The basics of French geography 1/3 – regions and departments
Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2025 5:46 am
Hello and thanks for joining me for this new video. This video will be the first in a series of three in which we will try to teach you the basics of French geography.
So, in this first video, we decided to introduce you to the French regions and departments, or at least some French departments. In a second video, we will introduce you to the major French cities. And in a third video, the rivers, coastlines and mountains. So, I hope you will enjoy this series of three and that it will help you better understand France and its geography.
Here, the idea is really to help you get to know France better, to better understand its culture. We'll give you a little quiz at the end, so stay online to see if you've understood everything. And there's also a free PDF sheet to download to review or revise what I'm going to teach you today.
The plan of this first video is very simple. I will start by telling you a little about the French administrative organization with the regions and the departments. And then, I will list all the French regions and I will list some departments.
If you look at France, you will see that this country has the shape of a hexagon. A hexagon is a geometric figure that has six sides. And besides, when we talk about France, sometimes we say the hexagon. During the weather forecast, for example, in the evening, on television, we will tell you: "well, it will be nice in the south of France". So, France has the shape of a hexagon.
This country is made up of regions which are themselves made up of departments, which are themselves made up of cities or villages. So, we call them communes. In general, from 2,000 inhabitants, we say that we are dealing with a city, and below 2,000 inhabitants, we say that it is a village. But cities and villages are both called communes. So, you have the level of regions, departments and communes.
Even though France likes to simplify, not to complicate things, they added what we now call communities of communes. So, these are groupings of several communes. So, in fact, in everyday reality, with French bureaucracy, which is a French art, you have regions, departments, communities of communes, so, these are groupings of several communes, and communes. Communes being cities or villages.
In France, there are 18 regions. There was a change, a simplification in 2016. There were previously 27. So, we have 18 regions. There are 13 metropolitan regions. So, here, for the moment, we are at the level of mainland France, and we have 5 overseas regions: Guyana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Mayotte and Réunion, here are the 5 overseas regions. Occitanie is the French region with the most departments. In Occitanie, there are 13 departments. Île-de-France is the most populated French region. Obviously, it is home to Paris. And Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the largest region in France in terms of surface area, with 84,000 square kilometers.
From a political point of view, the regions are run by regional councillors who themselves have a leader and who are elected for 6 years. The regions have been given a certain number indonesia whatsapp number data of missions and responsibilities, including managing high schools and managing certain public transport systems, including regional buses and trains. And it is the regions that manage financial aid to businesses.
As we said, the regions are made up of departments. In the Ancien Régime, therefore, before the French Revolution, France was divided into provinces. After the Revolution, what were called departments were created to try to better distribute power across French territory. The idea was to better serve citizens and also better represent them at the national level. There are 101 departments in France, 96 in Metropolitan France and 5 overseas. And each department has a number. We have classified all the departments in alphabetical order and we give them a number. So, for example, 01 is the department of Ain. 02 is Aisne. 08, where I come from, is the Ardennes. 57 is Moselle, etc.
So, each department has its number and this number is given in a completely random way since it is an alphabetical order. There is an exception to this rule since Paris has the number 75, which is not really the alphabetical order, but it is historical because previously it was the department of the Seine which, from an alphabetical point of view, had the 75. So, that is why Paris has the number 75.
The departments are governed by prefects and they are housed in an administrative building called a prefecture. And the city in which the prefecture is located is called a prefecture. The departments have also been given a certain number of missions, including colleges, roads and child protection. So, the regions have missions and the departments have other missions.
So, there is a certain identity attachment to the department. And besides, the numbers, which I was talking to you about earlier, of the department are displayed on the license plates of cars. It is mandatory now. Before, you could really only have the number of the place where you lived. So, living in the Ardennes, for example, you had the 08 on your car. Today, it is free. So, we, when we lived in Moselle with my family, we had still decided to put the 08 which was our department of origin. But before, it was really, you had the number of the department in which you lived. So, there is a certain symbol a little identity.
So, in this first video, we decided to introduce you to the French regions and departments, or at least some French departments. In a second video, we will introduce you to the major French cities. And in a third video, the rivers, coastlines and mountains. So, I hope you will enjoy this series of three and that it will help you better understand France and its geography.
Here, the idea is really to help you get to know France better, to better understand its culture. We'll give you a little quiz at the end, so stay online to see if you've understood everything. And there's also a free PDF sheet to download to review or revise what I'm going to teach you today.
The plan of this first video is very simple. I will start by telling you a little about the French administrative organization with the regions and the departments. And then, I will list all the French regions and I will list some departments.
If you look at France, you will see that this country has the shape of a hexagon. A hexagon is a geometric figure that has six sides. And besides, when we talk about France, sometimes we say the hexagon. During the weather forecast, for example, in the evening, on television, we will tell you: "well, it will be nice in the south of France". So, France has the shape of a hexagon.
This country is made up of regions which are themselves made up of departments, which are themselves made up of cities or villages. So, we call them communes. In general, from 2,000 inhabitants, we say that we are dealing with a city, and below 2,000 inhabitants, we say that it is a village. But cities and villages are both called communes. So, you have the level of regions, departments and communes.
Even though France likes to simplify, not to complicate things, they added what we now call communities of communes. So, these are groupings of several communes. So, in fact, in everyday reality, with French bureaucracy, which is a French art, you have regions, departments, communities of communes, so, these are groupings of several communes, and communes. Communes being cities or villages.
In France, there are 18 regions. There was a change, a simplification in 2016. There were previously 27. So, we have 18 regions. There are 13 metropolitan regions. So, here, for the moment, we are at the level of mainland France, and we have 5 overseas regions: Guyana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Mayotte and Réunion, here are the 5 overseas regions. Occitanie is the French region with the most departments. In Occitanie, there are 13 departments. Île-de-France is the most populated French region. Obviously, it is home to Paris. And Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the largest region in France in terms of surface area, with 84,000 square kilometers.
From a political point of view, the regions are run by regional councillors who themselves have a leader and who are elected for 6 years. The regions have been given a certain number indonesia whatsapp number data of missions and responsibilities, including managing high schools and managing certain public transport systems, including regional buses and trains. And it is the regions that manage financial aid to businesses.
As we said, the regions are made up of departments. In the Ancien Régime, therefore, before the French Revolution, France was divided into provinces. After the Revolution, what were called departments were created to try to better distribute power across French territory. The idea was to better serve citizens and also better represent them at the national level. There are 101 departments in France, 96 in Metropolitan France and 5 overseas. And each department has a number. We have classified all the departments in alphabetical order and we give them a number. So, for example, 01 is the department of Ain. 02 is Aisne. 08, where I come from, is the Ardennes. 57 is Moselle, etc.
So, each department has its number and this number is given in a completely random way since it is an alphabetical order. There is an exception to this rule since Paris has the number 75, which is not really the alphabetical order, but it is historical because previously it was the department of the Seine which, from an alphabetical point of view, had the 75. So, that is why Paris has the number 75.
The departments are governed by prefects and they are housed in an administrative building called a prefecture. And the city in which the prefecture is located is called a prefecture. The departments have also been given a certain number of missions, including colleges, roads and child protection. So, the regions have missions and the departments have other missions.
So, there is a certain identity attachment to the department. And besides, the numbers, which I was talking to you about earlier, of the department are displayed on the license plates of cars. It is mandatory now. Before, you could really only have the number of the place where you lived. So, living in the Ardennes, for example, you had the 08 on your car. Today, it is free. So, we, when we lived in Moselle with my family, we had still decided to put the 08 which was our department of origin. But before, it was really, you had the number of the department in which you lived. So, there is a certain symbol a little identity.