| Departments. | Capital Towns. | Ancient Provinces. |
| Basses-Alpes ..... | Digne...... | Provence. |
| Basses-Pyrénées .... | Pau ....... | Béarn; Gascogne (Basse-Navarre, Soule, Labourd). |
| Belfort, Territoire de.. | Belfort...... | Alsace. |
| Bouches-du-Rhône... | Marseilles..... | Provence. |
| Calvados ...... | Caen ....... | Normandie (Bessin, Bocage). |
| Cantal...... | Aurillac...... | Auvergne. |
| Charente..... | Angoulême..... | Angoumois; Saintonge. |
| Charente-Inférieure.. | La Rochelle..... | Aunis; Saintonge. |
| Cher...... | Bourges ...... | Berry; Bourbonnais. |
| Corrèze ...... | Tulle...... | Limousin. |
| Côte-d’Or..... | Dijon...... | Bourgogne (Dijonnais, Auxois). |
| Côtes-du-Nord.... | St Brieuc ...... | Bretagne. |
| Creuse...... | Guéret...... | Marche. |
| Deux-Sèvres ..... | Niort...... | Poitou. |
| Dordogne | Périgueux | Guienne (Périgord). |
| Doubs...... | Besançon ...... | Franche-Comté; Montbéliard. |
| Drôme...... | Valence...... | Dauphiné. |
| Eure ....... | Évreux...... | Normandie; Perche. |
| Eure-et-Loir ..... | Chartres ...... | Orléanais; Normandie. |
| Finistère..... | Quimper ...... | Bretagne. |
| Gard ....... | Nîmes...... | Languedoc. |
| Gers ....... | Auch ....... | Gascogne (Astarac, Armagnac). |
| Girdonde ...... | Bordeaux ..... | Guienne (Bordelais, Bazadais). |
| Haute-Garonne.... | Toulouse ...... | Languedoc; Gascogne (Comminges). |
| Haute-Loire ..... | Le Puy. . .... | Languedoc (Velay); Auvergne; Lyonnais. |
| Haute-Marne.... | Chaumont..... | Champagne (Bassigny, Vallage). |
| Hautes-Alpes.... | Gap ....... | Dauphiné. |
| Haute-Saône ..... | Vesoul...... | Franche-Comté. |
| Haute-Savoie.... | Annecy | |
| Hautes-Pyrénées... | Tarbes...... | Gascogne. |
| Haute-Vienne.... | Limoges | Limousin; Marche. |
| Hérault | Montpellier | Languedoc. |
| Ille-et-Vilaine | Rennes | Bretagne. |
| Indre | Châteauroux | Berry. |
| Indre-et-Loire | Tours | Touraine. |
| Isère | Grenoble | Dauphiné. |
| Jura | Lons-le-Saunier | Franche-Comté. |
| Landes | Mont-de-Marsan | Gascogne (Landes, Chalosse). |
| Loire | St-Étienne | Lyonnais. |
| Loire-Inférieure | Nantes | Bretagne. |
| Loiret | Orléans | Orléanais (Orléanais proper, Gâtinais, Dunois). |
| Loir-et-Cher | Blois | Orléanais. |
| Lot | Cahors | Guienne (Quercy). |
| Lot-et-Garonne | Agen | Guienne; Gascogne. |
| Lozère | Mende | Languedoc (Gévaudan). |
| Maine-et-Loire | Angers | Anjou. |
| Manche | St-Lô | Normandie (Cotentin). |
| Marne | Châlons-sur-Marne | Champagne. |
| Mayenne | Laval | Maine; Anjou. |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle | Nancy | Lorraine; Trois-Évêchés. |
| Meuse | Bar-le-Duc | Lorraine (Barrois, Verdunois). |
| Morbihan | Vannes | Bretagne. |
| Nièvre | Nevers | Nivernais; Orléanais. |
| Nord | Lille | Flandre; Hainaut. |
| Oise | Beauvais | Île-de-France. |
| Orne | Alençon | Normandie; Perche. |
| Pas-de-Calais | Arras | Artois; Picardie. |
| Puy-de-Dôme | Clermont-Ferrand | Auvergne. |
| Pyrénées-Orientales | Perpignan | Roussillon; Languedoc. |
| Rhône | Lyon | Lyonnais; Beaujolais. |
| Saône-et-Loire | Mâcon | Bourgogne. |
| Sarthe | Le Mans | Maine; Anjou. |
| Savoie | Chambéry | |
| Seine | Paris | Île-de-France. |
| Seine-et-Marne | Melun | Île-de-France; Champagne. |
| Seine-et-Oise | Versailles | Île-de-France. |
| Seine-Inférieure | Rouen | Normandie. |
| Somme | Amiens | Picardie. |
| Tarn | Albi | Languedoc (Albigeois). |
| Tarn-et-Garonne | Montauban | Guienne; Gascogne; Languedoc. |
| Var | Draguignan | Provence. |
| Vaucluse | Avignon | Comtat; Venaissin; Provence; Principauté d’Orange. |
| Vendée | La Roche-sur-Yon | Poitou. |
| Vienne | Poitiers | Poitou; Touraine. |
| Vosges | Épinal | Lorraine. |
| Yonne | Auxerre | Bourgogne; Champagne. |
| Corse (Corsica) | Ajaccio | Corse. |
Before 1790 France was divided into thirty-three great and seven small military governments, often called provinces, which are, however, to be distinguished from the provinces formed under the feudal system. The great governments were: Alsace, Saintonge and Angournois, Anjou, Artois, Aunis, Auvergne, Béarn and Navarre, Berry, Bourbonnais; Bourgogne (Burgundy), Bretagne (Brittany), Champagne, Dauphiné, Flandre, Foix, Franche-Comté, Guienne and Gascogne (Gascony), Île-de-France, Languedoc, Limousin, Lorraine, Lyonnais, Maine, Marche, Nivernais, Normandie, Orléanais, Picardie, Poitou, Provence, Roussillon, Touraine and Corse. The eight small governments were: Paris, Boulogne and Boulonnais, Le Havre, Sedan, Toulois, Pays Messin and Verdunois and Saumurois.
At the head of each department is a prefect, a political official nominated by the minister of the interior and appointed by the president, who acts as general agent of the government and representative of the central authority. To aid him the prefect
