Hérault (3)

Hérault is a French department in the Occitanie region, numbered 34. Its prefecture is Montpellier, with Béziers and Lodève as sub-prefectures. It covers about 6,224 square kilometres and comprises 341 communes with close to 1.23 million inhabitants, known as Héraultais. Named after the coastal river that flows through it to the Mediterranean, it spans a varied landscape of coastal plain, garrigue scrubland, and the foothills of the Cévennes and Massif Central. A winegrowing area renowned since antiquity, it is home to the Cirque de Navacelles, the Hérault gorges, and the medieval town of Pézenas, once a residence of the governors of Languedoc. 

Alpes-Maritimes (65)

Alpes-Maritimes is a French department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, numbered 06. Its prefecture is Nice and its sub-prefecture is Grasse. It covers about 4,299 square kilometres and comprises 163 communes with close to 1.13 million inhabitants, known as Maralpins or, along the coast, Azuréens. Bordering Italy and neighbouring Monaco, it combines a densely urbanised coastal strip, the French Riviera, with a mountainous hinterland rising to Mont Gélas in the Mercantour massif. The department is known for seaside resorts such as Nice, Cannes and Menton, as well as for Grasse, the historic capital of perfume-making. 

Île-de-France (104)

Île-de-France is a French region centred on Paris, its prefecture, and made up of eight departments: Paris, Seine-et-Marne, Yvelines, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne and Val-d'Oise. Paris holds a distinct status of its own: both a commune and a department since 1977, it is governed by a single Conseil de Paris, unlike the seven other, ordinary-law Île-de-France departments. The region covers about 12,011 square kilometres and comprises close to 1,270 communes with about 12.4 million inhabitants, known as Franciliens, making it the most populous and most densely populated region in France. Its territory combines a dense urban core with extensive farmland and forests on its outskirts, notably in the Brie, Beauce and Vexin areas. 

Calvados (4)

Calvados is a French department in the Normandy region, numbered 14. Its prefecture is Caen, with Bayeux, Lisieux and Vire Normandie serving as sub-prefectures. Established in 1790, it covers about 5,583 square kilometres and comprises 526 communes with close to 710,000 inhabitants. Bordered by the English Channel to the north, the department is crossed by the Orne and Dives rivers and shaped by farmland, bocage hills and coastal cliffs. It lends its name to the apple brandy produced there, itself named after an offshore rock. It is home to the Bayeux Tapestry, the 1944 D-Day landing beaches, the seaside resorts of Deauville and Honfleur, and the Livarot and Pont-l'Évêque cheeses. 

Corsica (138)

Corsica is a French Mediterranean island, formed since 2018 into a single territorial collectivity merging the former departments of Corse-du-Sud (prefecture Ajaccio) and Haute-Corse (prefecture Bastia), which remain in use as state administrative districts. It covers about 8,680 square kilometres and comprises close to 360 communes with about 355,000 inhabitants, known as Corsicans. Its highest point, Monte Cinto, reaches 2,706 metres. Ajaccio, seat of the collectivity, is the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. Mountainous and lined with rugged coastline, the island is nicknamed the Isle of Beauty and retains its own linguistic and cultural identity, marked by the Corsican language and Genoese influences. 

Haute-Savoie (114)

Haute-Savoie is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, numbered 74. Its prefecture is Annecy, with the towns of Bonneville, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois and Thonon-les-Bains serving as sub-prefectures. It covers about 4,388 square kilometres and comprises 279 communes with close to 861,000 inhabitants, known locally as Haut-Savoyards. Bordering both Switzerland and Italy, it is home to Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Western Europe, as well as Lake Geneva and Lake Annecy. An alpine territory shaped by the Chablais and Faucigny massifs, it has one of the fastest-growing populations in France, driven by tourism, precision engineering, and its close proximity to Geneva. 

Landes (19)

Landes is a French department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, numbered 40. Its prefecture is Mont-de-Marsan and its sub-prefecture is Dax. Covering about 9,243 square kilometres, one of the largest departments in France, it comprises 327 communes with close to 434,000 inhabitants. Its name comes from the Occitan word 'landa', referring to the heathland reforested with maritime pines in the 19th century to form the Landes forest, the largest planted forest in Europe. Bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, the department is known for its beaches, surf spots such as Hossegor, its coastal lakes, and its production of foie gras and maize. 

Maine-et-Loire (3)

Maine-et-Loire is a French department in the Pays de la Loire region, numbered 49. Its prefecture is Angers, with Cholet, Saumur and Segré-en-Anjou Bleu as sub-prefectures. Created in 1790 from the former province of Anjou, it covers about 7,166 square kilometres and comprises 176 communes with close to 834,000 inhabitants, known as Angevins. Crossed east to west by the Loire, it lies within the Val de Loire, a UNESCO World Heritage site. France's leading horticultural producer, it is known for its vineyards, its button mushrooms, and its castles, including those of Saumur and Angers. 

Oise (11)

Oise is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region, numbered 60. Its prefecture is Beauvais, with Clermont, Compiègne and Senlis serving as sub-prefectures. It covers about 5,860 square kilometres and comprises 680 communes with close to 830,000 inhabitants. The department takes its name from the river that crosses it from south to north before flowing into the Seine near Conflans-Sainte-Honorine. Its landscape alternates farmland, forests and river valleys, including the forest of Compiègne. It is home to the château de Chantilly, the imperial palace of Compiègne, and Beauvais Cathedral, left unfinished but with the tallest Gothic choir vault in France. 

Paris (77)

Paris is the capital of France and the seat of the Île-de-France region, numbered 75. It holds a unique administrative status: both a commune and a department since 1977, it is governed by the Council of Paris and divided into 20 arrondissements. The city covers about 105 square kilometres, including the Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes, and has close to 2.1 million inhabitants, known as Parisians, giving it one of the highest urban densities in Europe. Founded as Lutetia, a Gallic then Roman settlement on the Île de la Cité, it is crossed by the Seine, whose banks are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is home to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre-Dame, and the Sacré-Cœur basilica. 

Pyrénées-Orientales (69)

Pyrénées-Orientales is a French department in the Occitanie region, numbered 66. Its prefecture is Perpignan, with Céret and Prades as sub-prefectures. It covers about 4,116 square kilometres and comprises 226 communes with close to 497,000 inhabitants, known as Catalans or Roussillonnais. Located at the eastern end of the Pyrenees, facing the Mediterranean and the Spanish border, it forms the territory known as Northern Catalonia and retains a strong Catalan linguistic and cultural identity. The department is dominated by the Canigou massif and is known for its Roussillon vineyards and seaside towns such as Collioure and Argelès-sur-Mer. 

Rhône (27)

Rhône is a French department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, numbered 69. Its prefecture is Lyon and its sub-prefecture is Villefranche-sur-Saône. Since 2015, its administrative territory has been split between the Métropole de Lyon, a special-status authority of 59 communes, and the departmental council of Rhône itself, which covers 208 communes with about 478,000 inhabitants over close to 2,715 square kilometres. The department takes its name from the river that flows through it and meets the Saône at Lyon. Its territory ranges from the Beaujolais vineyards in the north to the Monts du Lyonnais hills, combining winegrowing, industry and rural activity. 

Var (1)

Var is a French department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, numbered 83. Its prefecture is Toulon, with Draguignan and Brignoles as sub-prefectures. It covers about 6,033 square kilometres and comprises 153 communes with close to 1.12 million inhabitants, known as Varois. Uniquely among French departments, it is named after a river that no longer flows through its territory, following the annexation of the county of Nice in 1860. Bordered by the Mediterranean along nearly 430 kilometres of coastline, it is shaped by the Massif des Maures, the Saint-Tropez peninsula, and a wide inland area of vineyards and forests.