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The Kingdom of France was organised into province
Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state....
s until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces. The change was an attempt to eradicate local loyalties based on feudal ownership of land and focus all loyalty on the central government in Paris.

The names of the former provinces are still used by geographers to designate natural regions, and several French administrative regions carry their names.

ch départements, their names, and their borders were chosen by the central government.






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The Kingdom of France was organised into province
Province

A province is a territorial unit, almost always an administrative division, within a country or state....
s until March 4, 1790, when the establishment of the département system superseded provinces. The change was an attempt to eradicate local loyalties based on feudal ownership of land and focus all loyalty on the central government in Paris.

The names of the former provinces are still used by geographers to designate natural regions, and several French administrative regions carry their names.

The meaning of "province"

French départements, their names, and their borders were chosen by the central government. In contrast, the existence of provinces came from the droit coutumier ("customary law
Custom (law)

In law, custom can be described as the established patterns of behavior that can be objectively verified within a particular social setting. A claim can be carried out in defense of "what has always been done and accepted by law." Generally, customary law exists where:...
") and was merely certified by the state. A province, also known as état ("state"), was characterised by the laws that belonged to it. A province itself could encompass several other provinces. For example, Burgundy was a province but Bresse
Bresse

Bresse is a former province of France. It is located in the Rh?ne-Alpes R?gion in France of eastern France, between Bourgogne and the Jura ....
 — another province — was nevertheless a part of Burgundy.

There is therefore no official list of provinces. The list of généralité
Généralité

Recettes g?n?rales, commonly known as g?n?ralit?s, were the administrative divisions of France under the Ancien R?gime and are often considered to prefigure the current pr?fectures....
s, administrative subdivisions of the kingdom, is often presented when one wants to establish the list of provinces on the eve of the French Revolution
French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudalism for the aristocracy and Roman Catholic Church clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Age of Enlightenment principles of cit...
. The list below is much larger, encompassing provinces throughout French history.

List of former provinces of France


Provinces


Major Provinces of France before the Revolution, with provincial capitals marked. Listed as English name (capital). Cities in bold had provincial "parlement
Parlement

The political institutions of the Parlement in ancien r?gime France developed out of the previous council of the king, the Conseil du roi or curia regis, and consequently had ancient and customary rights of consultation and deliberation....
s" or "conseils souverains".


1. Île-de-France
Île-de-France (province)

?le-de-France is one of the ancient provinces of France, and the one that has been the centre of power during most of History of France. It is centred on Paris....
 (Paris)
2. Berry
Berry (province)

Berry is a region located in the center of France. It was a Provinces of France until the provinces were replaced by d?partement in Frances on March 4, 1790....
 (Bourges
Bourges

Bourges is a commune in France in central France on the Y?vre river. It is the capital of the Departments of France of Cher and also was the capital of the former provinces of France of Berry ....
)
3. Orléanais
Orléanais

Orl?anais is a former province of France, around the cities of Orl?ans, Chartres, and Blois.The name comes from Orl?ans, its main city and traditional capital....
 (Orléans
Orléans

Orl?ans is a city in north-central France, about 130 km southwest of Paris. It is the capital of the Loiret Departments of France and of the Centre R?gion in France....
)
4. Normandy
Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the coast of France south of the English Channel between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands....
 (Rouen
Rouen

Rouen is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital of the Haute-Normandie r?gion in France....
)
5. Languedoc
Languedoc

Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day List of regions in France of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyr?n?es in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyr?n?es....
 (Toulouse
Toulouse

Toulouse is a commune of France in southwest France on the banks of the Garonne, half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea....
)
6. Lyonnais
Lyonnais

After the division of the Carolingian Empire, the region was part of the Kingdom of Burgundy. The disintegration of Imperial control over especially after the fall of the Hohenstaufen in 1254, led to French encroachment in the region, and the Lyonnais was acquired by King Philip IV of France in 1313....
 (Lyon
Lyon

||-||}Lyon, also known as Lyons in English, is a city in east-central France. Its name is pronounced in French language and Franco-Proven?al language, and or in English language....
)
7. Dauphiné
Dauphiné

The Dauphin? or Dauphin? Viennois is a Provinces of France in southeastern France, roughly corresponding to the present departements of Frances of the Is?re, Dr?me, and Hautes-Alpes....
 (Grenoble
Grenoble

Grenoble is a city in southeastern France situated at the foot of the Alps where the Drac River joins the Is?re River.Located in the Rh?ne-Alpes regions of France, Grenoble is the capital of the Departments of France of Is?re....
)
8. Champagne
Champagne (province)

The Champagne wine region is a historic province within the Champagne Champagne in the northeast of France. The area is best known for the production of the sparkling white wine that Champagne ....
 (Troyes
Troyes

Troyes is a communes of France, the Prefectures in France of the northeastern Aube departments of France in France and is located on the Seine river....
)
9. Aunis
Aunis

Aunis is a Provinces of France of France. It extended to Marais Poitevin in the north, Basse Saintonge in the east, and Rochefortais in the south....
 (La Rochelle
La Rochelle

La Rochelle is a city in western France and a seaport on the Bay of Biscay, a part of the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Charente-Maritime Departments of France....
)
10. Saintonge
Saintonge

Saintonge is a small region on the Atlantic Ocean coast of France within the d?partement Charente-Maritime, west and south of Charente in the administrative region of Poitou-Charentes....
 (Saintes
Saintes

Saintes is a Communes of France in western France, in the Charente-Maritime Departments of France of which it is a sous-pr?fecture....
)
11. Poitou
Poitou

Poitou was a Provinces of France of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Taifals in the sixth century....
 (Poitiers
Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain in west central France. It is a commune in France and the capital of the Vienne d?partement in France and of the Poitou-Charentes r?gion in France....
)
12. Guyenne
Aquitaine

Aquitaine , archaic Guyenne/Guienne , is one of the 26 regions of France, in the south-western part of metropolitan France, along the Atlantic Ocean and the Pyrenees mountain range on the border with Spain....
 and Gascony
Gascony

Gascony is an area of southwest France that constituted a Provinces of France prior to the French Revolution. In historic references dating from the beginning of the Roman era, it was part of Gaul and became part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the conquests of Clovis I ....
 (Bordeaux
Bordeaux

is a Port city on the Garonne in southwest France, with one million inhabitants in its aire urbaine at a 2008 estimate. It is the Capital of the Aquitaine regions of France, as well as the Prefectures in France of the Gironde Departments of France....
)
13. Burgundy (Dijon
Dijon

Dijon is a communes of France in eastern France, the capital of the C?te-d'Or Departments of France and of the Bourgogne Regions of France. Dijon is the historical capital of the provinces of France of Burgundy ....
)
14. Picardy
Picardy

This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France....
 (Amiens
Amiens

Amiens is a city and Communes of France in northern France, north of Paris. It is the capital of the Somme Departments of France in Picardie....
)
15. Anjou
Anjou

Anjou is a former county , duchy and Provinces of France centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day d?partement in France of Maine-et-Loire....
 (Angers
Angers

Angers is a city in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France in northwestern France about south-west of Paris. Angers is located in the French region known by its pre-revolutionary, provincial name, Anjou, and its inhabitants are called Angevins....
)
16. Provence
Provence

Provence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative regions of France of Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur....
 (Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence

Aix or Aix-en-Provence , to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a communes of France in southern France, some north of Marseille....
)
17. Angoumois
Angoumois

Angoumois was an old Provinces of France, nearly corresponding today to the Charente d?partement in France. Its capital was Angoul?me....
 (Angoulême
Angoulême

Angoul?me is a communes of France in western France and capital of the Charente Departments of France....
)
18. Bourbonnais
Bourbonnais

Bourbonnais was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponded to the modern d?partement in France of Allier, along with part of the d?partement of Cher ....
 (Moulins
Moulins, Allier

Moulins is a Communes of France in central France, capital of the Allier Departments of France....
)
19. Marche (Guéret
Guéret

Gu?ret is a communes of France and the prefecture of the Creuse departments of France of the Limousin region of central France....
)
20. Brittany
Brittany

Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
 (Rennes
Rennes

Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France. Rennes is the Capital of the Bretagne Regions of France, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine Departments of France....
)

21. Maine
Maine (province)

Le Maine is one of the traditional Provinces of France of France . It corresponds to the old county of Maine, with its center, the city of Le Mans....
 (Le Mans
Le Mans

Le Mans is a commune in France in France, located on the Sarthe River. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine , it is now the pr?fecture of the Sarthe D?partement in France, and is furthermore the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Mans....
)
22. Touraine
Touraine

The Touraine is a provinces of France of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the d?partement in Frances of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Indre....
 (Tours
Tours

Tours is a city in central France, the capital of the Indre-et-Loire Departments of France.It is located on the lower reaches of the river River Loire, between Orl?ans and the Atlantic Ocean coast....
)
23. Limousin
Limousin (province)

Limousin is a former province of France around the city of Limoges in central France. The province of Limousin lies in the foothills of the Massif Central, with cold weather in the winter....
 (Limoges
Limoges

Limoges is a city and Communes of France in France, the Prefectures in France of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, and the administrative capital of the Limousin Regions of France....
)
24. Foix
County of Foix

The County of Foix was an independent medieval Fiefdom in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern d?partement of Ari?ge ....
 (Foix
Foix

Foix is a commune in France, the capital of the Ari?ge D?partement in France in France. It is the least populous administrative center of a d?partement in all of France , although it is only very slightly smaller than Privas....
)
25. Auvergne
Auvergne (province)

Auvergne was a historic province of France in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the List of rulers of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....
 (Clermont-Ferrand
Clermont-Ferrand

Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune in France of France, in the Auvergne regions of France, with a population of 140,700 . Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census....
)
26. Béarn
Béarn

B?arn is a former province of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, the principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms in the southwest France the current d?partement...
 (Pau)
27. Alsace
Alsace

Alsace is the fourth-smallest of the 26 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the sixth-most densely populated region in France , with 222 inhabitants per km? ....
 (Strasbourg
Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace Regions of France in northeastern France. With 702,412 inhabitants in 2007, its metropolitan area is the Aire urbaine....
, cons. souv. in Colmar
Colmar

Colmar is a town and communes of France in the Haut-Rhin departments of France of Alsace, France, of which it is the Prefectures in France ....
)
28. Artois
Artois

Artois is a former provinces of France of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km? and a population of about one million....
 (Arras
Arras

Arras is the capital of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France in northern France. The historic centre of the Artois region, its local speech is characterized as a Picard language dialect....
)
29. Roussillon
Roussillon

Roussillon is one of the historical county of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern France d?partement in France of Pyr?n?es-Orientales ....
 (Perpignan
Perpignan

Perpignan is a commune in France and the pr?fecture of the Pyr?n?es-Orientales D?partement in France in southern France. Perpignan was the capital of the provinces of France and county of Roussillon ....
)
30. Flanders
French Flanders

French Flanders is a part of the historical, originally Dutch-speaking region Flanders in present-day France. The region today lies in the modern-day Regions of France of Nord-Pas de Calais, the Departments of France of Nord , and roughly corresponds to the Arrondissements of France of Arrondissement of Lille, Arrondissement of Douai and Arr...
 and Hainaut
County of Hainaut

The County of Hainaut was a historical region in the Low Countries. It consisted of what is now the Belgium province of Hainaut and the southern part of the French d?partement Nord ....
 (Lille
Lille

Lille is a city in northern France. It is the principal city of the Urban Community of Lille M?tropole, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the country behind those of Paris, Lyon and Marseille....
, parlement in Douai
Douai

Douai is a Communes of France in the Nord Departments of France in northern France.It is a Subprefectures in France of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some 40 km from Lille and 25 km from Arras, Douai is home to one of the region's most impressive belfry ....
)
31. Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté

Franche-Comt? the former County of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy of Burgundy, is an regions of France and a Provinces of France of eastern France....
 (Besançon
Besançon

Besan?on , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comt? Regions of France in eastern France, with approximately 220,000 inhabitants in the aire urbaine in 1999....
)
32. Lorraine
Lorraine (province)

Lorraine is a historical area in present-day northeast France. Some of the main cities are Metz, France, Nancy and Verdun....
 (Nancy
Nancy

Nancy is a city in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Departments of France in northeastern France.The city is the capital of the department. The metropolitan area of Nancy had a population of 410,509 inhabitants at the 1999 census, 103,602 of whom lived in the city of Nancy proper ....
)
33. Corsica
Corsica

Corsica is the Mediterranean islands#By area in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the France mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
 (off map, Ajaccio
Ajaccio

Ajaccio , is a Communes of France in France. It is the Capital of the region of Corsica and the Prefectures in France of the Departments of France of Corse-du-Sud....
, cons. souv. in Bastia
Bastia

Bastia , is a commune in France in the Haute-Corse Departments of France of France on the island of Corsica. It is the capital of the department....
)
34. Nivernais
Nivernais

Nivernais is former province of France, around the city of Nevers and the d?partement in France of Ni?vre.The raw climate and soils cause the area to be heavily wooded....
 (Nevers
Nevers

Nevers is a Communes of France in the Ni?vre Departments of France in central France.It is the principal city of the former Provinces of France of Nivernais....
)
35. Comtat Venaissin
Comtat Venaissin

The Comtat Venaissin, often called the Comtat for short , is the former name of the region around the city of Avignon in what is now the Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur region of France....
, a Papal
Papal States

The Papal States, State of the Church or Pontifical States were one of the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia ....
 fief
36. Imperial Free City of Mulhouse
Mulhouse

Mulhouse is a city and communes of France in eastern France, close to the Switzerland and Germany borders. With 271,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2007 it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin departments of France, and the second largest in the Alsace regions of France after Strasbourg....

37. Savoy
Savoy

Savoy is a region of Europe on the western flank of the Alps that emerged following the collapse of the Frankish Empire Kingdom of Burgundy. Installed by Rudolph III, King of Burgundy, officially in 1003, the House of Savoy became the longest surviving royal house in Europe....
, a Sardinian
Kingdom of Sardinia

Kingdom of Sardinia, also known as Piedmont-Sardinia or Sardinia-Piedmont, was the name given to the possessions of the House of Savoy in 1720, when the island of Sardinia was awarded by the Treaty of London to Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia to compensate him for the loss of Sicily to Austrian Empire....
 fief
38. Nice
Nice

Nice is a city in Southern France France located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, between Marseille, France, and Genoa, Italy, with 1,197,751 inhabitants in the 2007 estimate....
, a Sardinian
Kingdom of Sardinia

Kingdom of Sardinia, also known as Piedmont-Sardinia or Sardinia-Piedmont, was the name given to the possessions of the House of Savoy in 1720, when the island of Sardinia was awarded by the Treaty of London to Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia to compensate him for the loss of Sicily to Austrian Empire....
 fief
39. Montbéliard
Montbéliard

Montb?liard is a communes of France in the Doubs Departments of France in the Franche-Comt? Regions of France in eastern France. It is one of the two Subprefectures in France of the department....
, a fief of Württemberg
Württemberg

W?rttemberg [], formerly known as Wirtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....

40. (not pictured) Trois-Évêchés
Three Bishoprics

The Three Bishoprics constituted a province of pre-French Revolutionary France consisting of the bishoprics of Bishopric of Verdun, Bishopric of Metz, and Bishopric of Toul in the Lorraine region....
 (Metz
Diocese of Metz

The Roman Catholic Diocese of Metz is a Diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic church in France. In the Middle Ages it was in effect an independent state, part of the Holy Roman Empire, ruled by the bishop who had the ex officio title of count....
, Toul
Diocese of Toul

The Diocese of Toul was a Roman Catholic Church diocese seated at Toul in present-day France. It existed from 365 until 1824. From 1048 until 1552 , it was also a state of the Holy Roman Empire....
 and Verdun).
Provinces of France

Parts of France in 1789


  • Alsace
    Alsace

    Alsace is the fourth-smallest of the 26 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the sixth-most densely populated region in France , with 222 inhabitants per km? ....
    • Basse-Alsace
      Basse-Alsace

      Unterelsa? was the name for a province in the northern part of Elsa?-Lothringen when it was part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918.The capital of the province was Strasbourg....
    • Haute-Alsace
      Haute-Alsace

      Oberelsa? was the name for a province in the southern part of Elsa?-Lothringen when it was part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918.It comprised the communities of...
    • Sundgau
      Sundgau

      Sundgau is a territory in southern Alsace, France. Its capital is Altkirch .Sundgau is a hilly region, bounded in the south by the Swiss border and the foothills of the Jura mountains, in the east by the valley of the Rhine, to the north by Mulhouse and the potassium-rich basin of Alsace, and to the west by the Belfort Gap....
  • Angoumois
    Angoumois

    Angoumois was an old Provinces of France, nearly corresponding today to the Charente d?partement in France. Its capital was Angoul?me....
  • Anjou
    Anjou

    Anjou is a former county , duchy and Provinces of France centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day d?partement in France of Maine-et-Loire....
    • Besugeois
    • Mauges
  • Artois
    Artois

    Artois is a former provinces of France of northern France. Its territory has an area of around 4000 km? and a population of about one million....
    • Boulonnais
      Boulonnais

      The Boulonnais, also known as the "White Marble Horse", is a heavy draft horse breed now bred mainly by the France government due to their decreased numbers....
  • Aunis
    Aunis

    Aunis is a Provinces of France of France. It extended to Marais Poitevin in the north, Basse Saintonge in the east, and Rochefortais in the south....
  • Auvergne
    Auvergne (province)

    Auvergne was a historic province of France in south central France. It was originally the feudal domain of the List of rulers of Auvergne. It is now the geographical and cultural area that corresponds to the former province....
  • Basse-Navarre
  • Béarn
    Béarn

    B?arn is a former province of France, located in the Pyrenees mountains and in the plain at their feet, in southwest France. Along with the three Northern Basque Country provinces of Soule, Lower Navarre, and Labourd, the principality of Bidache, as well as small parts of Gascony, it forms in the southwest France the current d?partement...
    • Soule
      Soule

      Soule is a former viscounty and France Provinces of France and part of the present day Pyr?n?es-Atlantiques d?partement in France. It is divided into two cantons of the arrondissement of Oloron-Sainte-Marie , and a part of the canton of Saint Palais ....
  • Beaujolais
    Beaujolais (province)

    Beaujolais is a historical Provinces of France and a wine-producing region in France. It is located north of Lyon, and covers parts of the north of the Rh?ne d?partement in France and parts of the south of the Sa?ne-et-Loire d?partement ....
  • Berry
    Berry (province)

    Berry is a region located in the center of France. It was a Provinces of France until the provinces were replaced by d?partement in Frances on March 4, 1790....
  • Bourbonnais
    Bourbonnais

    Bourbonnais was a historic province in the centre of France that corresponded to the modern d?partement in France of Allier, along with part of the d?partement of Cher ....
  • Burgundy
    • Autunois
    • Auxerrois
      Auxerrois

      Auxerrois is a Provinces of France of France. Named after the city of Auxerre in Burgundy , it gives its name to several grape varieties :* Auxerrois Blanc is a white wine grape that is widely grown in Alsace, and also in Lorraine, Germany and Luxembourg....
    • Auxois
      Auxois

      Originally from the Cote d'Or and Yonne region of France, the Auxois breed is a descendant of the old Burgundian horse, dating back to the Middle Ages....
    • Bassigny
    • Châlonnois
    • Charollois
    • Dijonnais
    • Mâconnais
      Mâconnais

      The M?connais district lies in the south of the Burgundy wine region in France, west of the River Sa?ne River. It takes its name from the town of M?con....
    • Bresse
      Bresse

      Bresse is a former province of France. It is located in the Rh?ne-Alpes R?gion in France of eastern France, between Bourgogne and the Jura ....
      • Bugey
        Bugey

        The Bugey is a historical region in the d?partement in France of Ain , France. It is located in a loop of the Rh?ne River in the southeast of the d?partement....
      • Dombes
        Dombes

        The Dombes is an historic region of east-south-eastern France, once an independent municipality, formerly part of the provinces of France of Burgundy , and now a district comprised in the d?partement in France of Ain, and bounded W....
      • Pays de Gex
      • Valromey
  • Brittany
    Brittany

    Brittany is a former independent Celtic nations monarchy and duchy, now incorporated into France. It is also, more generally, the name of the cultural area whose limits correspond to the historic province and independent duchy....
  • Champagne
    Champagne, France

    Champagne is a historic Provinces of France in the northeast of France, now best known for the Champagne that bears its name. Its western edge is about 100 miles east of Paris....
    • Brie champenoise
    • Perthois
    • Rhemois
    • Senonais
    • Vallage
  • Corsica
    Corsica

    Corsica is the Mediterranean islands#By area in the Mediterranean Sea . It is located west of Italy, southeast of the France mainland, and north of the island of Sardinia....
  • Dauphiné
    Dauphiné

    The Dauphin? or Dauphin? Viennois is a Provinces of France in southeastern France, roughly corresponding to the present departements of Frances of the Is?re, Dr?me, and Hautes-Alpes....
    • Baronnies
      Baronnies

      The Baronnies, in French Les Baronnies is a historic name for the area East and North of Mont Ventoux in Southern France.Today most of the Baronnies is part of the d?partements of France Dr?me ....
    • Briançonnois
    • Champsaur
    • Diois
    • Gapençais
    • Graisivaudan
    • Embrunais
    • Valentinois
    • Viennois
  • Flanders and Hainaut
    • Flandre maritime
    • Flandre wallonne
    • Hainaut (France)
    • Cambrésis
  • Pays de Foix
    County of Foix

    The County of Foix was an independent medieval Fiefdom in southern France, and later a province of France, whose territory corresponded roughly the eastern part of the modern d?partement of Ari?ge ....
    • Donnezan
  • Forez
    Forez

    Forez is a Provinces of France of France, corresponding approximately to the central part of the modern Loire d?partement in France and a part of the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-D?me d?partements....
  • Franche-Comté
    Franche-Comté

    Franche-Comt? the former County of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy of Burgundy, is an regions of France and a Provinces of France of eastern France....
  • Gascony
    Gascony

    Gascony is an area of southwest France that constituted a Provinces of France prior to the French Revolution. In historic references dating from the beginning of the Roman era, it was part of Gaul and became part of the Kingdom of the Franks during the conquests of Clovis I ....
    • Agenois
    • Armagnac
      Armagnac (region)

      The hilly county of Armagnac in the foothills of the Pyren?es, between the Adour and Garonne rivers is a historic comt? of the Gascony , established in 601 in the southwest of Aquitaine ....
    • Bigorre
      Bigorre

      Bigorre is region in southwest France, historically an independent county and later a province of France, located in the upper watershed of the Adour, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees, part of the larger region known as Gascony....
    • Comminges
      Comminges

      The Comminges is an ancient region of southern France in the foothills of the Pyrenees, corresponding closely to the arrondissement of Saint-Gaudens in the departments of France of Haute-Garonne....
    • Condomois
    • Couserans
      Couserans

      Couserans is a small former province of France located in the Pyrenees mountains. Today Couserans makes up the western half of the Ari?ge d?partement in France, around the towns of Saint-Girons and Saint-Lizier....
    • Estarac
    • Grave
    • Lomagne
    • Marsan
      Marsan

      Marsan is a Communes of France in the Gers Departments of France in southwestern France....
    • Nébouzan
      Nébouzan

      N?bouzan was a small province of France located in the foothills of the Pyrenees mountains, in the southwest of France. It was not a contiguous province, but it was made up of several detached territories, approximately half of them around the town of Saint-Gaudens in the south of the present-day d?partement in France of Haute-Garonne,...
    • Quatre-Vallées
      Quatre-Vallées

      Quatre-Vall?es was a small province of France located in the southwest of France. It was made up of four constituent parts: Aure valley , Barousse valley , Magnoac valley , and Neste or Nest?s valley ....
  • Guyenne
    • Bordelais
      Bordelais

      Bordelais is a French term meaning "of Bordeaux" and can refer to* an inhabitant of the city Bordeaux* the area surrounding the city Bordeaux...
    • Bazadois
    • Chalosse
    • Labourd
      Labourd

      Labourd is a former France Provinces of France and part of the present-day Pyr?n?es Atlantiques d?partement in France. It is historically one of the seven provinces of the traditional Basque Country ....
    • Lannes
      Lannes

      'Lannes' can refer to:* Jean Lannes, duke of Montebello , Marshal of France* Lannes, Lot-et-Garonne, a Commune in France in the Lot-et-Garonne d?partement in France, in France...
    • Périgord
      Périgord

      The P?rigord is a Provinces of France of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne d?partement in France, now forming the northern part of the Aquitaine r?gion in France....
    • Quercy
      Quercy

      Quercy is a former province of France located in the southwest of France, bounded on the north by Limousin , on the west by P?rigord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Auvergne ....
    • Rouergue
      Rouergue

      Rouergue is a former provinces of France, bounded on the north by Auvergne , on the south and southwest by Languedoc, on the east by G?vaudan and on the west by Quercy....
  • Île-de-France
    Île-de-France (province)

    ?le-de-France is one of the ancient provinces of France, and the one that has been the centre of power during most of History of France. It is centred on Paris....
    • Beauvaisis
    • Brie française
    • Gâtinais français
    • Hurepoix
      Hurepoix

      Hurepoix is an area of ?le de France, in south west of Paris, localised nowadays between d?partements of France of Yvelines, Hauts-de-Seine and Essonne, it was an old Province of France of the French Kingdom....
    • Laonnois
    • Mantois
    • Multien
    • Noyonnais
    • Omois
    • Parisis
      Parisis

      Parisis may refer to the following:*Pierre Louis Parisis was the Roman Catholic bishop of the Bishopric of Langres from 1835 to 1851*Cormeilles-en-Parisis is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France....
    • Pays de France
    • Quart de Noyon
    • Soissonnois
    • Vexin français
    • Valois
  • Languedoc
    Languedoc

    Languedoc is a former province of France, now continued in the modern-day List of regions in France of Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyr?n?es in the south of France, and whose capital city was Toulouse, now in Midi-Pyr?n?es....
    • Gévaudan
      Gévaudan

      G?vaudan is an historical area of France, nowadays situated in Loz?re d?partement in France. It took its name from the Gabali, a Gallic tribe subordinate to the Arverni....
    • Principality of Orange
      Principality of Orange

      The Principality of Orange was formed in 1163 when Emperor Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor granted the former County of Orange full independence within the Holy Roman Empire....
    • Velay
    • Vivarais
      Vivarais

      Vivarais refers to a part of France:*a traditional region in the south-east of the country, covering the d?partement of Ard?che, named after its capital Viviers, Ard?che on the river Rh?ne River....
  • Landau
    Landau

    Landau or Landau in der Pfalz is an autonomous city surrounded by the S?dliche Weinstra?e district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany....
     (Imperial Free City occupied in 1680, restored to Bavaria
    Bavaria

    Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is a region located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest States of Germany of Germany by area....
     in 1815)
  • Limousin
    Limousin (province)

    Limousin is a former province of France around the city of Limoges in central France. The province of Limousin lies in the foothills of the Massif Central, with cold weather in the winter....
  • Lorraine
    Lorraine (province)

    Lorraine is a historical area in present-day northeast France. Some of the main cities are Metz, France, Nancy and Verdun....
    • Barrois
      Barrois

      Barrois, during the Middle Ages, was the territory of the counts and dukes of Bar, in the eastern part of present-day France, bordering Lorraine ....
  • Lyonnais
    Lyonnais

    After the division of the Carolingian Empire, the region was part of the Kingdom of Burgundy. The disintegration of Imperial control over especially after the fall of the Hohenstaufen in 1254, led to French encroachment in the region, and the Lyonnais was acquired by King Philip IV of France in 1313....
    • Plat pays de Lyonnais
    • Lyon
      Lyon

      ||-||}Lyon, also known as Lyons in English, is a city in east-central France. Its name is pronounced in French language and Franco-Proven?al language, and or in English language....
    • Franc-Lyonnais
      Franc-Lyonnais

      The Franc-Lyonnais was a Provinces de France of France.Located on a narrow strip of land on the left bank of the River Sa?ne, it was composed of thirteen parishes, forming two parts :...
  • Maine
  • Marche
    • Combrailles
      Combrailles

      Combrailles is a village and Communes of the Puy-de-D?me department in the Puy-de-D?me departments of France of central France....
  • Nivernais
    Nivernais

    Nivernais is former province of France, around the city of Nevers and the d?partement in France of Ni?vre.The raw climate and soils cause the area to be heavily wooded....
  • Normandie
    Normandy

    Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the coast of France south of the English Channel between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands....
    • Avranchin
      Avranchin

      The Avranchin is an area in Normandy, France, corresponding to the territory of the Abrincates, tribe of Celts who also gave their name to the city of Avranches, main town of the Avranchin....
    • Pays d'Auge
      Pays d'Auge

      The Pays d'Auge is an area in Normandy, straddling the Departments of Frances of Calvados and Orne . The chief town is Lisieux....
    • Bessin
      Bessin

      The Bessin is an area in Normandy, France, corresponding to the territory of the Bajocasse tribe of Celts who also gave their name to the city of Bayeux, central town of the Bessin....
    • Pays de Bray
      Pays de Bray

      The Pays de Bray is a small natural region of France situated to the north-east of Rouen, straddling the French D?partement in France of the Seine-Maritime, Somme and Oise ....
    • Campagne de Caen
    • Pays de Caux
      Pays de Caux

      The Pays de Caux is an area in Normandy occupying the greater part of the France d?partement in France of Seine Maritime in Haute-Normandie....
    • Cotentin
    • Le Houlme
      Le Houlme

      Le Houlme is a communes of France in the Seine-Maritime departments of France of the Haute-Normandie region of northern France....
    • Lieuvin
      Lieuvin

      The Lieuvin is a plateau region in the western part of the Eure d?partement in Normandy.The plateau consists of typical Norman bocage and is bounded by the Seine estuary to the north, the Risle valley to the east, the Charentonne valley to the south and, in the west, the Pays d'Auge which corresponds to the Touques River basin....
    • Campagne du Neubourg
    • Pays d'Ouche
      Pays d'Ouche

      The Pays d'Ouche is a wooded plateau southwest of ?vreux in the department of Eure, one of two departments in the Haute-Normandie region, extending into the neighboring Orne department in the Basse-Normandie region....
    • Roumois
      Roumois

      The Roumois, the region round Rouen is a region of plateau located in the northwestern part of the Eure d?partement in France in Normandy....
    • Campagne de Saint-André
    • Vexin Normand
  • Orléanais
    Orléanais

    Orl?anais is a former province of France, around the cities of Orl?ans, Chartres, and Blois.The name comes from Orl?ans, its main city and traditional capital....
    • Blésois
    • Pays chartrain
    • Dunois
    • Gâtinais orléanais
    • Vendômois
      Vendômois

      The Vend?mois is a traditional area of France equivalent to the arrondissement of Vend?me, to the north of Loir-et-Cher, and on both sides of Loir....
  • Perche
    Perche

    Perche is a former province of northern France extending over the d?partement in France of Orne, Eure, Eure-et-Loir and Sarthe....
    • Perche-Gouët
    • Thimerais
  • Picardy
    Picardy

    This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France....
    • Amienois
    • Ponthieu
      Ponthieu

      Ponthieu is a Provinces of France of northern France. Its chief town is Abbeville....
    • Santerre
    • Thiérache
    • Vermandois
      Vermandois

      Vermandois was a France county, that appears in the Merovingian period. In the tenth century, it was organised around two castellan domains: St Quentin and Peronne ....
    • Vimeu
  • Poitou
    Poitou

    Poitou was a Provinces of France of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Taifals in the sixth century....
  • Provence
    Provence

    Provence is a region of southeastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative regions of France of Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur....
  • Roussillon
    Roussillon

    Roussillon is one of the historical county of the former Principality of Catalonia, corresponding roughly to the present-day southern France d?partement in France of Pyr?n?es-Orientales ....
    • Roussillon
      Rosselló (comarca)

      The comarca of Roussillon is a Comarques of Catalonia of Northern Catalonia, now part of the France D?partement in France of Pyr?n?es-Orientales....
    • Cerdagne
    • Conflent
      Conflent

      Conflent is a Comarques of Catalonia of Northern Catalonia, now part of the France D?partement in France of Pyr?n?es-Orientales. In the Middle Ages it comprised the County of Conflent....
    • Vallespir
      Vallespir

      Vallespir is a Comarques of Catalonia of Northern Catalonia, part of the France D?partement in France of Pyr?n?es-Orientales. The capital of the comarca is Ceret, and it borders Conflent, Roussillon , Alt Empord?, Garrotxa and Ripoll?s....
    • Capcir
      Capcir

      Capcir is an Comarques of Catalonia of Northern Catalonia, now part of the France D?partement in France of Pyr?n?es-Orientales. The capital of the comarca was Formiguera, and it borders the historical comarques of Conflent and Alta Cerdanya....
  • Saintonge
    Saintonge

    Saintonge is a small region on the Atlantic Ocean coast of France within the d?partement Charente-Maritime, west and south of Charente in the administrative region of Poitou-Charentes....
  • Touraine
    Touraine

    The Touraine is a provinces of France of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, the Touraine was divided between the d?partement in Frances of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Indre....
  • Trois-Évêchés


Provinces not part of France in 1789


  • Avignon
    Avignon

    Avignon is a Communes of France in the Vaucluse Departments of France in southeastern France with an estimated mid-2004 population of 89,300 in the city itself and a population of 290,466 in the aire urbaine at the 1999 census....
     and the Comtat Venaissin
    Comtat Venaissin

    The Comtat Venaissin, often called the Comtat for short , is the former name of the region around the city of Avignon in what is now the Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur region of France....
    , belonging to the Pope
    Pope

    The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and head of state of Vatican City. The current pope is Pope Benedict XVI, who was elected April 19, 2005 in Papal conclave, 2005....
     were incorporated in 1791
  • Montbéliard
    Montbéliard

    Montb?liard is a communes of France in the Doubs Departments of France in the Franche-Comt? Regions of France in eastern France. It is one of the two Subprefectures in France of the department....
     was incorporated in 1793 as part of the Rauracian Republic
    Rauracian Republic

    The Rauracian Republic was a state that included parts of modern France and Switzerland around the Jura mountains. It lasted just a few months, in the years 1792 and 1793, being annexed by the French First Republic after that brief existence....
    , to which it belonged briefly.
  • Mulhouse
    Mulhouse

    Mulhouse is a city and communes of France in eastern France, close to the Switzerland and Germany borders. With 271,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2007 it is the largest city in the Haut-Rhin departments of France, and the second largest in the Alsace regions of France after Strasbourg....
    , an Imperial Free City allied with Switzerland was incorporated in 1798
  • Savoy
    Savoy

    Savoy is a region of Europe on the western flank of the Alps that emerged following the collapse of the Frankish Empire Kingdom of Burgundy. Installed by Rudolph III, King of Burgundy, officially in 1003, the House of Savoy became the longest surviving royal house in Europe....
     and Nice
    County of Nice

    The County of Nice or Ni?ard Country is a historical region of Occitania , located in the south-eastern part, around the city of Nice....
     were temporarily annexed to France in the period 1792-1815 but were restored to the Kingdom of Sardinia
    Kingdom of Sardinia

    Kingdom of Sardinia, also known as Piedmont-Sardinia or Sardinia-Piedmont, was the name given to the possessions of the House of Savoy in 1720, when the island of Sardinia was awarded by the Treaty of London to Victor Amadeus II of Sardinia to compensate him for the loss of Sicily to Austrian Empire....
     by the Congress of Vienna
    Congress of Vienna

    The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815....
    . Only in 1860 were they annexed again to France.
  • Several other territories along the northern border of Alsace
    Alsace

    Alsace is the fourth-smallest of the 26 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the sixth-most densely populated region in France , with 222 inhabitants per km? ....
     and Lorraine
    Lorraine (province)

    Lorraine is a historical area in present-day northeast France. Some of the main cities are Metz, France, Nancy and Verdun....
     were also incorporated during the course of the French Revolution.


See also


  • Lists of unofficial regions by country
  • Ancien Régime in France
    Ancien Régime in France

    The Ancien R?gime, a French language term rendered in English language as ?Old Rule,? ?Old Kingdom,? or simply ?Old Regime,? refers primarily to the aristocracy, sociology and politics system established in France from the 15th century to the 18th century under the Valois Dynasty and House of Bourbon dynasties....