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

Data description The figures include: population without double counting for 1999; municipal population (legal population in 2008, with effect from 1 January 2011)Populations légales 2008: Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble, INSEE published in decree No. 2010-1723 of 30 December 2010 as amended by Decree No. 2011-343 of 28 March 2011 which corresponds to data compiled as at 1 January 2008. municipal population (legal population in 2019 with effect from 1 January 2022)Populations légales des départements en 2019, INSEE, 29 December 2021.

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

Department Legal population Area Density/ INSEEDept.No. 1931 1999 2008 2019 Nord 2,029,449 2,555,020 2,564,959 2,608,346 5,743 454 59 Paris 2,891,020 2,125,246 2,211,297 2,165,423 105 20,545 75 Bouches-du-Rhône 1,101,672 1,835,719 1,966,005 2,043,110 5,087 402 13 Rhône 1,046,028 1,578,869 1,690,498 1,875,747 3,249 583 69 Seine-Saint-Denis 769,315 1,382,861 1,506,466 1,644,903 236 6,964 93 Hauts-de-Seine 949,231 1,428,881 1,549,619 1,624,357 176 9,250 92 Gironde 852,768 1,287,334 1,421,276 1,623,749 10,725 163 33 Pas-de-Calais 1,205,191 1,441,568 1,459,531 1,465,278 6,671 220 62 Yvelines 408,282 1,354,308 1,406,053 1,448,207 2,284 634 78 Loire-Atlantique 652,079 1,134,266 1,255,871 1,429,272 6,815 208 44 Seine-et-Marne 406,108 1,193,767 1,303,702 1,421,197 5,915 240 77 Val-de-Marne 657,322 1,227,250 1,310,876 1,407,124 245 5,743 94 Haute-Garonne 441,799 1,046,338 1,217,344 1,400,039 6,309 222 31 Essonne 271,094 1,134,238 1,205,850 1,301,659 1,804 721 91 Isère 584,017 1,094,006 1,188,660 1,271,166 7,431 171 38 Seine-Maritime 905,278 1,239,138 1,248,580 1,255,633 6,278 200 76 Val-d'Oise 353,374 1,105,464 1,165,397 1,249,674 1,246 1,003 95 Hérault 514,819 896,441 1,019,798 1,175,623 6,101 193 34 Bas-Rhin 688,242 1,026,120 1,091,015 1,140,057 4,755 240 67 Alpes-Maritimes 493,376 1,011,326 1,084,428 1,094,283 4,299 255 06 Ille-et-Vilaine 562,558 867,533 967,588 1,079,498 6,775 159 35 Var 377,104 898,441 1,001,408 1,076,711 5,973 180 83 Moselle 693,408 1,023,447 1,042,230 1,046,543 6,216 168 57 Finistère 744,295 852,418 890,509 915,090 6,733 136 29 Réunion – 706,300 808,250 861,210 2,504 344 974 Oise 407,432 766,441 799,725 829,419 5,860 142 60 Haute-Savoie 252,794 631,679 716,277 826,094 4,388 188 74 Maine-et-Loire 475,991 732,942 774,823 818,273 7,166 115 49 Haut-Rhin 516,726 708,025 746,072 767,086 3,525 218 68 Loire 664,822 728,524 742,076 765,634 4,781 160 42 Morbihan 537,528 643,873 710,034 759,684 6,823 111 56 Gard 406,815 623,125 694,323 748,437 5,853 128 30 Meurthe-et-Moselle 592,632 713,779 729,768 733,760 5,246 140 54 Calvados 401,356 648,385 678,206 694,905 5,548 126 14 Vendée 390,396 539,664 616,906 685,442 6,720 102 85 Pyrénées-Atlantiques 422,719 600,018 647,420 682,621 7,645 89 64 Loiret 342,679 618,126 650,769 680,434 6,775 100 45 Puy-de-Dôme 500,590 604,266 628,485 662,152 7,970 83 63 Ain 322,918 515,270 581,355 652,432 5,762 113 01 Charente-Maritime 415,249 557,024 611,714 651,358 6,864 95 17 Indre-et-Loire 335,226 554,003 585,406 610,079 6,127 100 37 Côtes-d'Armor 539,531 542,373 581,570 600,582 6,878 87 22 Eure 305,788 541,054 577,087 599,507 6,040 99 27 Somme 466,626 555,551 568,086 570,559 6,170 93 80 Marne 412,156 565,229 566,010 566,855 8,162 69 51 Sarthe 384,619 529,851 559,587 566,412 6,206 91 72 Vaucluse 241,689 499,685 538,902 561,469 3,567 157 84 Saône-et-Loire 538,741 544,893 553,968 551,493 8,575 64 71 Doubs 305,500 499,062 522,685 543,974 5,234 104 25 Côte-d'Or 333,800 506,755 521,608 534,124 8,763 61 21 Aisne 489,368 535,489 538,790 531,345 7,369 72 02 Drôme 267,080 437,778 478,069 516,762 6,530 79 26 Manche 433,473 481,471 496,937 495,045 5,938 83 50 Pyrénées-Orientales 238,647 392,803 441,387 479,979 4,116 117 66 Vienne 303,072 399,024 424,354 438,435 6,990 63 86 Savoie 235,544 373,258 408,842 436,434 6,028 72 73 Eure-et-Loir 254,790 407,665 423,559 431,575 5,880 73 28 Landes 257,186 327,334 373,142 413,690 9,243 45 40 Dordogne 383,720 388,293 409,388 413,223 9,060 46 24 Tarn 302,994 343,402 371,738 389,844 5,758 68 81 Guadeloupe – 422,496 401,784 384,239 1,628The population for Guadeloupe no longer includes the populations of Saint Barthélémy and Saint Martin (74 ) 236 971 Deux-Sèvres 308,481 344,392 365,059 374,878 5,999 63 79 Aude 296,880 309,770 349,237 374,070 6,139 61 11 Haute-Vienne 335,873 353,893 373,940 372,359 5,520 68 87 Martinique – 381,427 397,693 364,508 1,128 323 972 Vosges 377,980 380,952 380,145 364,499 5,874 62 88 Charente 310,489 339,628 351,581 352,015 5,956 59 16 Allier 373,924 344,721 342,807 335,975 7,340 46 03 Yonne 275,755 333,221 342,359 335,707 7,427 45 89 Lot-et-Garonne 247,500 305,380 326,399 331,271 5,361 62 47 Loir-et-Cher 241,592 314,968 326,599 329,470 6,343 52 41 Ardèche 282,911 286,023 311,452 328,278 5,529 59 07 Aube 242,596 292,131 301,327 310,242 6,004 52 10 Mayenne 254,479 285,338 302,983 307,062 5,175 59 53 Cher 293,918 314,428 313,251 302,306 7,235 42 18 Guyane – 157,213 219,266 281,678 83,534 3 973 Orne 273,717 292,337 292,282 279,942 6,103 46 61 Aveyron 323,782 263,808 275,889 279,595 8,735 32 12 Ardennes 293,746 290,130 284,197 270,582 5,229 52 08 Mayotte – 131,320Census in 1997 186,452Census in 2007 269,579 374 720 976 Tarn-et-Garonne 164,259 206,034 235,915 260,669 3,718 70 82 Jura 229,109 250,857 260,740 259,199 4,999 52 39 Corrèze 264,129 232,576 242,896 240,073 5,857 41 19 Haute-Saône 219,257 229,732 238,548 235,313 5,360 44 70 Hautes-Pyrénées 189,993 222,368 229,079 229,567 4,464 51 65 Haute-Loire 251,608 209,113 221,834 227,570 4,977 46 43 Indre 247,912 231,139 232,004 219,316 6,791 32 36 Nièvre 255,195 225,198 220,653 204,452 6,817 30 58 Gers 193,134 172,335 185,266 191,377 6,257 31 32 Meuse 215,819 192,198 194,218 184,083 6,211 30 55 Haute-Corse – 141,603 162,013 181,933 4,666 39 2B Lot 166,637 160,197 172,796 174,094 5,217 33 46 Haute-Marne 189,791 194,873 186,470 172,512 6,211 28 52 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 87,566 139,561 157,965 164,308 6,925 24 04 Corse-du-Sud – 118,593 140,953 158,507 4,014 40 2A Ariège 161,265 137,205 150,201 153,287 4,890 31 09 Cantal 193,505 150,778 148,737 144,692 5,726 25 15 Territoire de Belfort 99,403 137,408 141,958 141,318 609 232 90 Hautes-Alpes 87,566 121,419 134,205 141,220 5,549 26 05 Creuse 207,882 124,470 123,907 116,617 5,565 21 23 Lozère 101,849 73,509 76,973 76,604 5,167 15 48 Notes

References