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In the administrative division of France, the department (French: département, pronounced: [depaʁtəmɑ̃]) is one of the three levels of government below the national level (“territorial collectivities”), between the region and the commune. There are 96 departments in metropolitan France and 5 overseas departments, which also are classified as regions. Departments are further subdivided into 342 arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons; the latter two have no autonomy and are used for the organisation of public services and sometimes elections.
France's departments are administered by elected general councils (conseil général) and their presidents, whose main areas of responsibility include the management of a number of social and welfare allowances, of junior high school (collège) buildings and technical staff, of 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 in this regard since the 2000s, with some department-level services merged into region-level services.
The departments were created in 1791 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces in view of strengthening national unity; almost all of them are therefore named after rivers, mountains or coasts rather than after historical or cultural territories, unlike regions, and some of them are commonly referred to by their two-digit postal code number, which was until recently used for all vehicle registration plates. They have inspired similar divisions in many of France’s former colonies.
History
Main article: Territorial formation of France
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 close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces. During the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved, partly in order to weaken old loyalties.
The modern departments, as all-purpose units of the government, were created on 4 March 1790 by the National Constituent Assembly to replace the provinces with what the Assembly deemed a more rational structure. Their boundaries served two purposes:
- Boundaries were deliberately 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 any settlement in the country was within a day's ride of the capital of the department. This was a security measure, intended to keep the entire national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of many rural areas far from any centre of government.
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.
The number of departments, initially 83, was increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire (see Provinces of the Netherlands for the annexed Dutch departments). Following Napoleon's defeats in 1814-1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size; the number of departments was reduced to 86, as three of the original departments had 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 their alphabetical order.
The departments of Moselle, Bas-Rhin, and most of 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 remained French, however, and became known as the Territoire de Belfort. 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.
The reorganisation of Île-de-France (1968) and the division of Corsica (1975) added six more departments, raising the total to 96. Counting the five overseas departments (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Réunion and Mayotte) the total comes to 101 departments. In 2011, the overseas collectivity of Mayotte became the 101st department.
General characteristics
The departmental seat of government is known as the prefecture (préfecture) or chef-lieu de département and is generally a city 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 by 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 are divided into one or more arrondissements. The capital of an arrondissement is called a subprefecture (sous-préfecture) or chef-lieu d'arrondissement.
Each department is administered by a general council (conseil général), an assembly elected for six years by universal suffrage, with the president of the council as executive of the department. Before 1982, the executive of a department was the prefect (préfet) who represents the Government of France in each department and is appointed by the President of France. The prefect is assisted by one or more sub-prefects (sous-préfet) based in the subprefectures of the department.
The departments are further divided into communes, governed by municipal councils. As of 1999, there were 36,779 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.
In continental France (metropolitan France, excluding Corsica), the median land area of a department is 5,965 km2 (2,303 sq mi), which is two-and-a-half times the median land area of a ceremonial county of England & 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 511,012 inhabitants, which is 21 times the median population of a U.S. county, but less than two-thirds of the median population of a ceremonial county of England & Wales. Most of the departments have an area of between 4,000 and 8,000 km², and a population between 320,000 and 1 million. The largest in area is Gironde (10,000 km²), while the smallest is the city of Paris (105 km²). The most populous is Nord (2,550,000) and the least populous is Lozère (74,000).
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, so the correspondence became less exact. There is no number 20, but 2A and 2B instead, for Corsica. Corsican postal codes or addresses in both departments do still start with 20, though. 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 get three digits, e.g. 971 for Guadeloupe (see table below).
Party-political preferences
These maps cannot be used as a useful resource of voter preferences, because General Councils are elected on a two-round system, which drastically limits the chances of fringe parties, for as long as 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 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 2008.
Party affiliation of the General Council Presidents of the various departments in the elections of 2011.
Key to the parties:
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.[1]
In January 2008, the Commission for freeing French development, known as the Attali Commission, recommended that the departmental level of government should be eliminated within ten years.[2]
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 bringing the number of the latter down to fifteen.[3] This committee advocates, on the contrary, the suppression of the cantons.[3]
Maps and tables
Current departments
All departments have an escutcheon with which they are commonly associated, but not all are officially recognized or used. In some departments they are used, but in others a more modern emblem is used. The national government itself has no heraldic coat of arms, as a rejection of the aristocratic origins of heraldry, and this is followed by many governments in the departments.
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Notes:
- ^1 Most of the coats of arms are not official
- ^2 This department was known as Basses-Alpes until 1970
- ^3 This department was known as Charente-Inférieure until 1941
- ^4 This department was known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990
- ^5 This department was known as Bec-d'Ambès until 1795
- ^6 This department was known as Loire-Inférieure until 1957
- ^7 This department was known as Mayenne-et-Loire until 1791
- ^8 This department was known as Basses-Pyrénées until 1969
- ^9 Number 75 was formerly assigned to Seine
- ^10 This department was known as Seine-Inférieure until 1955
- ^11 Number 78 was formerly assigned to Seine-et-Oise
- ^12 Number 91 was formerly assigned to Alger, in French Algeria
- ^13 Number 92 was formerly assigned to Oran, in French Algeria
- ^14 Number 93 was formerly assigned to Constantine, in French Algeria
- ^15 The prefecture of Val-d'Oise was established in Pontoise when the department was created, but moved de facto to the neighbouring commune of Cergy; currently, both part of the ville nouvelle of Cergy-Pontoise
- ^16 The overseas departments each constitute a region and enjoy a status identical to metropolitan France. They are part of France and the European Union, though special EU rules apply to them.
- ^17 Mayotte became the 101st department of France on 31 March 2011. The INSEE code of Mayotte is 976 (975 is already assigned to the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon)
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Former departments
Former departments of the current territory of France
| Department
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Prefecture
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Dates in existence
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| Rhône-et-Loire
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Lyon
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1790–1793
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Split into Loire on 12 August 1793.
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| Corse
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Bastia
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1790–1793
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Split into Golo and Liamone.
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| Golo
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Bastia
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1793–1811
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Reunited with Corse.
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| Liamone
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Ajaccio
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1793–1811
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Reunited with Corse.
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| Mont-Blanc
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Chambéry
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1792–1815
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Formed from part of the Haute-Savoie.
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| Léman
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Geneva
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1798–1814
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Formed when the Haute-Savoie.
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| Meurthe
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Nancy
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1790–1871
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Meurthe ceased to exist following the annexation of Treaty of Versailles.
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| Seine
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Paris
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1790–1967
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On 1 January 1968, Seine was divided into four new departments: Seine-et-Oise as well).
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| Seine-et-Oise
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Versailles
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1790–1967
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On 1 January 1968, Seine-et-Oise was divided into four new departments: Seine).
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| Corse
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Ajaccio
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1811–1975
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On 15 September 1975, Corse was divided in two, to form Haute-Corse.
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| Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon
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Saint-Pierre
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1976–1985
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overseas collectivity on 11 June 1985.
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Departments of French Algeria
Unlike the rest of French-controlled Africa, Algeria was officially incorporated into France from 1848 until its independence in 1962.
1957–1962
| №
|
Department
|
Prefecture
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Dates of existence
|
| 8A
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Oasis
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Ouargla
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(1957–1962)
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| 8B
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Saoura
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Bechar
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(1957–1962)
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| 9A
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Alger
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Algiers
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(1957–1962)
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| 9B
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Batna
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Batna
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(1957–1962)
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| 9C
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Bône
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Annaba
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(1955–1962)
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| 9D
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Constantine
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Constantine
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(1957–1962)
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| 9E
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Médéa
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Medea
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(1957–1962)
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| 9F
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Mostaganem
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Mostaganem
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(1957–1962)
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| 9G
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Oran
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Oran
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(1957–1962)
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| 9H
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Orléansville
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Chlef
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(1957–1962)
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| 9J
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Sétif
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Setif
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(1957–1962)
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| 9K
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Tiaret
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Tiaret
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(1957–1962)
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| 9L
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Tizi-Ouzou
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Tizi Ouzou
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(1957–1962)
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| 9M
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Tlemcen
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Tlemcen
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(1957–1962)
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| 9N
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Aumale
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Sour el Ghozlane
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(1958–1959)
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| 9P
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Bougie
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Bejaia
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(1958–1962)
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| 9R
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Saïda
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Saïda
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(1958–1962)
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Departments in former French colonies
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:
Notes for Table 7:
- 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.
- Territories that were a part of Holy Roman Empire.
- The Canton of Basel.
- The territories of the
United States of the Ionian Islands
- Bishopric of Liège.
- On 6 June 1805, as a result of the annexation of the Stura.
- Before becoming the department of Ligurian Republic.
- Before becoming the department of Kingdom of Etruria.
- Rome was known as the department du Tibre until 1810.
- Before becoming the departments of Kingdom of Holland.
- Before becoming the department of Helvetic Republic until 1802 when it became the independent Rhodanic Republic.
- In the months before Lippe was formed, the arrondissements of Rees and Münster were part of Yssel-Supérieur, the arrondissement of Steinfurt was part of Bouches-de-l'Yssel and the arrondissement of Neuenhaus was part of Ems-Occidental.
See also
References
External links
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