1er janvier 2022
- ^"Population by sex, annual rate of population increase, surface area and density"(PDF).untstats.un.org.p. 5.
- ^Populations légales des communes de Mayotte en 2017
External links
edit- Regions of FranceatCurlie
- Guide to the regions of France
- Local websites by region
- Will 2010 regional elections lead to political shake-up?Radio France Internationale in English
- Overseas regions