France is divided administratively into regions, departments and communes. There are 96 French departments, most with a two-digit number (plus 5 overseas departments, see below). That number is also used in the post code, in social security numbers and until recently for vehicle registration plates.
French logic and analytical thinking!
More about the new (and old) French regions.
Created in 1790 following the French Revolution when the old provinces were abolished, it was a deliberate policy to break up the historic regions and build a united nation. The boundaries were set with each department’s capital a day’s ride on horseback from every settlement. One odd result of this is that the capital is not necessarily the largest city in a department. The names were chosen from the department’s principal river, or sometimes mountains such as the Alpes.
The largest French department is the Gironde; the smallest is the city of Paris. The most populous is Nord while the Lozère has the least number of inhabitants.
At first all numbers corresponded to the alphabetical order of the department’s names. But subsequently some French departments changed their names so it’s not as logical as the original administrators wanted. For instance there is no number 20 which should be Corsica. Now Corsica is divided into 2A and 2B. And Monaco uses 98.
Play the Game
When I was driving through France on long journeys with my young son, I kept him occupied with the French department numbers game. I printed out a large map of the departments, gave him a coloured pencil and got him to put a cross in each one as we spotted a car with the relevant number. Sometimes it worked.
French Departments by Numbers
Each of the French departments is listed below with the number and name, capital, the old region and the new region in parentheses.
01 Ain – Bourg-en-Bresse – Rhône-Alpes (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
02 Aisne – Laon – Picardy – (Hauts de France)
03 Allier – Moulins – Auvergne (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
04 Alpes-de-Haut-Provence – Digne-les-Bains – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
05 Hautes-Alpes – Gap – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
06 Alpes-Maritimes – Nice – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
07 Ardèche – Privas – Rhône-Alpes (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
08 Ardennes – Charleville-Mézières – Champagne-Ardennes (Grand Est)
09 Ariège – Foix – Midi-Pyrénées (Occitanie)
10 Aube – Troyes – Champagne-Ardennes (Grand Est)
11 Aude – Carcassonne – Languedoc-Roussillon (Occitanie)
12 Aveyron – Rodez – Midi-Pyrénées (Occitanie)
13 Bouches-du-Rhône – Marseille – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
14 Calvados – Caen – Lower Normandy (Normandy)
15 Cantal – Aurillac – Auvergne (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
16 Charente – Angoulême – Poitou-Charentes (Nouvelle-Aquitaine)
17 Charente-Maritime – La Rochelle – Poitou-Charentes (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
18 Cher – Bourges – Centre (Centre-Val de Loire)
19 Corrèze – Tulle – Limousin (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
2A Corse-du-Sud – Ajaccio – Corsica
2B Haute-Corse – Bastia – Corsica
21 Côte d’Or – Dijon – Burgundy (Burgundy-Franche-Comté)
22 Côtes d’Armor – Saint-Brieuc – Brittany
23 Creuse – Guéret – Limousin (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
24 Dordogne – Périgueux – Aquitaine (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
25 Doubs – Besançon – Franche-Comté (Burgundy-Franche-Comté)
26 Drôme – Valence – Rhône-Alpes (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
27 Eure – Èvreux – Upper Normandy (Normandy)
28 Eure-et-Loire – Chartres – Centre (Centre-Val de Loire)
29 Finistère – Quimper – Brittany
30 Gard – Nîmes – Languedoc-Roussillon (Occitanie)
31 Haute-Garonne – Toulouse – Midi-Pyrénées (Occitanie)
32 Gers – Auch – Midi-Pyrénées (Occitanie)
33 Gironde – Bordeaux – Aquitaine (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
34 Hérault – Montpellier – Languedoc-Roussillon (Occitanie)
35 Ille-et-Vilaine – Rennes – Brittany
36 Indre – Châteauroux – Centre (Centre-Val de Loire)
37 indre-et-Loire – Tours – Centre (Centre-Val de Loire)
38 Isère – Grenoble – Rhône-Alpes (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
39 Jura – Lons-le-Saunier – Rhône-Alpes (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
40 Landes – Mont-de-Marsan – Aquitaine (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
41 Loir-et-Cher – Blois – Centre (Centre-Val de Loire)
42 Loire – Saint-Ètienne – Rhône-Alpes (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
43 Haute-Loire – Le Puy-en-Velay – Auvergne (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
44 Loire-Atlantique – Nantes – Pays de la Loire
45 Loiret – Orléans – Centre (Centre-Val de Loire)
46 Lot – Cahors – Midi-Pyrénées (Occitanie)
47 Lot-et-Garonne – Agen – Aquitaine (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
48 Lozère – Mende – Languedoc-Roussillon (Occitanie)
49 Maine-et-Loire – Angers – Pays de la Loire
50 Manche – Saint-Lô – Upper Normandy (Normandy)
51 Marne – Châlons-en-Champagne – Champagne-Ardennes (Grand Est)
52 Haute-Marne – Chaumont – Champagne-Ardennes (Grand Est)
53 Mayenne – Laval – Pays de la Loire
54 Meurthe-et-Moselle – Nancy – Lorraine (Grand Est)
55 Meuse – Bar-le-Duc – Lorraine (Grand Est)
56 Morbihan – Vannes – Brittany
57 Moselle – Metz – Lorraine (Grand Est)
58 Nièvre – Nevers – Burgundy (Burgundy-Franche-Comté)
59 Nord – Lille – Nord-Pas-de-Calais (Hauts de France)
60 Oise – Beauvais – Picardy (Hauts de France)
61 Orne – Alençon – Lower Normandy (Normandy)
62 Pas-de-Calais – Arras – Nord-Pas-de-Calais (Hauts de France)
63 Puy-de-Dôme – Clermont-Ferrand – Auvergne (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques – Pau – Aquitaine (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
65 Hautes- Pyrénées – Tarbes – Midi-Pyrénées (Occitanie)
66 Pyrénées-Orientales – Perpignan – Languedoc-Roussillon (Occitanie)
67 Bas-Rhin – Strasbourg – Alsace (Grand Est)
68 Haut-Rhin – Colmar – Alsace (Grand Est)
69 Rhône – Lyon – Rhône-Alpes (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
70 Haute-Saône – Vesoul – Franche-Comté (Burgundy-Franche-Comté)
71 Saône-et-Loire – Mâcon – Burgundy (Burgundy-Franche-Comté)
72 Sarthe – Le Mans – Pays de la Loire
73 Savoie – Chambéry – Rhône-Alpes (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
74 Haute-Savoie – Annecy – Rhône-Alpes (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes)
75 Paris – Paris – Île-de-France
76 Seine-Maritime – Rouen – Upper Normandy (Normandy)
77 Seine-et-Marne – Melun – Île-de-France
78 Yvelines – Versailles – Île-de-France
79 Deux-Sèvres – Poitou-Charentes (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
80 Somme – Amiens – Picardy (Hauts de France)
81 Tarn – Albi – Midi-Pyrénées (Occitanie)
82 Tarn-et-Garonne – Montauban – Midi-Pyrénées (Occitanie)
83 Var – Toulon – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
84 Vaucluse – Avignon – Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur
85 Vendée – La Roche-sur-Yon – Pays de la Loire
86 Vienne – Poitiers – Poitou-Charentes (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
87 Haute-Vienne – Limoges – Limousin (Nouvelle Aquitaine)
88 Vosges – Épinal – Lorraine (Grand Est)
89 Yonne – Auxerre – Burgundy (Burgundy-Franche-Comté)
90 Territoire de Belfort – Belfort – Franche-Comté (Burgundy-Franche-Comté)
91 Essone – Évry – Île-de-France
92 Hauts-de-Seine – Nanterre – Île-de-France
93 Seine-Saint-Denis Bobigny – Île-de-France
94 Val-de-Marne – Créteil – Île-de-France
95 Val d’Oise – Pontoise – Île-de-France
More about the regions
Guide to Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Food of Burgundy
Normandy Travel Guide
Paris Travel Guide
There are also 5 overseas departments:
971 – Guadeloupe – Basse-Terre
972 – Martinique – Fort-de-France
973 – Guyane – Cayenne
974 – La-Reunion – Saint-Denis
976 – Mayotte – Mamoudzou