List of French departments by population
French departments by legal population in 2013
Population density by department (population per sq km)
This table lists the 101 French departments in descending order of population, area and population density.
Data description
The figures include:
The total population takes into account double counting.
Evolution
Between 1999 and 2006 all French departments had 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 . See population decline for more information.
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 . In the 1999 census, the population of Guadeloupe without the arrondissement of Saint-Martin-Saint-Barthélemy was 386,566 inhabitants. The department's population has actually increased by more than 15,000 people over the period based on a constant territory.
List of departments by descending population
2019 Rank
Department
Legal population in 1931
Legal population in 1999
Legal population in 2008
Legal population in 2019[ 2]
Area (km²)
Pop. density (Pop. /km²)[ 3]
INSEE Dept. No.
1
Nord
2,029,449
2,555,020
2,564,959
2,608,346
5,743
454
59
2
Paris
2,891,020
2,125,246
2,211,297
2,165,423
105
20,545
75
3
Bouches-du-Rhône
1,101,672
1,835,719
1,966,005
2,043,110
5,087
402
13
4
Rhône
1,046,028
1,578,869
1,690,498
1,875,747 [ 4]
3,249
583
69
5
Seine-Saint-Denis
769,315
1,382,861
1,506,466
1,644,903
236
6,964
93
6
Hauts-de-Seine
949,231
1,428,881
1,549,619
1,624,357
176
9,250
92
7
Gironde
852,768
1,287,334
1,421,276
1,623,749
10,725
163
33
8
Pas-de-Calais
1,205,191
1,441,568
1,459,531
1,465,278
6,671
220
62
9
Yvelines
408,282
1,354,308
1,406,053
1,448,207
2,284
634
78
10
Loire-Atlantique
652,079
1,134,266
1,255,871
1,429,272
6,815
208
44
11
Seine-et-Marne
406,108
1,193,767
1,303,702
1,421,197
5,915
240
77
Lyon Metropolis [ 5]
-
-
-
1,411,571
534
2,645
69M
12
Val-de-Marne
657,322
1,227,250
1,310,876
1,407,124
245
5,743
94
13
Haute-Garonne
441,799
1,046,338
1,217,344
1,400,039
6,309
222
31
14
Essonne
271,094
1,134,238
1,205,850
1,301,659
1,804
721
91
15
Isère
584,017
1,094,006
1,188,660
1,271,166
7,431
171
38
16
Seine-Maritime
905,278
1,239,138
1,248,580
1,255,633
6,278
200
76
17
Val-d'Oise
353,374
1,105,464
1,165,397
1,249,674
1,246
1,003
95
18
Hérault
514,819
896,441
1,019,798
1,175,623
6,101
193
34
19
Bas-Rhin
688,242
1,026,120
1,091,015
1,140,057
4,755
240
67
20
Alpes-Maritimes
493,376
1,011,326
1,084,428
1,094,283
4,299
255
06
21
Ille-et-Vilaine
562,558
867,533
967,588
1,079,498
6,775
159
35
22
Var
377,104
898,441
1,001,408
1,076,711
5,973
180
83
23
Moselle
693,408
1,023,447
1,042,230
1,046,543
6,216
168
57
24
Finistère
744,295
852,418
890,509
915,090
6,733
136
29
25
Réunion
–
706,300
808,250
861,210
2,504
344
974
26
Oise
407,432
766,441
799,725
829,419
5,860
142
60
27
Haute-Savoie
252,794
631,679
716,277
826,094
4,388
188
74
28
Maine-et-Loire
475,991
732,942
774,823
818,273
7,166
115
49
29
Haut-Rhin
516,726
708,025
746,072
767,086
3,525
218
68
30
Loire
664,822
728,524
742,076
765,634
4,781
160
42
31
Morbihan
537,528
643,873
710,034
759,684
6,823
111
56
32
Gard
406,815
623,125
694,323
748,437
5,853
128
30
33
Meurthe-et-Moselle
592,632
713,779
729,768
733,760
5,246
140
54
34
Calvados
401,356
648,385
678,206
694,905
5,548
126
14
35
Vendée
390,396
539,664
616,906
685,442
6,720
102
85
36
Pyrénées-Atlantiques
422,719
600,018
647,420
682,621
7,645
89
64
37
Loiret
342,679
618,126
650,769
680,434
6,775
100
45
38
Puy-de-Dôme
500,590
604,266
628,485
662,152
7,970
83
63
39
Ain
322,918
515,270
581,355
652,432
5,762
113
01
40
Charente-Maritime
415,249
557,024
611,714
651,358
6,864
95
17
41
Indre-et-Loire
335,226
554,003
585,406
610,079
6,127
100
37
42
Côtes-d'Armor
539,531
542,373
581,570
600,582
6,878
87
22
43
Eure
305,788
541,054
577,087
599,507
6,040
99
27
44
Somme
466,626
555,551
568,086
570,559
6,170
93
80
45
Marne
412,156
565,229
566,010
566,855
8,162
69
51
46
Sarthe
384,619
529,851
559,587
566,412
6,206
91
72
47
Vaucluse
241,689
499,685
538,902
561,469
3,567
157
84
48
Saône-et-Loire
538,741
544,893
553,968
551,493
8,575
64
71
49
Doubs
305,500
499,062
522,685
543,974
5,234
104
25
50
Côte-d'Or
333,800
506,755
521,608
534,124
8,763
61
21
51
Aisne
489,368
535,489
538,790
531,345
7,369
72
02
52
Drôme
267,080
437,778
478,069
516,762
6,530
79
26
53
Manche
433,473
481,471
496,937
495,045
5,938
83
50
54
Pyrénées-Orientales
238,647
392,803
441,387
479,979
4,116
117
66
55
Vienne
303,072
399,024
424,354
438,435
6,990
63
86
56
Savoie
235,544
373,258
408,842
436,434
6,028
72
73
57
Eure-et-Loir
254,790
407,665
423,559
431,575
5,880
73
28
58
Landes
257,186
327,334
373,142
413,690
9,243
45
40
59
Dordogne
383,720
388,293
409,388
413,223
9,060
46
24
60
Tarn
302,994
343,402
371,738
389,844
5,758
68
81
61
Guadeloupe
–
422,496
401,784
384,239
1,628 [ 6]
236
971
62
Deux-Sèvres
308,481
344,392
365,059
374,878
5,999
63
79
63
Aude
296,880
309,770
349,237
374,070
6,139
61
11
64
Haute-Vienne
335,873
353,893
373,940
372,359
5,520
68
87
65
Martinique
–
381,427
397,693
364,508
1,128
323
972
66
Vosges
377,980
380,952
380,145
364,499
5,874
62
88
67
Charente
310,489
339,628
351,581
352,015
5,956
59
16
68
Allier
373,924
344,721
342,807
335,975
7,340
46
03
69
Yonne
275,755
333,221
342,359
335,707
7,427
45
89
70
Lot-et-Garonne
247,500
305,380
326,399
331,271
5,361
62
47
71
Loir-et-Cher
241,592
314,968
326,599
329,470
6,343
52
41
72
Ardèche
282,911
286,023
311,452
328,278
5,529
59
07
73
Aube
242,596
292,131
301,327
310,242
6,004
52
10
74
Mayenne
254,479
285,338
302,983
307,062
5,175
59
53
75
Cher
293,918
314,428
313,251
302,306
7,235
42
18
76
Guyane
–
157,213
219,266
281,678
83,534
3
973
77
Orne
273,717
292,337
292,282
279,942
6,103
46
61
78
Aveyron
323,782
263,808
275,889
279,595
8,735
32
12
79
Ardennes
293,746
290,130
284,197
270,582
5,229
52
08
80
Mayotte
–
131,320 [ 7]
186,452 [ 8]
269,579 [ 9]
374
720
976
81
Tarn-et-Garonne
164,259
206,034
235,915
260,669
3,718
70
82
82
Jura
229,109
250,857
260,740
259,199
4,999
52
39
83
Corrèze
264,129
232,576
242,896
240,073
5,857
41
19
84
Haute-Saône
219,257
229,732
238,548
235,313
5,360
44
70
85
Hautes-Pyrénées
189,993
222,368
229,079
229,567
4,464
51
65
86
Haute-Loire
251,608
209,113
221,834
227,570
4,977
46
43
87
Indre
247,912
231,139
232,004
219,316
6,791
32
36
88
Nièvre
255,195
225,198
220,653
204,452
6,817
30
58
89
Gers
193,134
172,335
185,266
191,377
6,257
31
32
90
Meuse
215,819
192,198
194,218
184,083
6,211
30
55
91
Haute-Corse
–
141,603
162,013
181,933
4,666
39
2B
92
Lot
166,637
160,197
172,796
174,094
5,217
33
46
93
Haute-Marne
189,791
194,873
186,470
172,512
6,211
28
52
94
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
87,566
139,561
157,965
164,308
6,925
24
04
95
Corse-du-Sud
–
118,593
140,953
158,507
4,014
40
2A
96
Ariège
161,265
137,205
150,201
153,287
4,890
31
09
97
Cantal
193,505
150,778
148,737
144,692
5,726
25
15
98
Territoire de Belfort
99,403
137,408
141,958
141,318
609
232
90
99
Hautes-Alpes
87,566
121,419
134,205
141,220
5,549
26
05
100
Creuse
207,882
124,470
123,907
116,617
5,565
21
23
101
Lozère
101,849
73,509
76,973
76,604
5,167
15
48
References