New regions are finally all settled

France now officially has 12 regions – down from 21 at the start of the year - and the names of the 12 have been finalised.

Published Modified

Bretagne, Ile-de-france, Pays-de-la-Loire and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d’Azur stay as they are while Centre-Val de Loire only changes its name.

Other regions are:

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (based in Lyon);

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, (Dijon);

Hauts-de-France made of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardie (Lille);

Grand Est made of Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine (Stras­bourg);

Occitanie from Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées (Toulouse);

Normandie joins Haute and Basse Normandie (prefecture in Rouen and council HQ in Caen);

Nouvelle Aquitaine made from Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou- Charentes (Bordeaux).

Often called a region, Cor­sica now has a separate status as a “collectivité territoriale”.

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