Réunion is an overseas département of France.
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government under the national level, between the administrative regions and the communes. There are ninety-six departments in metropolitan France, with an additional five overseas departments, which are also classified as overseas regions. Departments are further subdivided into 333 arrondissements and 2,054 cantons. These last two levels of government have no political autonomy, instead serving as the administrative basis for the local organisation of police, fire departments as well as, in certain cases, elections.
A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national government.
France is divided into eighteen administrative regions, of which thirteen are located in metropolitan France, while the other five are overseas regions.
The geography of France consists of a terrain that is mostly flat plains or gently rolling hills in the north and the west and mountainous in the south and the east. Metropolitan France has a total size of 551,695 km2 (213,011 sq mi). It is the third-largest country in Europe by area and the largest in Western Europe.
The overseas departments and regions of France are departments of the French Republic which are outside the continental Europe situated portion of France, known as "metropolitan France". The distant parts have exactly the same status as mainland France's regions and departments. The French Constitution provides that, in general, French laws and regulations apply to French overseas regions the same as in metropolitan France, but can be adapted as needed to suit the region's particular needs. Hence, the local administrations of French overseas regions cannot themselves pass new laws. On occasion referendums are undertaken to re-assess the sentiment in local status.
The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, Gemeinden in Germany, comuni in Italy, or municipios in Spain. The UK equivalent are civil parishes. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage the populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France.
Postal codes were introduced in France in 1964, when La Poste introduced automated sorting. They were updated to use the current 5 digit system in 1972.
A territorial collectivity, or territorial authority, in many francophone countries, is a legal entity governed by public law that exercises within its territory certain powers devolved to it by the State as part of a decentralization process. In France, it also refers to a chartered administrative division of France with recognized governing authority. It is the generic name for any territory with an elective form of local government and local regulatory authority. The nature of a French territorial collectivity is set forth in Article 72 of the Constitution of France (1958), which provides for local autonomy within limits prescribed by law.
The following are ranked lists of French regions.
The French overseas collectivities are first-order administrative divisions of France, like the French regions, but have a semi-autonomous status. The COMs include some former French overseas colonies and other French overseas entities with a particular status, all of which became COMs by constitutional reform on 28 March 2003. The COMs differ from overseas regions and overseas departments, which have the same status as metropolitan France but are located outside Europe. As integral parts of France, overseas collectivities are represented in the National Assembly, Senate and Economic and Social Council. Though some are outside the European Union, all can vote to elect members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The Pacific COMs use the CFP franc, a currency pegged to the euro, whereas the Atlantic COMs use the euro itself. As of 31 March 2011, there were six COMs:
This gallery of French coats of arms shows the coats of arms of the Provinces, Regions, and Departments of France and certain French cities. They are used to visually identify historical and present-day regions, as well as cities, within France.
The Collectivity of Saint Martin, commonly known as simply Saint Martin, is an overseas collectivity of France in the West Indies in the Caribbean, on the northern half of the island of Saint Martin, as well as some smaller adjacent islands. Saint Martin is separated from the island of Anguilla by the Anguilla Channel. Its capital is Marigot.
Overseas France consists of 13 French territories outside Europe, mostly the remnants of the French colonial empire that remained a part of the French state under various statuses after decolonisation. Most, but not all are part of the European Union.
The dependencies of Guadeloupe are three islands or island groups in the Leeward Islands chain which are administratively part of the neighboring French overseas department of Guadeloupe in the French Lesser Antilles. They are nearby island entities to the south and east of Guadeloupe island. Saint-Barthélemy and the French side of Saint-Martin were dependencies of Guadeloupe before they became autonomous. There are now three dependencies:
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