Région in France
France is divided into 26
régions, of which 21 are in the continental part of
metropolitan France, one is
Corse on the island of
Corsica (although strictly speaking Corse is in fact a "territorial collectivity", not a
région, but is referred to as a
région in common speech), and four lie overseas.
Régions in mainland France are further subdivided into between about 2 and 8
départements each.
In continental France (
metropolitan France excluding
Corsica), the
median land area of a
région is 25,809 km² (9,965 sq. miles), which is about one-fifth of the median land area of a
U.S. state, but 28% larger than the median land area of a
German state, and 67% larger than the median land area of a
region of England.
In
2004, the median population of a
région in continental France was 2,329,000 inhabitants, which is a little less than one-half of the median population of a region of England, a little more than one-half of the median population of a U.S. state, and three-quarter of the median population of a German state.
A median
région of continental France is made up of four
départements.
Régions do not have legislative autonomy, nor can they issue regulations. They do levy their own distinct taxes (and receive a decreasing part of their budget from the national government which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies) and have sizeable, though not considerable, budgets, managed by a regional assembly (
conseil régional) with nominated representants in the
départements assemblies and major municipalities in the
région.
Their main legal attribution is to build and pay equipment costs for high schools; in March 2004, the French national government announced a controversial plan to transfer to the
régions some categories of non-teaching school personnel. Critics of this plan contend that it is doubtful that sufficient fiscal resources for these additional charges will be transferred, and that such measures will increase inequalities between
régions.
Apart from these legal attributions,
régions have considerable discretionary spending for infrastructure (education, public transportation systems, aid to universities and research, support for
entrepreneurs). Because of this, being president of a wealthy
région such as
Île-de-France or
Rhône-Alpes may be quite a high profile position.
There are, from time to time, discussions about giving limited legislative autonomy to the
régions, but such proposals are controversial. There are also proposals to suppress the local government (
conseil général) of the
départements and to folding them into their
régions, keeping the
départements only as administrative subdivisions.
*
Régions which are also
départements d'outre-mer (DOM)
(Overseas departments), each of them consisting of a single
département coterminous with a
région:
** 23
Guadeloupe** 24
Martinique** 25
French Guiana** 26
Réunion*
Conseil régional*
Administrative divisions of France*
Ranked list of French régions*
List of capitals of subnational entities*
French regional elections, 2004*
Subdivisions of France*
Flags of French regions*
Local websites by region
