Download France Départements Boundaries
Free download of all 101 French départements — 96 metropolitan plus 5 overseas (DROM). Loads automatically — pick the format you need: GeoJSON, Shapefile, KML, SVG, DXF, GeoPackage, TopoJSON, or FlatGeobuf.
Boundary data provided by geoBoundaries (Runfola et al., 2020), licensed CC-BY 4.0. Please provide attribution when using this data.
About the France départements dataset
This page provides a one-click download of every French département in every common geospatial and design format. Data is sourced from geoBoundaries — released under CC-BY 4.0. The authoritative French source is ADMIN-EXPRESS from IGN, with official codes maintained by INSEE.
For higher-level (région) boundaries see the France régions page.
Notable points about French départements
- • Code numbers — every département has a 2-digit code (e.g. 75 Paris, 13 Bouches-du-Rhône, 33 Gironde). These are the first two digits of French postcodes.
- • Corse — Corsica is split into two départements: 2A Corse-du-Sud and 2B Haute-Corse. Note the alphabetic codes — the only non-numeric département codes.
- • Paris (75) — Paris is both a département and a commune (the only such case in metropolitan France). Internally divided into 20 arrondissements.
- • Overseas (DROM) — Guadeloupe (971), Martinique (972), Guyane (973), La Réunion (974), Mayotte (976). Each is simultaneously a département and a région.
- • Created in 1790 — départements are one of the oldest continuous administrative divisions in Europe, established during the French Revolution.
When to use which format
GeoJSON
The most flexible choice — opens in QGIS, ArcGIS Pro, Mapbox, Leaflet, MapLibre, D3. Use the simplified version for client-side web maps.
Shapefile
Use for desktop GIS workflows in ArcGIS, QGIS, or MapInfo. ZIP contains .shp / .dbf / .prj / .shx.
KML
Use for Google Earth and Google My Maps. KML preserves the département name in feature popups.
SVG
Designer-ready vector paths with each département as a separate path, labelled with its French name. Opens in Illustrator, Figma, Sketch, or Inkscape.
DXF
AutoCAD format for engineers and architects. Each département becomes a closed polyline.
TopoJSON
Topology-encoded GeoJSON, much smaller for choropleths of 101 départements. Common in D3.js dashboards.
GeoPackage
OGC-standard single-file SQLite container. Ideal for portable GIS workflows.
FlatGeobuf
Binary streaming format optimised for fast loading in MapLibre, OpenLayers, or Leaflet.
Common uses for French département boundaries
- • Département-level election mapping (présidentielle, départementale)
- • Aggregating French postcodes into département statistics
- • Joining INSEE statistical data to département geometry
- • Public-health reporting at département level (ARS, Santé Publique France)
- • Backgrounds for D3.js / MapLibre choropleths
- • Sales-territory mapping for France
- • Editorial maps for newspapers and magazines (SVG export)
- • Insurance / risk analysis at département scale
Need to process these boundaries before download?
Download the French départements GeoJSON above, then drop it into the Workflow Builder to simplify, buffer, clip to a bounding box, generate centroids, or chain multiple operations before exporting in any format.
Alternative French sources
- • IGN ADMIN-EXPRESS — the official French national mapping agency dataset. Highest precision, includes commune-level geometry.
- • INSEE COG — authoritative codes and names for all French administrative units.
- • Natural Earth — cartographer-friendly generalised data for small-scale maps.
- • OpenStreetMap — community-edited boundaries via Overpass queries or Geofabrik extracts.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many départements does France have?
France has 101 départements: 96 in metropolitan France (including the two départements of Corse: 2A Corse-du-Sud and 2B Haute-Corse) and 5 overseas (971 Guadeloupe, 972 Martinique, 973 Guyane, 974 La Réunion, 976 Mayotte). All 101 are included as ADM2 features here.
What is the difference between départements and régions?
Régions are the first-level administrative division (ADM1) — 18 in total. Départements are the second-level division (ADM2) — 101 in total. Each département is nested inside a région. Départements were created during the French Revolution (1790) and have official two-digit codes (the same numbers you see at the start of French postcodes).
Where does this France boundary data come from?
The boundaries are sourced from geoBoundaries (Runfola et al., 2020). The authoritative French source is IGN (Institut national de l’information géographique et forestière) via the ADMIN-EXPRESS dataset. INSEE maintains the official codes (Code Officiel Géographique). geoBoundaries data is released under CC-BY 4.0.
Are the départements numbered the same as French postcodes?
Yes — the first two digits of any French postal code correspond to the département. Paris postcodes start with 75 (Département 75, Paris). This makes département-level aggregation of address data straightforward — you can join département boundaries directly to postcode-aggregated statistics.
How big is the France départements GeoJSON file?
The full-resolution France ADM2 GeoJSON is typically 8–20 MB (overseas départements add some size). The simplified version is well under 1.5 MB and is the right choice for client-side web maps. The SVG export is around 80–200 KB.
Can I download a single région’s départements only?
This page is the full set of all 101 French départements in one file. To extract just one région — for example, the départements of Île-de-France — download the GeoJSON above, then use the QuickMapTools Workflow Builder to filter by the parent région name or clip by the région boundary.
Can I use this data commercially?
Yes — geoBoundaries data is released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC-BY) licence. You may use it in commercial products, modify it, and redistribute it as long as you provide attribution to geoBoundaries (Runfola et al., 2020).