Departments of France

The **départements** (or departments) are administrative parts of France and many French colonies, similar to English counties.  _Départements_ are a kind of local government.

The 101 French _départements_ are now grouped into 13 metropolitan and five overseas régions. Their capitals are called préfectures.

## French _régions_ and _préfecture_

|scope="col"|INSEE code|scope="col"|Arms|scope="col"|Department|scope="col"|Prefecture|scope="col"|Region|scope="col"|Named after|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|{|class="wikitable sortable"||||||||||||
||Ain|Bourg-en-Bresse||Ain (river)||||||||
||Aisne|Laon||Aisne (river)||||||||
||Allier|Moulins||Allier (river)||||||||
||Alpes-de-Haute-Provence|Digne-les-Bains||Alps||||||||
||Hautes-Alpes|Gap||Alps||||||||
||Alpes-Maritimes|Nice||Alps||||||||
|||Privas||Ardèche (river)||||||||
||Ardennes|||Ardennes Forest||||||||
|||Foix||Ariège (river)||||||||
||Aube|Troyes||Aube (river)||||||||
||Aude|Carcassonne||Aude (river)||||||||
||Aveyron|Rodez||Aveyron (river)||||||||
|||Marseille||Rhône (river)||||||||
||Calvados|Caen||Calvados rocks||||||||
||Cantal|Aurillac||Mounts of Cantal||||||||
||Charente|||Charente (river)||||||||
||Charente-Maritime|La Rochelle||Charente (river)||||||||
||Cher|Bourges||Cher (river)||||||||
|||Tulle||Corrèze (river)||||||||
||Corse-du-Sud|Ajaccio||Island of Corsica||||||||
||Haute-Corse|Bastia||Island of Corsica||||||||
|||Dijon||Côte d'Or (escarpment)||||||||
|||Saint-Brieuc|Brittany|coasts of Armorica||||||||
||Creuse|||Creuse (river)||||||||
||Dordogne|||Dordogne (river)||||||||
||Doubs|||Doubs (river)||||||||
|||Valence||Drôme (river)||||||||
||Eure|||Eure (river)||||||||
||Eure-et-Loir|Chartres||Eure and Loir rivers||||||||
|||Quimper|Brittany|_Finis Terræ_ (end of earth)||||||||
||Gard|||Gardon (river)||||||||
||Haute-Garonne|Toulouse||Garonne (river)||||||||
||Gers|Auch||Gers (river)||||||||
||Gironde|Bordeaux||Gironde (river)||||||||
|||Montpellier||Hérault (river)||||||||
||Ille-et-Vilaine|Rennes|Brittany|Ille and Vilaine rivers||||||||
||Indre|||Indre (river)||||||||
||Indre-et-Loire|Tours||Indre and Loire rivers||||||||
|||Grenoble||Isère (river)||||||||
||Jura|Lons-le-Saunier||Jura Mountains||||||||
||Landes|Mont-de-Marsan||Landes forest||||||||
||Loir-et-Cher|Blois||Loir and Cher rivers||||||||
||Loire|||Loire (river)||||||||
||Haute-Loire|Le Puy-en-Velay||Loire (river)||||||||
||Loire-Atlantique|Nantes||Loire (river)||||||||
||Loiret|||Loiret (river)||||||||
||Lot|Cahors||Lot (river)||||||||
||Lot-et-Garonne|Agen||Lot and Garonne rivers||||||||
|||Mende||Mont Lozère||||||||
||Maine-et-Loire|Angers||Maine and Loire rivers||||||||
||Manche|||English Channel||||||||
||Marne|||Marne (river)||||||||
||Haute-Marne|Chaumont||Marne (river)||||||||
||Mayenne|Laval||Mayenne (river)||||||||
||Meurthe-et-Moselle|Nancy||Meurthe and Moselle rivers||||||||
||Meuse|Bar-le-Duc||Meuse (river)||||||||
||Morbihan|Vannes|Brittany|Gulf of Morbihan||||||||
||Moselle|Metz||Moselle (river)||||||||
|||Nevers||Nièvre (river)||||||||
||Nord|Lille||North||||||||
||Oise|Beauvais||Oise (river)||||||||
||Orne|||Orne (river)||||||||
||Pas-de-Calais|Arras||Strait of Dover||||||||
|||Clermont-Ferrand||Puy de Dôme volcano||||||||
|||Pau||Pyrenees||||||||
|||Tarbes||Pyrenees||||||||
|||Perpignan||Pyrenees||||||||
||Bas-Rhin|Strasbourg||Rhine (river)||||||||
||Haut-Rhin|Colmar||Rhine (river)||||||||
|||Lyon||Rhône (river)||||||||
|||Lyon||communes of Lyon||||||||
|||Vesoul||Saône (river)||||||||
|||||Saône and Loire rivers||||||||
||Sarthe|Le Mans||Sarthe (river)||||||||
||Savoie|||region of Savoy||||||||
||Haute-Savoie|Annecy||region of Savoy||||||||
||Paris|Paris||city of Paris||||||||
||Seine-Maritime|Rouen||Seine (river)||||||||
||Seine-et-Marne|Melun||Seine and Marne rivers||||||||
||Yvelines|Versailles||Forest of Yvelines||||||||
|||Niort||Sèvre Nantaise and Sèvre Niortaise rivers||||||||
||Somme|Amiens||Somme (river)||||||||
||Tarn|Albi||Tarn (river)||||||||
||Tarn-et-Garonne|Montauban||Tarn and Garonne rivers||||||||
||Var|Toulon||Var (river)||||||||
||Vaucluse|Avignon||Fontaine-de-Vaucluse spring||||||||
|||La Roche-sur-Yon||Vendée (river)||||||||
||Vienne|Poitiers||Vienne (river)||||||||
||Haute-Vienne|Limoges||Vienne (river)||||||||
||Vosges|||Vosges Mountains||||||||
||Yonne|Auxerre||Yonne (river)||||||||
||Territoire de Belfort|Belfort||city of Belfort||||||||
||Essonne|||Essonne (river)||||||||
||Hauts-de-Seine|Nanterre||Seine (river)||||||||
||Seine-Saint-Denis|Bobigny||Seine (river)||||||||
||Val-de-Marne|Créteil||Marne (river)||||||||
||Val-d'Oise|Pontoise||Oise (river)||||||||
||Guadeloupe|Basse-Terre||||||||||
||Martinique|Fort-de-France||||||||||
||Guyane|Cayenne||||||||||
|||Saint-Denis||||||||||
||Mayotte|Mamoudzou|||} <div style="font-size:0.8em>Notes: *  Most of the coats of arms are not official *  This department was known as Basses-Alpes until 1970 *  This department was known as Charente-Inférieure until 1941 *  This department was known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990 *  This department was known as Bec-d'Ambès from 1793 until 1795. The Convention eliminated the name to avoid recalling the outlawed Girondin political faction. *  This department was known as Loire-Inférieure until 1957 *  This department was known as Mayenne-et-Loire until 1791 *  This department was known as Basses-Pyrénées until 1969 *  Number 75 was formerly assigned to Seine *  This department was known as Seine-Inférieure until 1955 *  Number 78 was formerly assigned to Seine-et-Oise *  Number 91 was formerly assigned to Alger, in French Algeria *  Number 92 was formerly assigned to Oran, in French Algeria *  Number 93 was formerly assigned to Constantine, in French Algeria *  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 *  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. *  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) *  Metropoles with territorial collectivity statute. </div>|||||||