The 100 Frenchdépartements are divided into 342
arrondissements.
The capital of an arrondissement is called sous-préfecture. When an arrondissement contains the préfecture (capital) of the département, that préfecture is the capital of the arrondissement, acting both as a préfecture and as a sous-préfecture.
Arrondissements are further divided into cantons and communes.
The cities of Paris, Lyon and Marseille are also divided into municipal arrondissements, not to be confused with the arrondissements dealt with in this article.
The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France and many former French colonies, roughly analogous to British counties. The 100 French départements are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. They are subdivided into 342 arrondissements.
General characteristics
In continental France (metropolitan France excluding Corsica), the median land area of a département is 5,965 km² (2,303 sq. miles), which is two-and-a-half times the median land area of a ceremonial county of England, and a little more than three-and-half times the median land area of a U.S. county.
At the 1999 census, the median population of a département in continental France was 511,012 inhabitants, which is 21 times the median population of a U.S. county, but just a little less than two-thirds of the median population of a ceremonial county of England.
Administrative role
Each department is administered by a Conseil Général elected for six years, and its executive is, since 1982 headed by the president of that council (formerly it was headed by the préfet).
The French national government is represented in the département by a préfet appointed by the national executive. The préfet is assisted by one or more sous-préfets based in district centres outside the departmental capital.
The capital city of a département bears the title of préfecture. Départements are divided into one to seven arrondissements. The capital city of an arrondissement is called the sous-préfecture. The civil servant in charge is the sous-préfet.
The départements sub-divide into communes, governed by municipal councils. France (as of 1999) had 36,779 communes.
Most of the départements have an area of around 4,000-8,000 km² and a population between 250,000 and a million. The largest in terms of area is Gironde (10,000 km²) and the smallest the city of Paris (105 km² excluding the suburbs, now organised in adjacent départements). The most populous is Nord (2,550,000) and the least populous Lozère (74,000).
See also: List of French départements by population
The départements are numbered: their two-digit numbers appear in postal codes, in INSEE codes (including "social security numbers") and on car number-plates, though this last usage will mostly disappear with a new car plate scheme due for 2006. Note that there is no number 20, but 2A and 2B instead. Note also that the two-digit code "98" is used by Monaco. Together with the ISO 3166-1 country code FR the numbers form the ISO 3166-2 country subdivision codes for the metropolitan departments. The overseas departments get two letters for the ISO 3166-2 code.
History
Départements were created on January 4, 1790 by the Constituent Assembly to replace the country's former provinces with a more rational structure. They were also designed to deliberately break up France's historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences and build a more homogeneous nation. Most départements are named after the area's principal river(s) or other physical features.
The number of départements rose from an initial 83 to 130 by 1810 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the Empire (see Provinces of the Netherlands for the annexed Dutch departements), but they were reduced again to 86 with Napoleon I's defeat in 1814-1815. Three more were added with the acquisition of Nice and Savoy in 1860. The numbering was estabished on the alphabetical order of those 89 départements.
Three départements in Alsace-Lorraine which had been ceded to Germany in 1871 (Haut-Rhin, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle) were returned to France in 1919. When Alsace-Lorraine was ceded in 1871, a small part of the département of Haut-Rhin was detached from the rest of Alsace-Lorraine and remained French. This territory, called Territoire de Belfort, was not reintegrated into the recovered département of Haut-Rhin in 1919 and was instead made a full-status département in 1922, becoming the 90th département of France.
Reorganisations of the Paris region (1968) and the division of Corsica (1975) have added a further six départements, raising the total to one hundred - including the four overseas départements d'outre-mer (DOM) of Guyane (French Guiana) in South America, Guadeloupe and Martinique in the Caribbean Sea, and Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
Notes:
#The préfecture of Val-d'Oise was established in Pontoise when the department was created, but moved de facto to the neighbouring commune of Cergy; currently, both form the ville nouvelle of Cergy-Pontoise.
#The overseas departments are former colonies outside France that now enjoy a status similar to European or metropolitan France. They are part of France and of the EU, though special rules apply. Each of them constitutes a région at the same time.
Former départements
- Former départements on the current territory of France:
France is divided into 26 régions: 21 of these 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), 4 are overseas. Régions are further subdivided into départements.
General characteristics
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.
Role
Régions do not have legislative autonomy, nor can they issue regulations. They do levy taxes (or, rather, the national government gives them a portion of the taxes it levies) and have sizeable, though not considerable budgets.
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 governments of the départements and to folding them into the régions, keeping the départements only as administrative subdivisions.
Nuits-Saint-Georges is the main town of the Côte de Nuitswine-producing area of Burgundy.
- [http://www.nuits-saint-georges.com/village/index_uk.html map of the vineyards and descriptions] Click on the map to enlarge it.
Stone
The local marble is a sedimentary rock, a limestone which is not susceptible to frost damage. It is fine-grained and capable of accepting a polish. There is a vein of this stone, called popularly, "the Colombanchien", extending from Nuits-Saint-Georges to Nevers, which has made the reputations of the quarries of the region. The stone, by the variety of its shades of colour, the pink of bindweed (Convolvulus) and beige and its grain will harmonize with any style.
History
The town owes much to the economic development arising from Cistercian enterprise.
Administration
[http://www.cybercommunes.com/NUITS_SAINT_GEORGES/ The Town Council]. Click on Equipe municipale.
Nuits-Saint-Georges is a twin town of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, in the United Kingdom.
Demography
Sites and monuments
- A short distance to the east is the Citeaux Abbey, the mother house of the Cistercian order of monks. It was founded in 1098 and has, over the years much influenced Nuits Saint Georges.
- They built the Château du Clos Vougeot and the nearby villages of Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux and Saint-Bernard.
- Les Bolards is an archaeological site of a trading, crossroads town from the Gallo-Roman period.
- The municipal belfry was built in 1610 - The church of Saint Symphorien was built in the thirteenth century. It amalgamates the Romanesque with the Gothic and contains an early carillon. In 2005, it is closed for renovation. (Details of the saint appear [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14727a.htm here].)
- In the Church of Saint Denis, there is a fine organ by Aristde Cavaillé, a great organ builder of the nineteenth century who built those of Notre Dame in Paris.
- The Hôpital Saint-Laurent dates in origin from 1634 but the buildings are late seventeenth century. It has retained its hospital vocation which it supports by the annual sale of the products of its vineyards.
- The Château d'Entre-Deux-Monts is a private property but open each September for the journées du Patrimoine, heritage days.
- [http://www.cybercommunes.com/NUITS_SAINT_GEORGES/ Click on (Tourisme) Patrimoine]
External links
- [http://www.lion1906.com/Pages/ResultatLocalisation.php?InseeVille=210464 Locating Nuits-Saint-Georges on a map of France]
- [http://www.ign.fr/affiche_rubrique.asp?rbr_id=1087&CommuneId=23101 Cartographical information about Nuits-Saint-Georges] In French.
- [http://www.lion1906.com/Pages/ResultatProximiteCoord.php?RadLat1=0.82271912061352&RadLong1=0.0864131905256124 The nearest communes to Nuits-Saint-Georges] In French.
- [http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=47.1383333333333&longitude=4.95111111111111&zoom=8 Plan of Nuits-Saint-Georges on Mapquest]
Books to read
Both in French.
- Nuits-Saint-Georges en Bourgogne, edited by the town of Nuits-Saint-Georges.
- Lames de sang : La vie exemplaire de François Thurot, by Camille Bailly. (Blades of Blood : The exemplary life of François Thurot).
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