Commune in France in the context of "Administrative divisions of French Polynesia"

Play Trivia Questions online!

or

Skip to study material about Commune in France in the context of "Administrative divisions of French Polynesia"

Ad spacer

⭐ Core Definition: Commune in France

A commune (French pronunciation: [kɔmyn] ) is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities, and particularly to the New England towns, in Canada and the United States; Gemeinden in Germany; comuni in Italy; municipios in Spain; or civil parishes in the United Kingdom. Communes are based on historical geographic communities or villages and are vested with significant powers to manage the populations and land of the geographic area covered. The communes are the fourth-level administrative divisions of France.

Communes vary widely in size and area, from large sprawling cities with millions of inhabitants like Paris, to small hamlets with only a handful of inhabitants. Communes typically are based on pre-existing villages and facilitate local governance. All communes have names, but not all named geographic areas or groups of people residing together are communes (lieu dit or bourg), the difference residing in the lack of administrative powers. Except for the municipal arrondissements of its largest cities, the communes are the lowest level of administrative division in France and are governed by elected officials including a mayor (maire) and a municipal council (conseil municipal). They have extensive autonomous powers to implement national policy.

↓ Menu

>>>PUT SHARE BUTTONS HERE<<<
In this Dossier

Commune in France in the context of Eurodistrict

A eurodistrict is a European administrative entity that contains urban agglomerations which lie across the border between two or more states. A eurodistrict offers a program for cooperation and integration of the towns or communes which it comprises: for example, improving transport links for people who live and work on different sides of the border.

The first Eurodistricts created or currently undergoing creation are:

↑ Return to Menu

Commune in France in the context of Métropole

A métropole (French pronunciation: [metʁɔpɔl] ; French for "metropolis") is an administrative entity in France, in which several communes cooperate, and which has the right to levy local tax, an établissement public de coopération intercommunale à fiscalité propre. It is the most integrated form of intercommunality in France, more than the communauté urbaine, the communauté d'agglomération and the Communauté de communes. The métropoles were created by a law of January 2014.

As of January 2025, there are 19 métropoles, and 2 métropoles with special status: Paris and Marseille (all in metropolitan France). The Metropolis of Lyon is a territorial collectivity, not an intercommunality.

↑ Return to Menu

Commune in France in the context of Aubagne

Aubagne (French: [obaɲ]; Occitan: Aubanha according to the classic norm or Aubagno according to the Mistralian norm) is a commune in the southern French department of Bouches-du-Rhône. In 2020, the commune was awarded three flowers by the National Council of Towns and Villages in Bloom in the Competition of cities and villages in Bloom.

↑ Return to Menu

Commune in France in the context of Urban unit

In France, an urban unit (French: unité urbaine) is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. According to the INSEE definition , an "unité urbaine" is a commune alone or a grouping of communes which: a) form a single unbroken spread of urban development, with no distance between habitations greater than 200 m and b) have all together a population greater than 2,000 inhabitants. Communes not belonging to an unité urbaine are considered rural.

The French unité urbaine is a statistical area in accordance with United Nations recommendations for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. Other comparable units in other countries are the United States "Urbanized Area" and the "urban area" definition shared by Canada and the United Kingdom. The French aire d'attraction d'une ville is equivalent to the functional urban area as defined by Eurostat, and represents a population and employment centre (urban cluster) and its commuting zone. The zoning into unités urbaines and aires d'attraction des villes was last revised in 2020.

↑ Return to Menu

Commune in France in the context of Communauté urbaine

Communauté urbaine (French pronunciation: [kɔmynote yʁbɛn] ; French for "urban community") is the second most integrated form of intercommunality in France, after the Metropolis (French: métropole). A communauté urbaine is composed of a city (commune) and its independent suburbs (independent communes).

The first communautés urbaines were created by the French Parliament on 31 December 1966. Originally there were only four, found in the metropolitan areas of Bordeaux, Lille, Lyon and Strasbourg. Later, others were created in other metropolitan areas. The purpose of the communautés urbaines was to achieve cooperation and joint administration between large cities and their independent suburbs. This step often followed failed attempts to merge the communes within a metropolitan area. The status of the communauté urbaine was modified by the Chevènement Law of 1999. Since the creation of the métropoles in 2011, several former communautés urbaines have become métropoles, for instance Nice, Strasbourg, Marseille, Nancy and Dijon.

↑ Return to Menu

Commune in France in the context of Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole

The Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole (French: Communauté Urbaine Marseille Provence Métropole) is a former intercommunal structure gathering the city of Marseille (in Provence, southern France) and some of its suburbs. It was established on 7 July 2000. On 1 January 2016 it merged into the Metropolis of Aix-Marseille-Provence.

The Urban Community of Marseille Provence Métropole only partly encompassed the metropolitan area of Marseille because the other independent communes of the metropolitan area (such as Aix-en-Provence) refused to join in with the city of Marseille, which was perceived as poor and unruly by the wealthier suburbs. Some other suburban communes (such as Aubagne, Gardanne, and Martigues) which were ruled by the French Communist Party also refused to join in with Marseille which was ruled by the center-right UMP.

↑ Return to Menu

Commune in France in the context of Communauté d'agglomération

An agglomeration community (French: communauté d'agglomération, pronounced [kɔmynote daɡlɔmeʁasjɔ̃]) is a consortium of communes (municipalities) in France, created as a government structure by the Chevènement Law of 1999. It is one of four forms of intercommunality, less integrated than a métropole or a communauté urbaine but more integrated than a communauté de communes. Agglomeration communities consist of a commune of at least 15,000 inhabitants (or a prefecture with less than 15,000 inhabitants) and its independent suburbs.

As of January 2025, there are 230 agglomeration communities in France (214 in metropolitan France and 16 in the overseas departments). The population (as of 2022) of the agglomeration communities ranges from 364,744 inhabitants (CA Roissy Pays de France) to 28,318 inhabitants (CA Grand Verdun).

↑ Return to Menu

Commune in France in the context of Menton

Menton (French: [mɑ̃tɔ̃]; Occitan: Menton in classical norm or Mentan in Mistralian norm, pronounced [menˈta], locally [mɛ(n)ˈtã]; Italian: Mentone [menˈtoːne]; Ligurian: Menton or Mentun depending on the orthography) is a resort town and commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region on the French Riviera, close to the Italian border.

Menton has always been a frontier town. Since the end of the 14th century, it has been on the border between the County of Nice, held by the Duke of Savoy, and the Republic of Genoa. It was an exclave of the Principality of Monaco until the disputed French plebiscite of 1860 when it was added to France. It had been always a fashionable tourist centre with grand mansions and gardens. Its temperate Mediterranean climate is especially favourable to the citrus industry, with which it is strongly identified.

↑ Return to Menu

Commune in France in the context of Poitiers

Poitiers is a university city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune, the capital of the Vienne department, part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of France, and the historical center of Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 90,240. Its conurbation had 134,397 inhabitants in 2021 and is the municipal center of an urban area of 281,789 inhabitants. It is a city of art and history, still known popularly as the "Ville aux cent clochers" ("City of a hundred bell towers").

With more than 30,000 students, Poitiers has been a major university town since the creation of its university in 1431, having hosted world-renowned figures and thinkers such as René Descartes, Joachim du Bellay and François Rabelais, among others. The plaza of the town is picturesque; its streets including predominantly preserved historical architecture and half-timbered houses, especially religious edifices, commonly from the Romanesque period. The latter includes notably the 4th century baptistery of Saint-Jean (Baptistère Saint-Jean), the 7th century Merovingian underground chapel of the Hypogeum of the Dunes (L'Hypogée des Dunes), the Church of Notre-Dame-la-Grande (12th century), the Church of Saint-Porchaire (12th century) or Poitiers Cathedral (end of the 12th century) as well as the Palace of Poitiers, until recently a courthouse (12th century), the former palace of the Counts of Poitou, Dukes of Aquitaine, where the Dowager Queen of France and England Eleanor of Aquitaine held her "Court of Love".

↑ Return to Menu