France is traditionally divided into roughly 22 ancient provinces, although modern government, mail delivery, and auto registrations are now based on 95 departmental regions. Each is administered by a general council with a Préfet who works from a Préfecture. Départements are numbered in alphabetical order (see list below), and the two first digits in a French postal code correspond to the number of the département. The two last digits of a French-registered car also correspond to the number of the département in which the car owner resides.

The total area of France covers 551,100 km² (appr. 180,000 sq. miles - almost the size of Texas), to which are added 8 overseas departments and territories. Boasting 58 million inhabitants (10 million in the Paris region alone), France's 36,673 towns and villages are linked by 964,356 km (599,240 miles) of roads and 31,940 km (19,847 miles) of railways.

With four broad and distinct climactic zones, and geography ranging from verdant valleys to snow-capped mountains, the many faces of France's provinces provide such contrasts in language and culture, architecture and cuisine, ancient history and traditional dress, that a visitor may get the impression they have discovered different countries within this one nation.

1	Ain	25	Doubs	50	Manche	75	Paris
2	Aisne	26	Drùme	51	Marne	76	Seine-Maritime
3	Allier	27	Eure	52	Marne (Haute-)	77	Seine-et-Marne
4	Alpes-de-Haute-Provence	28	Eure-et-Loir	53	Mayenne	78	Yvelines
5	Alpes (Haute-)	29	Finistère	54	Meurthe-et-Moselle	79	Deux-Sèvres
6	Alpes-Maritimes	30	Gard	55	Meuse	80	Somme
7	Ardèche	31	Garonne (Haute-)	56	Morbihan	81	Tarn
8	Ardennes	32	Gers	57	Moselle	82	Tarn et Garonne
9	Ariège	33	Gironde	58	Nièvre	83	Var
10	Aube	34	Hérault	59	Nord	84	Vaucluse
11	Aude	35	Ille-et-Vilaine	60	Oise	85	Vendée
12	Aveyron	36	Indre	61	Orne	86	Vienne
13	Bouches-du-Rhône	37	Indre-et-Loire	62	Pas-de-Calais	87	Vienne (Haute-)
14	Calvados	38	Isère	63	Puy-de-Dôme	88	Vosges
15	Cantal	39	Jura	64	Pyrénées-Atlantiques	89	Yonne
16	Charente	40	Landes	65	Pyrénées (Haute-)	90	Territoire de Belfort
17	Charente-Maritime	41	Loir-et-Cher	66	Pyrénées-Orientales	91	Essonne
18	Cher	42	Loire	67	Bas-Rhin	92	Hauts-de-Seine
19	Corrèze	43	Loire (Haute-)	68	Haut-Rhin	93	Seine-St-Denis
2A	Corse-du-Sud	44	Loire-Atlantique	69	Rhône	94	Val-de-Marne
2B	Corse (Haute-)	45	Loiret	70	Saône (Haute-)	95	Val-d'Oise
21	Côte-d'Or	46	Lot	71	Saône-et-Loire	971	Guadeloupe
22	Côtes d'Armor	47	Lot-et-Garonne	72	Sarthe	972	Martinique
23	Creuse	48	Lozère	73	Savoie	973	Guyane
24	Dordogne	49	Maine-et-Loire	74	Savoie (Haute-)	974	Réunion