In the NUTS (Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics) codes of France (FR), the three levels are:
Level Subdivisions # NUTS 1 Regions + DOM (collectively) 14 NUTS 2 Former regions (1982 - 2015) + DOM (individually) 27 NUTS 3 Departments + DOM (individually) 101
NUTS codes NUTS 1 Code NUTS 2 Code NUTS 3 Code Île de France FR1 Île de France FR10 Paris FR101 Seine-et-MarneFR102 YvelinesFR103 EssonneFR104 Hauts-de-SeineFR105 Seine-Saint-DenisFR106 Val-de-MarneFR107 Val-d'OiseFR108 Centre-Val de Loire FRB Centre-Val de Loire FRB0 Cher FRB01 Eure-et-Loir FRB02 Indre FRB03 Indre-et-Loire FRB04 Loir-et-Cher FRB05 Loiret FRB06 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté FRC Bourgogne FRC1 Côte-d’Or FRC11 Nièvre FRC12 Saône-et-Loire FRC13 Yonne FRC14 Franche-Comté FRC2 Doubs FRC21 Jura FRC22 Haute-Saône FRC23 Territoire de Belfort FRC24 Normandy FRD Lower Normandy FRD1 Calvados FRD11 Manche FRD12 Orne FRD13 Upper Normandy FRD2 Eure FRD21 Seine-Maritime FRD22 Hauts-de-France FRE Nord-Pas-de-Calais FRE1 Nord FRE11 Pas-de-Calais FRE12 Picardy FRE2 Aisne FRE21 Oise FRE22 Somme FRE23 Grand Est FRF Alsace FRF1 Bas-Rhin FRF11 Haut-Rhin FRF12 Champagne-Ardenne FRF2 Ardennes FRF21 Aube FRF22 Marne FRF23 Haute-Marne FRF24 Lorraine FRF3 Meurthe-et-Moselle FRF31 Meuse FRF32 Moselle FRF33 Vosges FRF34 Pays de la Loire FRG Pays de la Loire FRG0 Loire-Atlantique FRG01 Maine-et-Loire FRG02 Mayenne FRG03 Sarthe FRG04 Vendée FRG05 Brittany FRH Brittany FRH0 Côtes-d'Armor FRH01 Finistère FRH02 Ille-et-Vilaine FRH03 Morbihan FRH04 Nouvelle-Aquitaine FRI Aquitaine FRI1 Dordogne FRI11 Gironde FRI12 Landes FRI13 Lot-et-Garonne FRI14 Pyrénées-Atlantiques FRI15 Limousin FRI2 Corrèze FRI21 Creuse FRI22 Haute-Vienne FRI23 Poitou-Charentes FRI3 Charente FRI31 Charente-Maritime FRI32 Deux-Sèvres FRI33 Vienne FRI34 Occitania FRJ Languedoc-Roussillon FRJ1 Aude FRJ11 Gard FRJ12 Hérault FRJ13 Lozère FRJ14 Pyrénées-Orientales FRJ15 Midi-Pyrénées FRJ2 Ariège FRJ21 Aveyron FRJ22 Haute-Garonne FRJ23 Gers FRJ24 Lot FRJ25 Hautes-Pyrénées FRJ26 Tarn FRJ27 Tarn-et-Garonne FRJ28 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes FRK Auvergne FRK1 Allier FRK11 Cantal FRK12 Haute-Loire FRK13 Puy-de-Dôme FRK14 Rhône-Alpes FRK2 Ain FRK21 Ardèche FRK22 Drôme FRK23 Isère FRK24 Loire FRK25 Rhône FRK26 Savoie FRK27 Haute-Savoie FRK28 Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur FRL Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur FRL0 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence FRL01 Hautes-Alpes FRL02 Alpes-Maritimes FRL03 Bouches-du-Rhône FRL04 Var FRL05 Vaucluse FRL06 Corsica FRM Corsica FRM0 Corse-du-Sud FRM01 Haute-Corse FRM02 Départements d'Outre Mer FRY Guadeloupe(including the Collectivity of Saint Martin) FRY1 Guadeloupe (including the Collectivity of Saint Martin) FRY10 Martinique FRY2 Martinique FRY20 French Guiana FRY3 French Guiana FRY30 La Réunion FRY4 La Réunion FRY40 Mayotte FRY5 Mayotte FRY50
Local administrative units
Below the NUTS levels, the LAU (Local Administrative Units) are:
Level Subdivisions # LAU Communes 36683
The LAU codes of France can be downloaded here: 3787 Cantons abolished
History Up until 2016, the first level NUTS regions of France consisted of Ile de France, Bassin Parisien, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, Est, Ouest, Sud-Ouest, Centre-Est, Méditerranée and the Départements d'outre-mer.https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/345175/629341/NUTS+1981-1999, Eurostat accessed 2 March 2017 The Départements d'outre-mer consisted of all the overseas departments of France, while the remaining eight statistical regions were made up of the 22 regions of France.
Code Name Corresponding second-level NUTS Map FR FR1 Région parisienne Île-de-France FR2 Bassin parisien Champagne-Ardenne, Picardy, Upper Normandy, Centre, Lower Normandy, Burgundy FR3 Nord Nord-Pas-de-Calais FR4 Est Lorraine, Alsace, Franche-Comté FR5 Ouest Pays de la Loire, Brittany, Poitou-Charentes FR6 Sud-Ouest Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées, Limousin FR7 Centre-Est Rhône-Alpes, Auvergne FR8 Méditerranée Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, Corsica FRA Départements d'Outre-Mer Guadeloupe and the Collectivity of Saint Martin, Martinique, French Guiana, La Réunion, Mayotte
A law passed in 2014 by the French parliament reduced the number of metropolitan regions in the country from 22 to 13. The decrease took effect from 1 January 2016.https://www.lemonde.fr/politique/article/2014/12/17/la-carte-a-13-regions-definitivement-adoptee_4542278_823448.html, Le Monde, 17 December 2014, accessed 2 March 2017 As a result, the first level NUTS statistical regions were altered to reflect the changes. The number of first level regions was increased to 14 so that each of the 13 metropolitan regions of France became a separate first level statistical region.http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/nuts/history, Eurostat accessed 2 March 2017
Départements d'outre-mer
Although the Départements d'outre-mer, as integrated departments of France, have always been a part of the European Union and its predecessors, they were only officially included as a permanent NUTS statistical area of France in 1989. When they did appear in previous statistics the first and second level NUTS areas were one and the same; from 1989, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and La Réunion were designated as separate level 2 regions.https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/345175/629341/NUTS+1981-1999, Eurostat accessed 2 March 2017
See also Subdivisions of France ISO 3166-2 codes of France FIPS region codes of France
Notes
References
Sources FRANC - NUTS level 1 to 3 (Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/2066, 21 November 2016), Official Journal of the European Union, pdf, page 26 List of current NUTS codes (2016) with previously used codes, simap.ted.europa.eu History of NUTS, ec.europa.eu/eurostat
Overview map of EU Countries - NUTS level 1 (2010)
Correspondence between the NUTS levels and the national administrative units (2016), ec.europa.eu/eurostat