Departments of France Departments of France In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government below the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the commune. Ninety-six departments are in metropolitan France, and five are overseas departments, which are also classified as regions. Departments are further subdivided into 334 arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons; the last two have no autonomy, and are used for the organisation of police, fire departments, and sometimes, elections. Each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council ("conseil départemental" (sing.), "conseils départementaux" (plur.)). From
Subdivided flat for public estates, they turn to live in subdivided flats, where rental prices are much cheaper than that of private housing options available. The second factor leading to the phenomenon comes from the widening wealth gap between the rich and poor. The Gini Coefficient of Hong Kong increased to 0.537, which manifests the serious economic inequality problem. In the subdivided units study report 2009 produced by the Society of Communication Organization, the median monthly personal income of the residents in subdivided units was $3200, which was below the median monthly personal income of the whole population in Hong Kong at