Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Facts for Kids

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Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Region

Flag

Logo

Country

France

Préfecture

Besançon

- coordinates

47°19′23″N 5°2′31″E / 47.32306°N 5.04194°E

Area

47,783.3 km² (18,449 sq mi)

Population

2,820,623 (2014)

Density

59 /km² (153 /sq mi)

Subdivisions

8 departments
24 arrondissements
152 cantons
3739 communes

President

Marie-Guite Dufay

Timezone

CET (UTC+1)

- summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

ISO 3166-2

FR-BFC

Coat of arms

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté is one of the 18 regions in France. Its name means Burgundy–Free County. This region is in eastern France. It was created in 2016 by joining two older regions: Bourgogne and Franche-Comté.

The main city and capital of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté is Besançon.

Geography of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Departments of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Population of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Gallery
Related pages
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Geography of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Map of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté is the sixth largest region in France. It covers an area of about 47,783.3 km² (18,449 sq mi). It is located in northeastern France.

The region shares borders with several other French regions:

To the north: Grand Est
To the west: Île-de-France and Centre-Val de Loire
To the south: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

It also borders Switzerland to the east. The Swiss areas next to it are the cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel, and Jura.

Distances from Besançon

Besançon is the capital city of the region. Here are some distances from Besançon to other major French cities:

Paris, the capital of France, is 410 km (255 mi) away.
Lyon is 227 km (141 mi) away.
Marseille is 538 km (334 mi) away.

Rivers in the Region

Several important rivers flow through Bourgogne-Franche-Comté:

The Saône river is a major waterway.
The Doubs river is a tributary (a smaller river that flows into a larger one) of the Saône.
The Loire river, one of France's longest, flows through the southwest part of the region near Nevers.
The Seine river, famous for flowing through Paris, actually starts in the Côte-d'Or department of this region.

Mountains in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

The region has three main mountain ranges:

The Vosges Mountains are in the northeast. The highest point in this range within Bourgogne-Franche-Comté is Ballon de Servance, which is 1,216 m (3,990 ft) high.
The Jura Mountains are along the eastern border with Switzerland. The highest point in the entire Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region is here: Crêt Pela, at 1,495 m (4,905 ft).
The Morvan mountains are in the western part of the region. Its highest point is Haut-Folin, 901 m (2,956 ft) high.

The Crêt Pela is the highest mountain in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. It is 1,495 m (4,905 ft) tall and is part of the Jura range.

Here are the highest points in each of the region's departments:

Department	Mountain	Elevation
Côte-d'Or	Mont de Gien	721 m (2,365 ft)
Doubs	Mont d'Or	1,461 m (4,793 ft)
Jura	Crêt Pela	1,495 m (4,905 ft)
Nièvre	Mont Préneley	855 m (2,805 ft)
Haute-Saône	Ballon de Servance	1,216 m (3,990 ft)
Saône-et-Loire	Haut-Folin	901 m (2,956 ft)
Yonne	Bois de la Pérouse	607 m (1,991 ft)
Territoire de Belfort	Ballon d'Alsace	1,247 m (4,091 ft)

Departments of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

The Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region is made up of 8 smaller areas called departments. Each department has its own main city, called a prefecture.

ISO 3166-2	Department	Prefecture	Arr.	Cant.	Comm.	Population (2014)	Area (km²)	Density (Inh./km²)
FR-21	Côte-d'Or	Dijon	3	23	704	531,380	8,763.2	60.6
FR-25	Doubs	Besançon	3	19	578	534,710	5,232.6	102.2
FR-39	Jura	Lons-le-Saunier	3	17	509	260,681	4,999.2	52.1
FR-58	Nièvre	Nevers	4	17	309	213,569	6,816.7	31.3
FR-70	Haute-Saône	Vesoul	2	17	542	238,347	5,360.1	44.5
FR-71	Saône-et-Loire	Mâcon	5	29	567	555,788	8,574.7	64.8
FR-89	Yonne	Auxerre	3	21	428	341,814	7,427.4	46.0
FR-90	Territoire de Belfort	Belfort	1	9	102	144,334	609.4	236.8
Total of the Region			24	152	3,739	2,820,623	47,783.3	59.0

Arr. = Arrondissements Cant. = Cantons Comm. = Communes

Population of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

In 2014, the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region had a population of 2,820,623 people. This means there were about 59.0 inhabitants per square kilometer.

The department with the most people is Saône-et-Loire, with 555,788 residents. After the Territoire de Belfort, which is the smallest department, Doubs has the highest population density with 102 people per square kilometer. Other departments have fewer people living in each square kilometer.