Regions of France

	This article is part of the series on; Administrative divisions of France
	Main article
	Regions (incl. overseas regions)
	Departments (incl. overseas departments)
	Arrondissements
	Cantons
	Intercommunality Urban communities; Agglomeration communities; Commune communities; Syndicates of New Agglomeration
	Communes Associated communes; Municipal arrondissements
	Others in Overseas France Overseas collectivities; Sui generis collectivity; Overseas country; Overseas territory; Clipperton Island

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France is administratively divided into 26 regions (French: régions), of which 21 are on mainland France, and four are overseas. Although Corsica is in fact a territorial collectivity it is considered a region in mainstream usage. Each mainland region and Corsica are further subdivided into 2 to 8 Departments.

[edit] General characteristics

In mainland France (excluding Corsica), the median land area of a region is 25,809 km² (9,965 sq mi), which is about 25% of the median land area of an Alaskan county, and only 4% as large as the median land area of a Canadian province, but 15% larger than the median land area of a German region/land, and 67% larger than the area of a region of England.

In 2004, the median population of a region 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, and three-quarters of the median population of a German lander (region), but more than twice the median population of a Canadian province.

[edit] Role

Regions do not have separate legislative authority and cannot therefore write their own statutory law. They levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing part of their budget from the central government which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a regional council (conseil régional) made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections.

A region's primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools. In March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contend that tax revenue is insufficient to be allocated to pay for the resulting costs and such measures would increase regional inequalities.

Apart from these legal attributions, regions have considerable discretionary powers for infrastructural spending, e.g., education, public transit, funding universities and research, and assistance for business owners. Because of this, being the regional head of a wealthy region such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be quite a high-profile position.

Occasional discussions about giving limited legislative autonomy to the regions remain controversial. There are also proposals to transfer certain local government powers of the departments to their respective regions, leaving the departments with very limited authority.

[edit] Regional Control

Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986.

Red: left, blue: right

[edit] Regions and their Capitals

Metropolitan Regions
Region	Capital
Alsace	Strasbourg
Aquitaine	Bordeaux
Auvergne	Clermont-Ferrand
Bourgogne	Dijon
Brittany	Rennes
Centre	Orléans
Champagne-Ardenne	Châlons-en-Champagne
Corsica	Ajaccio
Franche-Comté	Besançon
Île-de-France	Paris
Languedoc-Roussillon	Montpellier
Limousin	Limoges
Lorraine	Metz
Midi-Pyrénées	Toulouse
Nord-Pas-de-Calais	Lille
Basse-Normandie	Caen
Haute-Normandie	Rouen
Pays de la Loire	Nantes
Picardy	Amiens
Poitou-Charentes	Poitiers
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur	Marseille
Rhône-Alpes	Lyon