Discover France’s new regions and capitals

France now only has 13 regions instead of 22 – find out what has changed, what the new regions are called and what the new capitals are

In January 2016 France’s region structure changed so the country now has 13 regions instead of the previous 22. A number of regions were merged together to form new regions and the names and capitals of these regions have been the subject of debate for the past 6 months. Some regions allowed their residents to vote for their new name while others were chosen by the local councils but finally a decision has been made – discover all you need to know about France’s new regions.

Find out why France’s regions changed

Find out how this might impact property buyers

So what does the new France look like?

The following regions and capitals stayed the same:

• Brittany – capital Rennes

• Corsica – capital Ajaccio

• Centre-Val de Loire (formerly called Centre) – capital Orléans

• Île-de-France – capital Paris

• Pays de la Loire – capital Nantes

• Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur – capital Marseille

But the following regions have been created by merging several old regions together:

• Grand Est (formerly Alsace, Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine) – capital Strasbourg

• Nouvelle Aquitaine (formerly Aquitaine, Limousin and Poitou-Charentes) – capital Bordeaux

• Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (formerly Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes) –capital Lyon

• Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (formerly Burgundy and Franche-Comté) – capital Dijon

• Occitanie (formerly Languedoc-Roussillon and Midi-Pyrénées) –capital Toulouse

• Hauts-de-France (formerly Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy) – capital Lille

• Normandy (formerly Upper and Lower Normandy) – capital Rouen

Find out more about the new regions in our region guides and find properties for sale across France on France Property Shop