section_path: Government and politics/Administrative divisions/Regions
section_name: Regions
paragraph_text: Regions
  
  Since 2016, France is divided into 18 administrative regions: 13 regions in metropolitan France (including Corsica), and five overseas. The regions are further subdivided into 101 departments, which are numbered mainly alphabetically. The department number is used in postal codes and was formerly used on vehicle registration plates. Among the 101 French departments, five (French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mayotte, and Réunion) are in overseas regions (ROMs) that are simultaneously overseas departments (DOMs), enjoying the same status as metropolitan departments and are thereby included in the European Union.
  
  The 101 departments are subdivided into 335 arrondissements, which are, in turn, subdivided into 2,054 cantons. These cantons are then divided into 36,658 communes, which are municipalities with an elected municipal council. Three communes—Paris, Lyon and Marseille—are subdivided into 45 municipal arrondissements.