Department

Department (Fr. département), a term used to denote a territorial division in France. Previous to the Revolution, France was divided into provinces; but in 1790 a decree of the Assembly ordered the abolition of the old provincial divisions (34 in number), and the redistribution of the land into 83 departments. During the year 8 of the Revolution, these were increased to 98; in 1814 the Empire consisted of 130; and the war of 1870-71 reduced it from 89 to 87, including the sadly diminished department of Haut-Rhin. The departments, each presided over by a prefect, are again subdivided into arrondissements. See FRANCE.