administrative territorial entity of France
Let an agent handle French administrative divisions by level, code, powers, boundaries and changes, using official INSEE data.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent handle French administrative divisions by level, code, powers, boundaries and changes, using official INSEE data.
Any administrative or territorial division of France, including regions, departments, arrondissements, cantons and around 35,000 communes, municipal arrondissements of Paris, Lyon and Marseille, intercommunal groupings, and collectivities with special status such as Corsica and overseas collectivities.
What it is for: Administration, statistics, elections and addresses in France.
It can be identify the level and code of a French division; find which commune, department or region an address is in; understand the powers of each level in general terms; track mergers and boundary changes.
Distinguishing features
Several nested levels
Official codes
Frequent commune mergers
Special statuses overseas and in Corsica
What it looks like
Areas on maps with official names and INSEE codes.
How it is recognised
INSEE commune and department codes
Regions, departments and communes
Postal codes are not administrative codes
Related models
is a kind of - category
is coded by - identifier
is part of - country
includes - example
In practice
Families and kinds
regions
departments
arrondissements and cantons
communes and communes nouvelles
municipal arrondissements and intercommunal bodies
Identifiers
INSEE COG official geographic code division code
Standards and regulation
General Code of Territorial Authorities
INSEE Official Geographic Code
Laws on territorial reform
Failure modes and hazards
Using outdated codes after mergers
Confusing postal codes and INSEE codes
Confusing arrondissement types
Also called
+2
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Level Which division.
Levels nest.
Identify
Level and code.
Identify
Identity.
- Which level is this division, and what is its INSEE code? provenance
- Which higher divisions contain it? provenance
Address
Address lookup.
Address
Address lookup.
- Which commune, department and region contain this address? provenance
- Does the postal code match the commune? boundary
Powers Responsibilities.
Levels have competences.
Competences
What each level does.
Competences
Competences.
- Which services is this level responsible for, in general terms? provenance
- Which law sets them? provenance
Contact
Offices.
Contact
Contacts.
- How can the mairie, department or region be contacted? provenance
- Which official portal applies? provenance
Changes Reforms and mergers.
Boundaries change.
Mergers
Communes nouvelles.
Mergers
Mergers.
- Has this commune merged into a commune nouvelle, and when? provenance
- What is its new code? provenance
History
Historical divisions.
History
History.
- How did this division change historically, such as the 2016 region reform? provenance
- Which sources document it? provenance
Special Special statuses.
Statuses vary.
Overseas
Overseas territories.
Overseas
Overseas divisions.
- What status does this overseas territory have under French law? provenance
- How does it differ from a department? definition
Cities
Paris, Lyon, Marseille.
Cities
Municipal arrondissements.
- How do municipal arrondissements of Paris, Lyon and Marseille work? provenance
- Which services do they provide? provenance
What the second pass must settle
- Should each level be a separate entry?
- How should yearly code changes be tracked?
- How should overseas statuses be modelled?