France regions (five of which are situated overseas) span a combined area of and a total population of 67.3 million (). France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice. During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. Rome annexed the area in 51 BC, holding it until the arrival of Germanic Franks in 476, who formed the Kingdom of France. France emerged as a
Arrondissements of France the department of Pas-de-Calais has seven. Mayotte has none. Arrondissements of France An arrondissement () is a level of administrative division in France generally corresponding to the territory overseen by a subprefect. , the 101 French departments were divided into 334 arrondissements (including 12 overseas). The capital of an arrondissement is called a subprefecture. When an arrondissement contains the prefecture (capital) of the department, that prefecture is the capital of the arrondissement, acting both as a prefecture and as a subprefecture. Arrondissements are further divided into cantons and communes. The term arrondissement can be roughly translated into English as district.