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Top 20 most populous states, provinces and regions · 🇫🇷 France

World > country: the biggest first-level regions

Updated · population (people)

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Why these 20

Population of each country's first-level regions (states, provinces, prefectures, oblasts) from Wikidata, which takes it from census offices. Where Wikidata has figures for several years the highest is used, which is usually the latest census; regions that shrink may show an older, larger figure.

  1. 1 Î

    Île-de-France

    administrative region of France

    12,463,067

  2. 2 A

    Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

    French administrative region

    8,205,557

  3. 3 N

    Nouvelle-Aquitaine

    administrative region of France

    6,150,451

  4. 4 O

    Occitania

    administrative region of France

    6,124,653

  5. 5 H

    Hauts-de-France

    administrative region of France

    5,992,194

  6. 6 G

    Grand Est

    administrative region of France

    5,563,378

  7. 7 P

    Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

    French administrative region

    5,218,960

  8. 8 P

    Pays de la Loire

    administrative region of France

    3,907,156

  9. 9 B

    Brittany

    administrative region of France

    3,449,370

  10. 10 N

    Normandy

    region of France

    3,345,842

  11. 11 B

    Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

    administrative region of France

    2,802,670

  12. 12 C

    Centre-Val de Loire

    French administrative region

    2,587,031

  13. 13 R

    Réunion

    overseas department of France in the Indian Ocean

    889,679

  14. 14 G

    Guadeloupe

    overseas region and department of France, and archipelago in the Caribbean

    384,160

  15. 15 M

    Martinique

    island in the Lesser Antilles, overseas region and department of France

    360,630

  16. 16 C

    Corsica

    French single territorial collectivity and island in the Mediterranean Sea

    355,486

  17. 17 M

    Mayotte

    French overseas region and department located in the Indian Ocean

    320,901

  18. 18 F

    French Guiana

    French overseas department and region in South America

    293,996

  19. 19 F

    French Polynesia

    French overseas country in the southern Pacific Ocean

    278,786

  20. 20 N

    New Caledonia

    French special collectivity and archipelago in Oceania

    278,500

How it is measured

Wikidata: the first-level divisions each country lists as its own (P150, contains the administrative territorial entity) that have a population (P1082) and no dissolution date; grouped by country, the world view is built from the countries.

References

  1. Wikidata query: first-level regions by population, Wikidata (CC0). Checked 2026-10-20 04:46 UTC.