List of French departments by population

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

Population density by department (people by km²

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	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	186,452	212,645	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