Département

The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to British counties. The 100 French départements are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. They are subdivided into 342 arrondissements.

History

Départements were created on January 4, 1790 by the Constituent Assembly to replace the country's former provinces with a more rational structure. They were also designed to deliberately break up France's historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences and build a more homogeneous nation. Most départements are named after the area's principal river(s) or other physical features.

Related Topics:
January 4 - 1790 - Constituent Assembly - Provinces

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The number of départements rose from an initial 83 to 130 by 1810 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the Empire (see Provinces of the Netherlands for the annexed Dutch departements), but they were reduced again to 86 with Napoleon I's defeat in 1814-1815. Three more were added with the acquisition of Nice and Savoy in 1860. The numbering was estabished on the alphabetical order of those 89 départements.

Related Topics:
1810 - Empire - Provinces of the Netherlands - Annexed - Napoleon I - 1814 - 1815 - Nice - Savoy - 1860

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Three départements in Alsace-Lorraine which had been ceded to Germany in 1871 (Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle) were returned to France in 1919. When Alsace-Lorraine was ceded in 1871, a small part of the département of Haut-Rhin was detached from the rest of Alsace-Lorraine and remained French. This territory, called Territoire de Belfort, was not reintegrated into the recovered département of Haut-Rhin in 1919 and was instead made a full-status département in 1922, becoming the 90th département of France.

Related Topics:
Alsace-Lorraine - Germany - 1871 - Haut-Rhin - Bas-Rhin - Moselle - 1919 - Territoire de Belfort - 1922

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Reorganisations of the Paris region (1968) and the division of Corsica (1975) have added a further six départements, raising the total to one hundred - including the four overseas départements d'outre-mer (DOM) of Guyane (French Guiana) in South America, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean Sea, and Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

Related Topics:
Paris - 1968 - Corsica - 1975 - Départements d'outre-mer - French Guiana - South America - Guadeloupe - Martinique - Caribbean Sea - Réunion - Indian Ocean

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