List of French departments by population

Population density by department (people by km²

This table lists the 101 departments of France in descending order of population, area and population density.

Evolution

Between 1999 and 2006 all French departments have grown in population with the exception of the following seven departments: Allier and Cantal in Auvergne, Creuse in Limousin, Ardennes and Haute-Marne in Champagne-Ardenne, Nièvre in Burgundy, and Vosges in Lorraine.

In contrast the seven departments that have gained the most population in absolute value are Haute-Garonne, Gironde, Bouches-du-Rhône, Seine-Saint-Denis, Loire-Atlantique, Hauts-de Seine, and Hérault.

Guadeloupe has seemingly lost population between 1999 and 2008. However, this diminution of the legal population is due to the creation of the overseas communities of Saint Barthélemy and Saint-Martin.

List of departments by population

2013 Rank Department Legal population in 1931 Legal population in 1999 Legal population in 2008 Legal population in 2013 Area (km²) Pop. density (Pop./km²) INSEE Dept. No.
1 Nord 2,029,449 2,555,020 2,564,959 2,595,536 5,743 452 59
2 Paris 2,891,020 2,125,246 2,211,297 2,229,621 105 21,234 75
3 Bouches-du-Rhône 1,101,672 1,835,719 1,966,005 1,993,177 5,087 392 13
4 Rhône 1,046,028 1,578,869 1,690,498 1,779,845 3,249 548 69
5 Hauts-de-Seine 949,231 1,428,881 1,549,619 1,591,403 176 9,042 92
6 Seine-Saint-Denis 769,315 1,382,861 1,506,466 1,552,482 236 6,578 93
7 Gironde 852,768 1,287,334 1,421,276 1,505,517 10,725 140 33
8 Pas-de-Calais 1,205,191 1,441,568 1,459,531 1,465,205 6,671 220 62
9 Yvelines 408,282 1,354,308 1,406,053 1,418,484 2,284 621 78
10 Seine-et-Marne 406,108 1,193,767 1,303,702 1,365,200 5,915 231 77
11 Val-de-Marne 657,322 1,227,250 1,310,876 1,354,005 245 5,527 94
12 Loire-Atlantique 652,079 1,134,266 1,255,871 1,328,620 6,815 195 44
13 Haute-Garonne 441,799 1,046,338 1,217,344 1,298,562 6,309 206 31
14 Seine-Maritime 905,278 1,239,138 1,248,580 1,254,609 6,278 200 76
15 Essonne 271,094 1,134,238 1,205,850 1,253,931 1,804 695 91
16 Isère 584,017 1,094,006 1,188,660 1,235,387 7,431 166 38
17 Val-d'Oise 353,374 1,105,464 1,165,397 1,194,681 1,246 959 95
18 Bas-Rhin 688,242 1,026,120 1,091,015 1,109,460 4,755 233 67
19 Hérault 514,819 896,441 1,019,798 1,092,331 6,101 179 34
20 Alpes-Maritimes 493,376 1,011,326 1,084,428 1,080,771 4,299 251 06
21 Moselle 693,408 1,023,447 1,042,230 1,046,873 6,216 168 57
22 Var 377,104 898,441 1,001,408 1,028,583 5,973 172 83
23 Ille-et-Vilaine 562,558 867,533 967,588 1,019,923 6,775 151 35
24 Finistère 744,295 852,418 890,509 903,921 6,733 134 29
25 La Réunion - 706,300 808,250 835,103 2,504 334 974
26 Oise 407,432 766,441 799,725 815,400 5,860 139 60
27 Maine-et-Loire 475,991 732,942 774,823 800,191 7,166 112 49
28 Haute-Savoie 252,794 631,679 716,277 769,677 4,388 175 74
29 Haut-Rhin 516,726 708,025 746,072 758,723 3,525 215 68
30 Loire 664,822 728,524 742,076 756,715 4,781 158 42
31 Morbihan 537,528 643,873 710,034 737,778 6,823 108 56
32 Gard 406,815 623,125 694,323 733,201 5,853 125 30
33 Meurthe-et-Moselle 592,632 713,779 729,768 731,004 5,246 139 54
34 Calvados 401,356 648,385 678,206 689,945 5,548 124 14
35 Loiret 342,679 618,126 650,769 665,587 6,775 98 45
36 Pyrénées-Atlantiques 422,719 600,018 647,420 664,057 7,645 87 64
37 Vendée 390,396 539,664 616,906 655,506 6,720 98 85
38 Puy-de-Dôme 500,590 604,266 628,485 640,999 7,970 80 63
39 Charente-Maritime 415,249 557,024 611,714 633,417 6,864 92 17
40 Ain 322,918 515,270 581,355 619,497 5,762 108 01
41 Indre-et-Loire 335,226 554,003 585,406 600,252 6,127 98 37
42 Côtes-d'Armor 539,531 542,373 581,570 597,085 6,878 87 22
43 Eure 305,788 541,054 577,087 595,043 6,040 99 27
44 Somme 466,626 555,551 568,086 571,675 6,170 93 80
45 Marne 412,156 565,229 566,010 569,999 8,162 70 51
46 Sarthe 384,619 529,851 559,587 569,035 6,206 92 72
47 Saône-et-Loire 538,741 544,893 553,968 556,222 8,575 65 71
48 Vaucluse 241,689 499,685 538,902 549,949 3,567 154 84
49 Aisne 489,368 535,489 538,790 540,067 7,369 73 02
50 Doubs 305,500 499,062 522,685 533,320 5,234 102 25
51 Côte-d'Or 333,800 506,755 521,608 529,761 8,763 60 21
52 Manche 433,473 481,471 496,937 499,919 5,938 84 50
53 Drôme 267,080 437,778 478,069 494,712 6,530 76 26
54 Pyrénées-Orientales 238,647 392,803 441,387 462,705 4,116 112 66
55 Eure-et-Loir 254,790 407,665 423,559 432,967 5,880 74 28
56 Vienne 303,072 399,024 424,354 431,248 6,990 62 86
57 Savoie 235,544 373,258 408,842 423,715 6,028 70 73
58 Dordogne 383,720 388,293 409,388 416,909 9,060 46 24
59 Guadeloupe - 422,496 401,784 402,119 1,628[1] 247 971
60 Landes 257,186 327,334 373,142 397,226 9,243 43 40
61 Martinique - 381,427 397,693 385,551 1,128 342 972
62 Tarn 302,994 343,402 371,738 381,927 5,758 66 81
63 Haute-Vienne 335,873 353,893 373,940 375,856 5,520 68 87
64 Vosges 377,980 380,952 380,145 375,226 5,874 64 88
65 Deux-Sèvres 308,481 344,392 365,059 371,632 5,999 62 79
66 Aude 296,880 309,770 349,237 364,877 6,139 59 11
67 Charente 310,489 339,628 351,581 353,482 5,956 59 16
68 Allier 373,924 344,721 342,807 343,431 7,340 47 03
69 Yonne 275,755 333,221 342,359 341,483 7,427 46 89
70 Lot-et-Garonne 247,500 305,380 326,399 333,180 5,361 62 47
71 Loir-et-Cher 241,592 314,968 326,599 332,001 6,343 52 41
72 Ardèche 282,911 286,023 311,452 320,379 5,529 58 07
73 Cher 293,918 314,428 313,251 311,650 7,235 43 18
74 Mayenne 254,479 285,338 302,983 307,500 5,175 59 53
75 Aube 242,596 292,131 301,327 306,581 6,004 51 10
76 Orne 273,717 292,337 292,282 288,848 6,103 47 61
77 Ardennes 293,746 290,130 284,197 280,907 5,229 54 08
78 Aveyron 323,782 263,808 275,889 277,740 8,735 32 12
79 Jura 229,109 250,857 260,740 260,502 4,999 52 39
80 Tarn-et-Garonne 164,259 206,034 235,915 250,342 3,718 67 82
81 Guyane - 157,213 219,266 244,118 83,534 3 973
82 Corrèze 264,129 232,576 242,896 240,781 5,857 41 19
83 Haute-Saône 219,257 229,732 238,548 238,956 5,360 45 70
84 Hautes-Pyrénées 189,993 222,368 229,079 228,868 4,464 51 65
85 Indre 247,912 231,139 232,004 228,091 6,791 34 36
86 Haute-Loire 251,608 209,113 221,834 226,203 4,977 45 43
87 Nièvre 255,195 225,198 220,653 215,221 6,817 32 58
88 Mayotte - 131,320[2] 186,452[3] 212,645[4] 376 566 976
89 Meuse 215,819 192,198 194,218 192,094 6,211 31 55
90 Gers 193,134 172,335 185,266 190,276 6,257 30 32
91 Haute-Marne 189,791 194,873 186,470 181,521 6,211 29 52
92 Lot 166,637 160,197 172,796 173,758 5,217 33 46
93 Haute-Corse - 141,603 162,013 170,974 4,666 37 2B
94 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 87,566 139,561 157,965 161,916 6,925 23 04
95 Ariège 161,265 137,205 150,201 152,684 4,890 31 09
96 Corse-du-Sud - 118,593 140,953 149,234 4,014 37 2A
97 Cantal 193,505 150,778 148,737 147,035 5,726 26 15
98 Territoire de Belfort 99,403 137,408 141,958 144,318 609 237 90
99 Hautes-Alpes 87,566 121,419 134,205 139,279 5,549 25 05
100 Creuse 207,882 124,470 123,907 120,872 5,565 22 23
101 Lozère 101,849 73,509 76,973 76,607 5,167 15 48

List Of French Departments By Population Media

References

  1. The population for Guadeloupe no longer includes the populations of Saint-Barthélémy and Saint-Martin (74 km²)
  2. Census in 1997
  3. Census in 2007
  4. Decree No. 2012-1453 of 24 December 2012 authenticates the results of the census of population made in Mayotte in 2012, Legifrance, 24 December 2012, consulted on 30 December 2012