The Regions of France

	The regions of France
France > Regions About-France.com A guide to France and French life.

All the regions of France are or include popular tourist destinations, but there are considerable differences in culture, character and climate, from one region to another.

► The official regions of France France are responsible for an increasingly large number of public services. For details of each region and its tourist attractions, click a link in the list on the right.
► The six tourist areas listed below combine similar neighbouring regions into larger and coherent areas sharing similarities in terms of their tourist attractions.

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Part 1

The 22 regions of France in greater detail

with their main tourist attractions and features.

Metropolitan France is divided administratively into 22 regions; there are also five overseas regions.
Click on one of the links on the right for information on a specific region or area and its top tourist attractions.

Definition:

Regions are the principal territorial units of France. There are 22 regions in metropolitan France, i.e. continental France plus the island of Corsica. There are five overseas regions.
Each region has its regional council, whose members are elected by universal suffrage. The council is presided over by a regional president, and has a full local administration to go with it.
Regions have extensive powers in the fields of transport, infrastructure, economic development, tourism and education (provision of lycées), and since these powers were devolved to them from 1981 onwards regions have often worked hard over the years to develop a regional identity.
Regions are the top tier of a rather complex multi-tiered system of local administration, which also includes counties (départements), local areas (communautés de communes) and boroughs (communes).

History:

Many of today's French regions correspond largely to the provinces of pre-revolutionary France, and share the same name. Others are modern creations including areas from different historic provinces. The historic region of Normandy is currently two modern regions.
This guide only covers France in Europe, and consequently excludes French overseas regions such as the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe.

Regional reform:

The regional structure of France is going to change as a result of an impending major overhaul of local government. The new structure, which might perhaps be in place by 2014, will probably see the number of regions reduced to 18, with the amalgamation of contiguous small regions (the two Normandy regions, Franche Comté and Burgundy, Auvergne and Limousin), and the disappearance of either Pays de la Loire and/or Picardy as regional entities.

The reform of the regions will not be easy, as strong local interests will frequently defend the status-quo, on account of the powers devolved to the regions.
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► In greater detail ......
Region by region:

Corsica

Ile de France (Paris)

Normandy (Haute & Basse)

Thematic pages and other area guides ....

Cathar country - who were the Cathars?

The French Riviera

Wild France - far from the crowds

French Alps ski areas

The coasts and seaside of France

The Dordogne area

Part 2 The six tourist areas of France

Select a tourist area of France for a general overview:

6 Le Midi - southern France

For tourism purposes, France can alternatively be considered as six tourist areas, each with different characteristics. Each of the six areas has its own particular appeal and characteristics as a tourist destination, and each has plenty to discover, and plenty to offer.
◄ Select one of the six areas from the list on the left, for a general overview of this particular area of France. For more detailed information, choose the corresponding regions of France as listed above.

Contact : email to info "at" about-france "dot" com

The regions of France

The 22 regions of France in greater detail

Definition:

History:

Regional reform:

Part 2 The six tourist areas of France