Editing Geography of France (section)

===Internal divisions===
[[File:Départements+régions (France)-2016.svg|thumb|upright=1.75|Regions and departments of Metropolitan France in 2016.]]
{{main article|Administrative divisions of France}}

France has several levels of internal divisions. The first-level administrative division of Metropolitan France is regions. Also the French Republic has sovereignty over several other territories, with various administrative levels. 
*Metropolitan (i.e. European) France is divided into 12 ''[[Regions of France|régions]]'' and 1 territorial collectivity, [[Corsica]]. However, Corsica is referred to as a region in common speech. These regions are subdivided into 96 ''[[Departments of France|département]]s'', which are further divided into 320 [[arrondissements of France|arrondissements]], which are further divided into 1,995 [[Canton in France|cantons]], which are further divided into 34,836 [[Communes of France|communes]] (as of 1/1/2021).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collectivites-locales.gouv.fr/files/Accueil/DESL/2021/Colloc%20en%20chiffres/CL_en_chiffres_2021.pdf|page=18|title=Les collectivités locales en chiffres 2021|publisher=Ministère de la Cohésion des territoires et des Relations avec les collectivités territoriales|date=August 2021|language=fr}}</ref>
*Five overseas regions (''[[région d'outre-mer|régions d'outre-mer]]'', or ''ROM''): [[Guadeloupe]], [[French Guiana]], [[Martinique]], [[Mayotte]], and [[Réunion]], with identical status to metropolitan regions. Each of these overseas regions also being an overseas département (''[[département d'outre-mer]]'', or ''DOM''), with the same status as a ''{{lang|fr|département}}'' of metropolitan France. This double structure (''région''/''{{lang|fr|département}}'') is new, due to the recent extension of the regional scheme to the overseas départements, and may soon transform into a single structure, with the merger of the regional and departmental assemblies. Another proposed change is that new ''départements'' are created such as in the case of [[Réunion]], where it has been proposed to create a second ''{{lang|fr|département}}'' in the south of the island, with the ''région'' of Réunion above these two ''départements''.
*Four overseas collectivities (''[[collectivité d'outre-mer|collectivités d'outre-mer]]'', or ''COM''): [[Saint-Pierre and Miquelon]], [[Saint Barthélemy]], [[Collectivity of Saint Martin|Saint Martin]], and [[Wallis and Futuna]]. 
*One overseas "country" (''[[pays d'outre-mer]]'', or ''POM''): [[French Polynesia]]. In 2003 it became an overseas collectivity (or ''COM''). Its statutory law of 27 February 2004 gives it the particular designation of overseas country inside the Republic (or ''POM''), but without legal modification of its status.
*One [[sui generis]] collectivity (''[[collectivité sui generis]]''): [[New Caledonia]], whose status is unique in the French Republic.
*One overseas territory (''[[territoire d'outre-mer]]'', or ''TOM''): the [[French Southern and Antarctic Lands]] divided into 5 districts: [[Kerguelen Islands]], [[Crozet Islands]], [[Île Amsterdam]] and [[Île Saint-Paul]], [[Adélie Land]], and the [[Îles Éparses|Scattered islands]] ([[Banc du Geyser]], [[Bassas da India]], [[Europa Island|Europa]], [[Juan de Nova Island|Juan de Nova]], [[Glorioso Islands|Glorioso]], and [[Tromelin Island|Tromelin]]).
*One uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico that belongs directly to the central government [[public land]] and is administered by the high-commissioner of the French Republic in French Polynesia: [[Clipperton Island|Clipperton]].