Some geography

(un) département is an administrative division of France. Created in 1790, their boundaries, number, names evolved over the past 200 years. Today, there are 96 départements in continental France, plus 4 départements d'outre-mer (overseas departments).

Départements are grouped into 22 (continental) + 4 (overseas) régions, and further devided into arrondissements, communes etc. Each département has a capital city, called a préfecture, and a number assigned to it (used, for example, on car license plates).

Départements are numbered in alphabetical order, from 1 (Ain) to 19 (Corrèze), then 2A and 2B instead of 20 for the two départements making up Corsica, then from 21 (Côte-d'Or) to 95 (Val-d'Oise). Add to that the four départements d'outre-mer: 971 (Guadeloupe), 972 (Martinique), 973 (Guyane), 974 (La Réunion).

Learning the list of all départements, their number and préfecture, used to be a typical exercise for middle-schoolers. I personally think it's enough to know that Paris is #75, an its préfecture is Paris. See the complete list, or a short description of each