Regions of France

France is divided into 18 administrative regions (French: région, [ʁe.ʒjɔ̃]), 13 of which are in Metropolitan France and five of which are overseas regions. The mainland regions and Corsica are each further subdivided into departments, ranging in number from 2 to 13 per region for the metropolitan regions; the overseas regions technically consist of only one department each.

History

The term region was officially created by the Law of Decentralisation (2 March 1982), which also gave regions their legal status. The first direct elections for regional representatives took place on 16 March 1986. In 2016, the number of regions was reduced from 27 to 18 through amalgamation.

Reform and mergers of regions

In 2014, the French Parliament (the National Assembly and the Senate) passed a law that reduced the number of regions in Metropolitan France from 22 to 13. The new regions took effect on 1 January 2016.

The text of the law gives interim names for most of the new regions by combining the names of the former regions, e.g. the region composed of Aquitaine, Poitou-Charentes and Limousin is Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes. However, the combined region of Upper and Lower Normandy is simply called "Normandy" (Normandie). Permanent names will be proposed by the new regional councils and confirmed by the Conseil d'Etat by 1 July 2016. The legislation defining the new regions also allowed the Centre region to officially change its name to "Centre-Val de Loire"; this change was effective from January 2015.

Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva (French: lac Léman, le Léman[lemɑ̃], sometimes lac de Genève [lak d(ə) ʒ(ə)nɛːv], German: Genfersee [ˈɡɛnfərˌzeː]) is a lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. 59.53% (345.31 km² [133.32 sq mi]) of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland (cantons of Vaud, Geneva, and Valais), and 40.47% (234.71 km² [90.62 sq mi]) under France (department of Haute-Savoie).

Lake Geneva has been explored by four submarines: the Auguste Piccard and the F.-A. Forel, both built by Jacques Piccard, and the two Mir submersibles.

Name

The first recorded name of the lake is Lacus Lemannus, dated from Roman times; Lemannus comes from Ancient greek Limanos, Limènos Limne Λιμένος Λίμνη meaning port's lake; it became Lacus Lausonius, although this name was also used for a town or district on the lake, Lacus Losanetes and then the Lac de Lausanne in the Middle Ages. Following the rise of Geneva it became Lac de Genève (translated into English as Lake Geneva). In the 18th century, Lac Léman was revived in French and is the customary name in that language. In contemporary English, the name Lake Geneva is predominant. A note on pronunciation: