Territorial collectivity in the context of "Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes"

In the administrative divisions of France, the department (French: département, pronounced [depaʁtəmɑ̃] ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 departments, consisting of ninety-six departments in metropolitan France, and five overseas departments, which are also classified as overseas regions. Departments are further subdivided into 333 arrondissements and 2,054 cantons (as of 2023). These last two levels of government have no political autonomy, instead serving as the administrative basis for the local organisation of police, fire departments, and, in certain cases, elections.

Each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council (sg. conseil départemental, pl. conseils départementaux). From 1800 to April 2015, these were called general councils (sg. conseil général, pl. conseils généraux). 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 since the 2000s, with some department-level services merged into region-level services.

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.

48°50′54″N 2°20′14″E / 48.84833°N 2.33722°E / 48.84833; 2.33722The Senate (French: Sénat, [sena] ) is the upper house of the French Parliament, with the lower house being the National Assembly, the two houses constituting the legislature of France. It is made up of 348 senators (sénateurs and sénatrices) elected by part of the country's local councillors in indirect elections. Senators have six-year terms, with half of the seats up for election every three years. They represent France's departments (328), overseas collectivities (8) and citizens abroad (12).

Senators' mode of election varies upon their constituency's population size: in the less populated constituencies (one or two seats), they are elected individually, whereas in more populated ones (three seats or more), they are elected on lists. It is common for senators to hold dual mandates, such as in a regional council or departmental council.

Corsica (/ˈkɔːrsɪkə/ KOR-sik-ə; Corsican: [ˈkorsiɡa, ˈkɔrsika], Italian: [ˈkɔrsika]; French: Corse [kɔʁs] ; Ligurian: Còrsega) is an island in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the 18 regions of France. It is the fourth-largest island in the Mediterranean and lies southeast of the French mainland, west of the Italian Peninsula and immediately north of the Italian island of Sardinia, the nearest land mass. A single chain of mountains makes up two-thirds of the island. As of January 2024, it had a population of 355,528.

The island is a territorial collectivity of France, and is expected to achieve "a form of autonomy" in the near future. The regional capital is Ajaccio. Although the region is divided into two administrative departments, Haute-Corse and Corse-du-Sud, their respective regional and departmental territorial collectivities were merged on 1 January 2018 to form the single territorial collectivity of Corsica. Corsican autonomy is more extensive than in other regional collectivities of France and the Corsican Assembly is permitted to exercise limited executive powers. Corsica's second-largest town is Bastia, located in the prefecture of Haute-Corse.

Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (/ˈwɒlɪs ... fuːˈtuːnə/ ), is a French island collectivity in the South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast, Samoa to the east, and Tokelau to the northeast.

Mata Utu is its capital and largest city. Wallis and Futuna is associated with the European Union as an overseas country and territory (OCT). The territory's land area is 142.42 km (54.99 sq mi). It had a population of 11,151 at the July 2023 census (down from 14,944 at the 2003 census). The territory is made up of three main volcanic tropical islands and a number of tiny islets. It is divided into two island groups that lie about 260 km (160 mi) apart: the Wallis Islands (also known as Uvea) in the northeast; and the Hoorn Islands (also known as the Futuna Islands) in the southwest, including Futuna Island proper and the mostly uninhabited Alofi Island.

The Metropolis of Lyon (French: Métropole de Lyon, pronounced [metʁɔpɔl də ljɔ̃] ), also known as Grand Lyon ([ɡʁɑ̃ ljɔ̃], "Greater Lyon"), is a French territorial collectivity in the east-central region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a directly-elected metropolitan authority, encompassing both the city of Lyon, and most of its suburbs. It has jurisdiction both as a department, and as a metropolis, which excludes its territory from direct responsibility to the French government department of Rhône. It had a population of 1,424,069 in 2021, 36.7% of whom lived in the city of Lyon proper.

It replaced the Urban Community of Lyon on 1 January 2015, in accordance with the MAPAM law (fr) enacted in January 2014. The first direct metropolitan elections were held in March (1st round) and June (2nd round) 2020, leading to a victory by The Ecologists. The president of the metropolitan council has been Green Party leader Bruno Bernard, since July 2020.

Alsace is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,919,745. Alsatian culture is characterized by a blend of German and French influences.

Until 1871, Alsace included the area now known as the Territoire de Belfort, which formed its southernmost part. From 1982 to 2016, Alsace was the smallest administrative région in metropolitan France, consisting of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments. Territorial reform passed by the French Parliament in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to form Grand Est. On 1 January 2021, the departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin merged into the new European Collectivity of Alsace but remained part of the region Grand Est.