1.
Administrative divisions of France
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The administrative divisions of France are concerned with the institutional and territorial organization of French territory. There are many divisions, which may have political, electoral. The French republic is divided into 18 regions,13 in metropolitan France and 5 in overseas France, the regions are subdivided into 96 departments. The departments are subdivided into 322 arrondissements, the arrondissements are subdivided into 1,995 cantons. The cantons are subdivided into 36,529 communes, three urban communes are further divided into municipal arrondissements. There are 20 arrondissements of Paris,16 arrondissements of Marseille, the city of Marseilles is also divided into 8 municipal sectors. Each sector is composed with two arrondissements. 4% of the population of metropolitan France living in them, each overseas region is coextensive with an overseas department, again with the same status as departments in metropolitan France. The first four departments were created in 1946 and preceded the four overseas regions. For elections it is divided into 6 electoral districts which differ slightly from the 5 administrative subdivisions, the 5 administrative subdivisions are divided into 48 communes. There also exist some associated communes as in metropolitan France, Saint-Barthélemy is a new overseas collectivity created on February 22,2007. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe department, the commune structure was abolished and Saint-Barthélemy is now one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no commune structure. There are no cantons and arrondissements either, Saint-Martin is also a new overseas collectivity created on February 22,2007. It was also previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe department, the commune structure was abolished and Saint-Martin is now one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no commune structure. There are no cantons and arrondissements either, saint-Pierre and Miquelon is divided into 2 communes with no arrondissements or cantons. These 3 districts are, Uvea, Sigave, and Alo, Uvea is the most populous and is further divided into 3 wards, Hahake, Mua, and Hihifo. Wallis and Futuna is one of only three permanently inhabited territories of the French Republic with no communes and it also has no arrondissements or cantons. 1 overseas territory, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, which have no permanent population, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands are divided into 5 districts,1. Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island 4, the Scattered Islands, a collection of six non permanently inhabited islands in the Indian Ocean, Banc du Geyser, Bassas da India, Europa, Juan de Nova, Glorioso, and Tromelin
Administrative divisions of France
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Regions and departments of France.
2.
Regions of France
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France is divided into 18 administrative regions, including 13 metropolitan regions and 5 overseas regions. The current legal concept of region was adopted in 1982, the term région was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation, which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation, in 2014, the French parliament passed a law reducing the number of metropolitan regions from 22 to 13 with effect from 1 January 2016. However, the region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called Normandy. Permanent names were to be proposed by the new regional councils by 1 July 2016, the legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to Centre-Val de Loire with effect from January 2015. Two regions, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, opted to retain their interim names, between 1982 and 2015, there were 22 regions in Metropolitan France. Before 2011, there were four regions, in 2011 Mayotte became the fifth. Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law and 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 council made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections. A regions 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 contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the costs. In addition, regions have considerable power over infrastructural spending, e. g. education, public transit, universities and research. This has meant that the heads of regions such as Île-de-France or Rhône-Alpes can be high-profile positions. Number of regions controlled by each coalition since 1986, Overseas region is a recent designation, given to the overseas departments that have similar powers to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Radio France Internationale in English Overseas regions Ministère de lOutre-Mer some explanations about the past and current developments of DOMs and TOMs
Regions of France
3.
Overseas department
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An overseas department is a department of France that is outside metropolitan France. The overseas departments should not be confused with the overseas collectivities, each overseas department is also an overseas region. In 1798 the Russian Admiral Ushakov evicted the French from these islands, and though France regained them in 1802, since 1982, following the French government’s policy of decentralisation, overseas departments have elected regional councils with powers similar to those of the regions of metropolitan France. Following a yes vote in a referendum held on March 29,2009, the overseas collectivity Saint Pierre and Miquelon was an overseas department from 1976 to 1985
Overseas department
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Overseas departments 1
4.
Communes of France
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The commune is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to civil townships incorporated municipalities in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany, the United Kingdom has no exact equivalent, as communes resemble districts in urban areas, but are closer to parishes in rural areas where districts are much larger. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and have received significant powers of governance to manage the populations, the communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France. A French commune may be a city of 2.2 million inhabitants like Paris, communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes, a commune is a town, city, or municipality. Use of commune in English is a habit, and one that might be corrected. There is nothing in commune in French that is different from town in English. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, as of January 2015, there were 36,681 communes in France,36,552 of them in metropolitan France and 129 of them overseas. This is a higher total than that of any other European country. The whole territory of the French Republic is divided into communes and this is unlike some other countries, such as the United States, where unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority can be found. There are only a few exceptions, COM of Saint-Martin and it was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe région. The commune structure was abolished when Saint-Martin became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007, COM of Wallis and Futuna, which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms. It was previously a commune inside the Guadeloupe region, the commune structure was abolished when Saint-Barthélemy became an overseas collectivity on 22 February 2007.88 square kilometres. The median area of metropolitan Frances communes at the 1999 census was even smaller, the median area is a better measure of the area of a typical French commune. This median area is smaller than that of most European countries. In Italy, the area of communes is 22 km2, in Belgium it is 40 km2, in Spain it is 35 km2, and in Germany. Switzerland and the Länder of Rhineland-Palatinate, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia in Germany were the places in Europe where the communes had a smaller median area than in France. The communes of Frances overseas départements such as Réunion and French Guiana are large by French standards and they usually group into the same commune several villages or towns, often with sizeable distances among them
Communes of France
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Road sign marking the end of the village of
Y in the
Somme department of
Picardy
Communes of France
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Map of the 36,569 communes of metropolitan France
Communes of France
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Mittelhausbergen in
Alsace
Communes of France
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Vacqueyras in
Provence, showing double French/
Provençal name
5.
Municipal arrondissements of France
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In France, a municipal arrondissement is a subdivision of the commune, and is used in the countrys three largest cities, Paris, Lyon and Marseille. It functions as a lower administrative division, with its own mayor. Although usually referred to simply as arrondissements, they should not be confused with departmental arrondissements, there are 45 municipal arrondissements in France,20 in Paris, nine in Lyon, and 16 in Marseille. However, a law in 1987 assigned the 16 arrondissements of Marseille to eight secteurs, thus, in effect, Marseille can be more properly described as being divided into eight secteurs, the sixteen arrondissements having been made merely units of demarcation. Area The largest arrondissement is the arrondissement of Marseille,63.21 km², which is 26 percent of the size of the city of Marseille. It contains the Luminy Park, which is a park. The smallest arrondissement is the arrondissement of Paris,0.992 km². Population The most populous arrondissement is the arrondissement of Paris. If the 15th arrondissement of Paris were a commune, it would be the ninth most-populous commune of France, larger than the cities of Bordeaux, Lille, the least populous arrondissement is the 16th arrondissement of Marseille, with only 16,574 inhabitants. However, the 16th arrondissement is part of the eighth secteur of Marseille, thus, the least populous arrondissement in France is the first arrondissement of Paris, with 16,888 inhabitants at the 1999 census. Density The arrondissement with the highest population density is the 11th arrondissement of Paris, the arrondissement with the lowest population density is the ninth arrondissement of Marseille, with 1,151 residents per km² in 1999. Municipal arrondissements have names only in Paris and are used even there. In Paris, residents are familiar with the arrondissements and. In Lyon, three arrondissements – Vieux Lyon, la Croix Rousse and Vaise – are generally referred to by names. In Marseille, it is common for people to refer to the names of the neighborhoods, anne or Mazargues, but also to the number of the arrondissements. Municipal arrondissements are used in the postal codes of France. The arrondissements of Paris form a spiral or snail pattern beginning from the first in the centre. In Marseille, they form a path from the first down through the southwest, to the southeast, northeast
Municipal arrondissements of France
6.
Overseas France
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Overseas France consists of all the French-administered territories outside of the European continent. Their citizens have French nationality and vote for the president of France and they have the right to vote in elections to the European Parliament. From a legal and administrative standpoint, overseas regions are different from overseas collectivities. Overseas regions have exactly the same status as mainland Frances regions, in the French overseas regions, laws cannot be adapted whereas the overseas collectivities are empowered to make their own laws, except in certain areas. The overseas collectivities are governed by elected assemblies and by the French Parliament. Overseas France has an economic zone of 9,821,231 km². Guadeloupe French Guiana Martinique Réunion Mayotte 1976–2003, sui generis overseas territory, 2001–2003, with the designation departmental community, 2003–2011, in the 2009 Mahoran status referendum, Mahorans voted to become an overseas department in 2011, which occurred on March 31,2011. The category of overseas collectivity was created by Frances constitutional reform of March 28,2003, each overseas collectivity has its own statutory laws. French Polynesia In 2004 it was given the designation of overseas country, despite being given the political status of overseas collectivity, Saint Pierre et Miquelon is called collectivité territoriale de Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, literally territorial collectivity. It is still referred to as a territoire. Saint Martin, In 2003, the populations of St. Martin, on February 7,2007, the French Parliament passed a bill granting COM status to both jurisdictions. The new status took effect on February 22,2007 when the law was published in the Journal Officiel and they remain part of the European Union, as stated in the Treaty of Lisbon. It is currently the only overseas territory, according to law 2007-224 of February 21,2007, the Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean constitute the 5th district of TAAF. New Caledonia was classified as an overseas territory beginning in 1946, a New Caledonian citizenship was established, and a gradual transfer of power from the French state to New Caledonia itself was begun, to last from 15 to 20 years. Clipperton Island is a 9 km2 coral atoll located 1,280 km south-west of Acapulco, Mexico and it is held as state private property under the direct authority of the French government, and is administered by Frances Overseas Minister. With 2,691,000 inhabitants in 2013, Overseas France account for 4. 1% of the population of the French Republic and they enjoy a corresponding representation in the two chambers of the French Parliament. In the 13th Legislature, Overseas France is represented by 27 députés in the French National Assembly,2004, Official website Overseas France at DMOZ
Overseas France
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Gustavia in
Saint Barthélemy
Overseas France
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Flag
Overseas France
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A street in
Saint-Pierre, capital of
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Overseas France
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Route des Tamarins motorway near
Saint-Paul,
Réunion
7.
Overseas collectivity
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The French overseas collectivities, like the French regions, are first-order administrative divisions of France. The COMs include some former French overseas territories and other French overseas entities with a particular status, the COMs should not be confused with the overseas regions and overseas departments, which have no particular status. As integral parts of France, overseas collectivities are represented in the National Assembly, Senate and Economic, only one COM, Saint Martin, is part of the European Union and can vote to elect members of the European Parliament. The Pacific COMs use the CFP franc, a currency pegged to the euro, as of 31 March 2011, there were five COMs, French Polynesia became a COM in 2003. Its statutory law of 27 February 2004 gives it the designation of overseas country inside the Republic, French Polynesia has a great degree of autonomy, two symbolic manifestations of which are the title of the President of French Polynesia and its additional designation as a pays doutre-mer. Legislature, Assembly of French Polynesia since 2004, Saint Barthélemy, an island in the Lesser Antilles. It has a council and executive council since 2007. Saint Martin, the part of the island of Saint Martin in the Lesser Antilles. Saint Martin remains part of the European Union, both it and St. Barthelemy were separated from the overseas department of Guadeloupe in 2007 and made into their own collectivities. It has a council and executive council since 2007. Saint Pierre and Miquelon, a group of islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland and it is the last remaining part of New France not ceded by France. Wallis and Futuna, three islands in the Pacific Ocean. Has a high administrator and territorial assembly, mayotte was a COM from 1976 until 31 March 2011, when it became an overseas department. New Caledonia was classified as an overseas territory beginning in 1946, a New Caledonian citizenship was established, and a gradual transfer of power from the French state to New Caledonia itself was begun, to last from fifteen to twenty years
Overseas collectivity
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Overseas departments 1
8.
New Caledonia
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New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean,1,210 km east of Australia and 16,136 km east of Metropolitan France. The Chesterfield Islands are in the Coral Sea, locals refer to Grande Terre as Le Caillou. New Caledonia has an area of 18,576 km2. Its population of 268,767 consists of a mix of Kanak people, people of European descent, Polynesian people, the capital of the territory is Nouméa. The earliest traces of human presence in New Caledonia date back to the Lapita period, the Lapita were highly skilled navigators and agriculturists with influence over a large area of the Pacific. British explorer Captain James Cook was the first European to sight New Caledonia, on 4 September 1774 and he named it New Caledonia, as the northeast of the island reminded him of Scotland. The west coast of Grande Terre was approached by Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse in 1788, shortly before his disappearance, from then until 1840, only a few sporadic contacts with the archipelago were recorded. Contacts became more frequent after 1840, because of the interest in sandalwood from New Caledonia, the trade ceased at the start of the 20th century. The victims of this trade were called Kanakas, like all the Oceanian people, the first missionaries from the London Missionary Society and the Marist Brothers arrived in the 1840s. In 1849, the crew of the American ship Cutter was killed, cannibalism was widespread throughout New Caledonia. On 24 September 1853, under orders from Napoleon III, Admiral Febvrier Despointes took formal possession of New Caledonia, a few dozen free settlers settled on the west coast in the following years. New Caledonia became a colony, and from the 1860s until the end of the transportations in 1897, about 22,000 criminals. Among the convicts were many Communards arrested after the failed Paris Commune, including Henri de Rochefort, between 1873 and 1876,4,200 political prisoners were relegated in New Caledonia. Only 40 of them settled in the colony, the rest returned to France after being granted amnesty in 1879 and 1880. In 1864, nickel was discovered on the banks of the Diahot River and with the establishment of the Société Le Nickel in 1876, mining began in earnest. The French imported labourers to work in the mines, first from neighbouring islands, then from Japan, the Dutch East Indies, the French government also attempted to encourage European immigration, without much success. The indigenous population was excluded from the French economy, even as workers in the mines, and they were ultimately confined to reservations. This sparked a violent reaction in 1878 as High Chief Atal of La Foa managed to unite many of the central tribes, the Europeans brought new diseases such as smallpox and measles
New Caledonia
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Flags of New Caledonia
New Caledonia
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Chief "King Jacques" and his Queen
New Caledonia
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Jean Lèques during a ceremony honoring U.S. service members who helped ensure the freedom of New Caledonia during World War II
9.
Overseas country of France
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Overseas country is the designation for the overseas collectivity of French Polynesia. French Polynesia was formerly a territory until the constitutional reform on 28 March 2003 created the overseas collectivities. Then, on 27 February 2004 a law was passed giving French Polynesia the particular designation of overseas country while recalling that it belongs to the category of overseas collectivities. However, the Constitutional Council of France ruled that this description was merely a designation and not a legal status, the territorys new status meant a certain autonomy for French Polynesia in the Pacific region. This translated into the transfer of new areas of responsibility while protecting existing autonomy in the fields of health, development and town planning. In addition, French Polynesia gained the power to oppose the application of laws voted by the French Parliament which do not respect these areas of responsibility, furthermore, it established French Polynesian citizenship based on permanent residency - a requirement for the right to vote in regional elections. However, France maintains control over justice, security and public order, currency, defence, New Caledonia, which has the unique status of a sui generis collectivity, is also sometimes incorrectly referred to as an overseas country. However, if the people of New Caledonia choose to remain part of France in a referendum on independence scheduled for 2014 or later, pays Outre-mer Frédéric Monera, Lidée de République et la jurisprudence du Conseil constitutionnel - Paris, L. G. D. J. 2004 -, Official website past and current developments of Frances overseas administrative divisions like pays doutre-mer
Overseas country of France
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Overseas departments 1
10.
Clipperton Island
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Clipperton Island is an uninhabited 6 km2 coral atoll in the eastern Pacific Ocean off the coast of Central America. It is an overseas territory of France. The atoll is 1,080 km south-west of Mexico,2,424 km west of Nicaragua,2,545 km west of Costa Rica and 2,260 km north-west of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador, at 10°18′N 109°13′W. It is an uninhabited overseas territory of France, under direct authority of the Minister of Overseas France. It is low-lying and largely barren, with scattered grasses. A small volcanic outcrop rising to 29 m on its south-east side is referred to as Clipperton Rock, Clipperton has had no permanent inhabitants since 1945. It is visited on occasion by fishermen, French Navy patrols, scientific researchers, film crews and it has been a popular site for transmissions by ham radio operators. Clipperton is about 945 km south-east of Socorro Island in the Revillagigedo Archipelago and its ring-shaped atoll completely encloses a stagnant freshwater lagoon, and is 12 km in circumference. The rim averages 150 m in width, reaching 400 m in the west and narrows to 45 m in the north-east, land elevations average 2 m, though Clipperton Rock, a barren 29 m volcanic outcrop in the south-east, is considerably higher and is the highest point. The surrounding reef is exposed at low tide, the lagoon is devoid of fish, and contains some deep basins with depths of 43 and 22 m, including a spot known as Trou-Sans-Fond, or the bottomless hole, with acidic water at its base. The water is described as being almost fresh at the surface, seaweed beds cover approximately 45 percent of the lagoons surface. While some sources have rated the water as non-potable, testimony from the crew of the tuna clipper M/V Monarch, stranded for 23 days in 1962 after their boat sank. Their report reveals that the water, while not tasting very good, was drinkable, though muddy. Several of the castaways drank it, with no apparent ill effects, survivors of an ill-fated Mexican military colony in 1917 indicated that they were dependent upon rain for their water supply, catching it in old boats they used for this purpose. Aside from the lagoon and water caught from rain, no other sources are known to exist. It has a oceanic climate, with average temperatures of 20–32 °C. The rainy season occurs from May to October, when it is subject to tropical storms, surrounding ocean waters are warm, pushed by equatorial and counter-equatorial currents. It has no natural resources
Clipperton Island
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Coconut palms on Clipperton. The lagoon is visible beyond the trees.
Clipperton Island
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Clipperton Island with lagoon, showing depths in metres.
Clipperton Island
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Mexican survivors from Clipperton Island, 1917
Clipperton Island
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A
brown booby
11.
French language
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French is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages, French has evolved from Gallo-Romance, the spoken Latin in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues doïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to Frances past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, a French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is a language in 29 countries, most of which are members of la francophonie. As of 2015, 40% of the population is in Europe, 35% in sub-Saharan Africa, 15% in North Africa and the Middle East, 8% in the Americas. French is the fourth-most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union, 1/5 of Europeans who do not have French as a mother tongue speak French as a second language. As a result of French and Belgian colonialism from the 17th and 18th century onward, French was introduced to new territories in the Americas, Africa, most second-language speakers reside in Francophone Africa, in particular Gabon, Algeria, Mauritius, Senegal and Ivory Coast. In 2015, French was estimated to have 77 to 110 million native speakers, approximately 274 million people are able to speak the language. The Organisation internationale de la Francophonie estimates 700 million by 2050, in 2011, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked French the third most useful language for business, after English and Standard Mandarin Chinese. Under the Constitution of France, French has been the language of the Republic since 1992. France mandates the use of French in official government publications, public education except in specific cases, French is one of the four official languages of Switzerland and is spoken in the western part of Switzerland called Romandie, of which Geneva is the largest city. French is the language of about 23% of the Swiss population. French is also a language of Luxembourg, Monaco, and Aosta Valley, while French dialects remain spoken by minorities on the Channel Islands. A plurality of the worlds French-speaking population lives in Africa and this number does not include the people living in non-Francophone African countries who have learned French as a foreign language. Due to the rise of French in Africa, the total French-speaking population worldwide is expected to reach 700 million people in 2050, French is the fastest growing language on the continent. French is mostly a language in Africa, but it has become a first language in some urban areas, such as the region of Abidjan, Ivory Coast and in Libreville. There is not a single African French, but multiple forms that diverged through contact with various indigenous African languages, sub-Saharan Africa is the region where the French language is most likely to expand, because of the expansion of education and rapid population growth
French language
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The
"arrêt" signs (French for "stop") are used in
Canada while the international stop, which is also a valid French word, is used in France as well as other French-speaking countries and regions.
French language
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Regions where French is the main language
French language
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Town sign in
Standard Arabic and French at the entrance of
Rechmaya in
Lebanon.
French language
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An obsolete 100
Lebanese pound note with the French language inscriptions "Banque du Liban" and "Cent livres".
12.
Metropolitan France
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Metropolitan France, also known as European France, is the part of France in Europe. It comprises mainland France and nearby islands in the Atlantic Ocean, the English Channel, Overseas France is the collective name for the part of France outside Europe, French overseas regions, territories, collectivities, and the sui generis collectivity of New Caledonia. Metropolitan France and Overseas France together form the French Republic, Metropolitan France accounts for 82. 2% of the land territory,3. 3% of the exclusive economic zone, and 95. 9% of the population of the French Republic. The five overseas regions—Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion, French Guiana, in overseas France, a person from metropolitan France is often called a métro, short for métropolitain. Similar terms existed to describe other European colonial powers and this usage of the words metropolis and metropolitan itself came from Ancient Greek metropolis, which was the name for a city-state from which originated colonies across the Mediterranean. By extension metropolis and metropolitan came to mean motherland, a nation or country as opposed to its colonies overseas, today there are some people in overseas France who object to the use of the term la France métropolitaine due to its colonial origins. They prefer to call it the European territory of France, as the Treaties of the European Union do, likewise, they oppose treating overseas France and metropolitan France as separate entities. As a result, since the end of the 1990s INSEE has included the five departments in its figures for France. Other branches of the French administration may have different definitions of what la France entière is, the World Bank refers to this as France only, and not the whole of France as INSEE does. According to the French government,64,860,000 people lived in metropolitan France as of January 2017, Metropolitan France covers a land area of 551,695 km². At sea, the economic zone of metropolitan France covers 334,604 km², while the EEZ of overseas France covers 9,821,231 km². In the second round of the 2007 French presidential election,37,342,004 French people cast a ballot. 35,907,015 of these cast their ballots in metropolitan France,1,088,679 cast their ballots in overseas France, and 346,310 cast their ballots in foreign countries. The French National Assembly is made up of 577 deputies,539 of whom are elected in metropolitan France,27 in overseas France, and 11 by French citizens living in foreign countries. Mainland France, or just the mainland, does not include the French islands in the Atlantic Ocean, English Channel or Mediterranean Sea, in Corsica, people from the mainland part of Metropolitan France are referred to as les continentaux. A casual synonym for the part of Metropolitan France is lHexagone, for its approximate shape. French colonial empire Mainland Wildlife of Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France
–
Metropolitan France
13.
Secondary education in France
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Pupils are prepared for the baccalauréat. The baccalauréat can lead to higher studies or directly to professional life. The school year starts in early September and ends in early-July, lyon, for example, is in zone A, while Marseille is in zone B, and Paris and Bordeaux are in zone C. In contrast to the practice in most other systems, the various school years in France are numbered on a decreasing scale. Thus, pupils begin their education in the sixième, and transfer to a lycée in the seconde. In French, the word for étudiant is usually reserved for students, while collège. The curriculum is standardized for all French public institutions, the collège is the first level of secondary education in the French educational system. A pupil attending collège is called collégien or collégienne, men and women teachers at the collège- and lycée-level are called professeur. The City of Paris refers to a collège in English as a high school, entry in sixième occurs directly after the last year of primary school, called cours moyen deuxième année. There is no entrance examination into collège, but administrators have established an academic examination of students starting in sixième. The purpose of the examination is evaluating pupils level on being graduated from primary school, the table at the right details the French curriculum. Along with three-to-four weekly hours of education, a typical school week consists of some twenty-six hours of schooling. French language and literature occupy the most time, 4–5 hours per week, followed by mathematics,4 hours per week, the curriculum is devised by the French Ministry of National Education and applies to all collèges in France and also for AEFE-dependent institutions. Académies and individual schools have little margin for curriculum customisation, teachers compose syllabi per precise government educational regulations, and choose textbooks accordingly, every major French publishing house has a textbook branch. Each subject is taught by a different professeur or teacher. Collège pupils stay in the class throughout the school year. The strong belief in teaching in mixed-ability classes means that streaming is rare, class size varies from school to school, but usually ranges from 20 to 35 pupils. Each class has a principal who is the link between the teaching staff, administration, and pupils
Secondary education in France
–
A high school in
Vesoul,
France
Secondary education in France
–
A lycée in
Rennes, from the 19th century.
14.
Prefect (France)
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A prefect in France is the States representative in a department or region. Sub-prefects are responsible for the subdivisions of departments, arrondissements, the office of a prefect is known as a prefecture and that of a sub-prefect as a subprefecture. Prefects are appointed by a decree of the President of the Republic in the Council of Ministers, following the proposal of the Prime Minister and they serve at the Governments discretion and can be replaced at any meeting of the Council. From 1982 to 1988 prefects were called de la République. The exact role and attributions are defined in decrees, most notably decrees of 1964,1982,2004, the prefect of the département containing the chef-lieu de région is also the préfet de région, or the prefect of the région. Prefects operate under the Minister of the Interior, prefects may issue administrative orders in areas falling within the competency of the national government, including general safety. For instance, they may prohibit the use of roads without special tyres in times of snow. The prohibition on smoking or leaving the running while filling the fuel tank of a motor vehicle is another example of a matter typically decided by a prefectoral administrative order. On official occasions, prefects wear uniforms, prefects originally had fairly extensive powers of supervision and control over departmental affairs. With the decentralization of local government in recent years, the role has largely been limited to preventing local policies from conflicting with national policy. In New Caledonia and French Polynesia, the roles, with certain differences in status, are fulfilled by a high commissioner, in Wallis and Futuna. The French Southern and Antarctic Lands used to be run by a superior administrator, the prefect, however, is not based in the territories, but in Réunion. Paris, which is itself a department, is an exception, in Paris, the law enforcement powers exercised in other French cities and towns by the mayor belong to the Prefect of Police. In 2012, a Prefecture of Police of the Bouches-du-Rhône was also created, seated at Marseille, the authority of the state over the sea is exercised by the Maritime Prefect of the relevant region. In Québec, the word is used to refer to the administrator of a Municipalité régionale de comté. There is no equivalent of French arrondissements, and instead, the word arrondissement always refers to a division with an elected leader
Prefect (France)
–
A prefect in dress uniform
Prefect (France)
–
Uniform hat of a French prefect during the Second World War
15.
Provinces of France
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The Kingdom of France was organized into provinces until March 4,1790, when the establishment of the department system superseded provinces. The provinces of France were roughly equivalent to the counties of England. In some cases, several regions or departments share names with the historic provinces. The list below shows the provinces of France at the time of their dissolution during the French Revolution. Capital cities are shown in parentheses, bold indicates a city that was also the seat of a judicial and quasi-legislative body called either a parlement or a conseil souverain. In some cases, this body met in a different city than the capital, comtat Venaissin, a Papal fief 36. Imperial Free City of Mulhouse 37, montbéliard, a fief of Württemberg Partial display of historical provincial arms, Ancien Régime in France Gallery of French coats of arms Coat of arms Heraldry
Provinces of France
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Map showing former provinces (in colours), with modern department boundaries in black
16.
Vehicle registration plates of France
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Vehicle registration plates are mandatory number plates used to display the registration mark of a vehicle registered in France. They have existed in the country since 1901 and it is compulsory for most motor vehicles used on public roads to display them. In French, vehicle registration plates are called plaques dimmatriculation or plaques minéralogiques, the latter makes a reference to the national mining administration, which was responsible for issuing the plates in the early 20th century. Since 1901, various systems have been introduced, the most recent dating from 2009. The registration plates issued since 2009 use a XX-NNN-ZZ format, composed of a series of 7 alphanumeric characters,2 letters,3 numbers and this format is monitored nationwide and car plates are permanent and attached to a single vehicle from its first registration to its disposal. As such, car plates do not need to be changed if the car is sold or if the owner moves to another region within France. Cars bought before 2009 can still bear the old format, dating from 1950, unlike the new one, the 1950 format is geographical. Until 2009, car plates had to be changed whenever the owner moved to another département or bought a car from a living in a different départment. The 1950 format uses a N X NN format, composed of a series of one to four numbers, called système dimmatriculation des véhicules, shortened in SIV, the current scheme was adopted in France in 2009. It was inspired by the AA-111-AA format that was adopted in Italy in 1994. Under the SIV scheme, car plates are permanent and do not need to be changed if the car owner sells it or moves to a different region. The SIV system was adopted to ease vehicle registration and law enforcement on roads because it is monitored by computer. The SIV database can easily be combined with computer files. The SIV was also implemented to replace the 1950 format, which was running out of character combinations, had it been maintained, it would have been completely exhausted by 2025 for Paris, the most populous French département. The SIV scheme started in 2004 for motorcycles with a capacity under 50 cc. However. Due to the economic climate, the introduction of the new plates was postponed from 1 January 2009 until 15 April 2009 for all new cars. It was again postponed until 15 October 2009 for all other vehicles due to bugs in the SIV system. Registration plates issued after 2009 must be displayed in accordance with the 9 February 2009 Order and they must be made of reflex-reflecting material, white at the front and rear, with black non-reflecting characters
Vehicle registration plates of France
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A pre-2009 car plate with the two-digit code for Paris (75).
Vehicle registration plates of France
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A two-line license plate with the code for
Oise (60) and the logo of
Picardy region.
Vehicle registration plates of France
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A temporary transit plate, with the expiry date on the right (October 2009).
Vehicle registration plates of France
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A license plate on a police car with the code for
Val-d'Oise (95) and the logo of
Île-de-France region.
17.
Loiret
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Loiret is a department in north-central France. The department is named after the river Loiret, a tributary of the Loire, the capital of the department is Orléans, which is about 110 km southwest of Paris. As well as being the capital, it is a historic city on the banks of the Loire. It has a central area with many historic buildings and mansions. The Loire Valley is famous for its several châteaux, Loiret is one of the original 83 departments that was created during the French Revolution on March 4,1790 by order of the National Constituent Assembly. The new departments were to be administered and approximately equal to one another in size. It was created from the province of Orléanais which was too large to continue in its previous form. The Loire Valley was occupied in Palaeolithic times as attested by archaeological sites in the department. The Celts were here, bringing crafts and trades, and the Romans occupied the area after the Gallic Wars and they built roads and founded cities such as Cenabum, on the site of present-day Orléans, and Sceaux-du-Gâtinais. Around 451, the Huns invaded the region but were repelled before reaching Cenabum, the Franks reached the Loire and Clovis I reigned in the area. A time of peace and prosperity ensued during the reign of Charlemagne, the department of Loiret was historically in the province of Orléans in north central France, and along with the departments of Loir-et-Cher and Eure-et-Loir now forms the region Centre-Val de Loire. To the north of Loiret lie the departments of Eure-et-Loir, Essonne and Seine-et-Marne, to the east lies Yonne, to the southeast Nièvre, to the south Cher, the department consists of mostly flat low-lying land through which flows the River Loire. This river enters the department near Châtillon-sur-Loire in the southeast, flows northwestwards to Orleans where it turns to south west. The Canal dOrléans connects the Loire River at Orléans to a junction with the Canal du Loing, the River Loire and these canals formed important trading routes before the arrival of the railways. The River Loiret, after which the department is named, is 12 km long and its source is at Orléans-la-Source, and its mouth at Saint-Hilaire-Saint-Mesmin. Other rivers in the department, are the River Loing, a tributary of the Loire. The department has an area of 6,757 km2 and is 119 km from west to east and 77 km from north to south. Large parts of the land are used for agriculture, and these are separated by low wooded hills, the northwestern part of the department is in the wheat-growing region known as Beauce, an undulating plateau with some of Frances best agricultural land
Loiret
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Prefecture building of the Loiret department, in Orléans
Loiret
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Orléans Cathedral
Loiret
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Château de Sully-sur-Loire
Loiret
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Yèvre-le-Châtel
18.
Territorial formation of France
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This article describes the process by which the territorial extent of metropolitan France came to be as it is since 1947. The territory of the French State is spread throughout the world, Metropolitan France is that part which is in Europe. Occidental France, which arose from the Treaty of Verdun of 843, the first kings, the Capetians, were too much occupied with imposing their authority in their own realm to be expansionist. They deftly exploited dissent among their turbulent vassals, applying pressure on them and on the Church, the great conflicts with the kings of England were important occasions for asserting royal power. The 13th century re-annexations of Normandy and of Languedoc to the French kingdom were two important stages in the unification of the kingdom, France soon lost the County of Barcelona, from the end of the 9th century. The crossing beyond Rhone, which for a time remained the frontier, did not begin until the 14th century. Louis XI regained his inheritance of the two most powerful prerogatives granted to branches of the dynasty, Burgundy and Anjou including Provence in the Holy Roman Empire. From 1635 to 1748, Richelieu and Louis XIV undertook an expansion of the frontiers of the kingdom towards the north and their aim was to check the aspiration of the Austrian royal house towards its own predominance in Europe. The loss of French Flanders had brought the frontier dangerously close to the French capital, Alsace, Artois and Franche-Comté were annexed between 1648 and 1697. The Duchy of Lorraine remained some time an enclave in the French kingdom before it too was incorporated in 1766 and this and the purchase of Corsica in 1768 brought the territory of the kingdom into a consolidated block. During the period of the French Revolution and First Empire, France expanded temporarily on the bank of the Rhine. The frontier in the north east lost its definition, on the whole, it remained stable from 1697 to 1789 when it became vague, following no particular line. It was re-established, more or less on its old line in 1815, France did lose some places such as Landau and Saarlouis. These strategic losses and the construction of a powerful German state may be seen as giving rise to later diplomatic, but even after the Armistice of 1918, France was unable to make new territorial gains towards the north-east, into the Saarland. Subsequently in the 19th century, there were only a few developments, the Duchy of Savoy and the County of Nice were definitively re-attached to France, by plebiscite in 1860. Alsace-Lorraine was annexed by Germany in 1871 but became French again in 1918, other alterations were made temporarily, by the occupying power, during the period of World War II. Modern Metropolitan France lies to an extent, within clear limits of physical geography. Roughly half of its margin lies on sea coasts, in the south-west, its border lies among the peaks of the Pyrenees mountain range
Territorial formation of France
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France in the Carolingian Empire from 843 to 888
Territorial formation of France
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Dynamic map of the frontiers of France from 985 to 1947.
Territorial formation of France
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France in 1328
Territorial formation of France
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France after 1360
19.
French Revolution
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Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history, the causes of the French Revolution are complex and are still debated among historians. Following the Seven Years War and the American Revolutionary War, the French government was deeply in debt, Years of bad harvests leading up to the Revolution also inflamed popular resentment of the privileges enjoyed by the clergy and the aristocracy. Demands for change were formulated in terms of Enlightenment ideals and contributed to the convocation of the Estates-General in May 1789, a central event of the first stage, in August 1789, was the abolition of feudalism and the old rules and privileges left over from the Ancien Régime. The next few years featured political struggles between various liberal assemblies and right-wing supporters of the intent on thwarting major reforms. The Republic was proclaimed in September 1792 after the French victory at Valmy, in a momentous event that led to international condemnation, Louis XVI was executed in January 1793. External threats closely shaped the course of the Revolution, internally, popular agitation radicalised the Revolution significantly, culminating in the rise of Maximilien Robespierre and the Jacobins. Large numbers of civilians were executed by revolutionary tribunals during the Terror, after the Thermidorian Reaction, an executive council known as the Directory assumed control of the French state in 1795. The rule of the Directory was characterised by suspended elections, debt repudiations, financial instability, persecutions against the Catholic clergy, dogged by charges of corruption, the Directory collapsed in a coup led by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1799. The modern era has unfolded in the shadow of the French Revolution, almost all future revolutionary movements looked back to the Revolution as their predecessor. The values and institutions of the Revolution dominate French politics to this day, the French Revolution differed from other revolutions in being not merely national, for it aimed at benefiting all humanity. Globally, the Revolution accelerated the rise of republics and democracies and it became the focal point for the development of all modern political ideologies, leading to the spread of liberalism, radicalism, nationalism, socialism, feminism, and secularism, among many others. The Revolution also witnessed the birth of total war by organising the resources of France, historians have pointed to many events and factors within the Ancien Régime that led to the Revolution. Over the course of the 18th century, there emerged what the philosopher Jürgen Habermas called the idea of the sphere in France. A perfect example would be the Palace of Versailles which was meant to overwhelm the senses of the visitor and convince one of the greatness of the French state and Louis XIV. Starting in the early 18th century saw the appearance of the sphere which was critical in that both sides were active. In France, the emergence of the public sphere outside of the control of the saw the shift from Versailles to Paris as the cultural capital of France. In the 1750s, during the querelle des bouffons over the question of the quality of Italian vs, in 1782, Louis-Sébastien Mercier wrote, The word court no longer inspires awe amongst us as in the time of Louis XIV
French Revolution
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The
August Insurrection in 1792 precipitated the last days of the monarchy.
French Revolution
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The French government faced a fiscal crisis in the 1780s, and King Louis XVI was blamed for mishandling these affairs.
French Revolution
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Caricature of the Third Estate carrying the First Estate (clergy) and the Second Estate (nobility) on its back.
French Revolution
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The meeting of the Estates General on 5 May 1789 at Versailles.
20.
Reign of Terror
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The Reign of Terror or The Terror, is the label given by some historians to a period of violence during the French Revolution. Different historians place the date at either 5 September 1793 or June 1793 or March 1793 or September 1792 or July 1789. Between June 1793 and the end of July 1794, there were 16,594 official death sentences in France, but the total number of deaths in France in 1793–96 in only the civil war in the Vendée is estimated at 250,000 counter-revolutionaries and 200,000 republicans. During 1794, revolutionary France was beset with conspiracies by internal, within France, the revolution was opposed by the French nobility, which had lost its inherited privileges. The Catholic Church opposed the revolution, which had turned the clergy into employees of the state, in addition, the French First Republic was engaged in a series of wars with neighboring powers, and parts of France were engaging in civil war against the loyalist regime. The latter were grouped in the parliamentary faction called the Mountain. Through the Revolutionary Tribunal, the Terrors leaders exercised broad powers, the Reign was a manifestation of the strong strain on centralized power. Many historians have debated the reasons the French Revolution took such a turn during the Reign of Terror of 1793–94. The public was frustrated that the equality and anti-poverty measures that the revolution originally promised were not materializing. Jacques Rouxs Manifesto of the Enraged on 25 June 1793, describes the extent to which, four years into the revolution, the foundation of the Terror is centered on the April 1793 creation of the Committee of Public Safety and its militant Jacobin delegates. Those in power believed the Committee of Public Safety was an unfortunate, according to Mathiez, they touched only with trepidation and reluctance the regime established by the Constituent Assembly so as not to interfere with the early accomplishments of the revolution. Similar to Mathiez, Richard Cobb introduced competing circumstances of revolt, counter-revolutionary rebellions taking place in Lyon, Brittany, Vendée, Nantes, and Marseille were threatening the revolution with royalist ideas. Cobb writes, the revolutionaries themselves, living as if in combat… were easily persuaded that only terror, Terror was used in these rebellions both to execute inciters and to provide a very visible example to those who might be considering rebellion. Cobb agrees with Mathiez that the Terror was simply a response to circumstances, at the same time, Cobb rejects Mathiezs Marxist interpretation that elites controlled the Reign of Terror to the significant benefit of the bourgeoisie. Instead, Cobb argues that social struggles between the classes were seldom the reason for actions and sentiments. Widespread terror and a consequent rise in executions came after external and internal threats were vastly reduced, with the backing of the national guard, they persuaded the convention to arrest 29 Girondist leaders, including Jacques Pierre Brissot. On 13 July the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat – a Jacobin leader, georges Danton, the leader of the August 1792 uprising against the king, was removed from the committee. The Jacobins identified themselves with the movement and the sans-culottes
Reign of Terror
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Nine emigrants are executed by guillotine, 1793
Reign of Terror
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Heads of aristocrats, on spikes (pikes)
Reign of Terror
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Maximilien Robespierre had others executed via his role on the
Revolutionary Tribunal and the
Committee of Public Safety
Reign of Terror
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A
satirical engraving of
Robespierre guillotining the executioner after having
guillotined everyone else in France
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