Departments of France
Department Modern-day location Dates in existence
Département du Sud Hispaniola ( Haiti and the Dominican Republic ) 1795-1800
Département de l'Inganne ( Mostly in the Dominican Republic with eastern part of Haiti ) Hispaniola ( Haiti and the Dominican Republic ) 1795-1800
Département du Nord Hispaniola ( Haiti and the Dominican Republic ) 1795-1800
Département de l'Ouest Hispaniola ( Haiti and the Dominican Republic ) 1795-1800
Département de Samana ( In the Dominican Republic ) Hispaniola ( Haiti and the Dominican Republic ) 1795-1800
Sainte-Lucie Saint Lucia , Tobago 1795-1800
Île de France Mauritius , Rodrigues , Seychelles 1795-1800
Indes-Orientales Pondichéry , Karikal , Yanaon , Mahé and Chandernagore 1795-1800
Maps and tables -- Former departments
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (French: département, pronounced [depaʁt(ə)mɑ̃]) is one of the three levels of government below the national level (territorial collectivities), between the administrative regions and the commune. Ninety-five departments are in metropolitan France, and five are overseas departments, which are also classified as regions. Departments are further subdivided into 334 arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons; the last two have no autonomy, and are used for the organisation of police, fire departments, and sometimes, elections. Each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council (conseil départemental [sing. ], conseils départementaux [plur.]). From 1800 to April 2015, these were called general councils (conseil général sing. conseils généraux [plur.]). Each council has a president. Their main areas of responsibility include the management of a number of social and welfare allowances, of junior high school (collège) buildings and technical staff, and local roads and school and rural buses, and a contribution to municipal infrastructures. Local services of the state administration are traditionally organised at departmental level, where the prefect represents the government; however, regions have gained importance in this regard since the 2000s, with some department-level services merged into region-level services. The departments were created in 1790 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity; the title department is used to mean a part of a larger whole. Almost all of them were named after physical geographical features (rivers, mountains, or coasts), rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties.