Normandy

Normandy is the northwesternmost of the eighteen regions of France, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.

Normandy is divided into five administrative departments: Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and Seine-Maritime. It covers 29,906 square kilometres (11,547 sq mi), comprising roughly 5% of the territory of metropolitan France. Its population of 3,322,757 accounts for around 5% of the population of France. The inhabitants of Normandy are known as Normans, and the region is the historic homeland of the Norman language. The neighboring regions are Hauts-de-France and Ile-de-France to the east, Centre-Val de Loire to the southeast, Pays de la Loire to the south, and Brittany to the southwest. Its prefecture and largest city is Rouen, although the regional council sits in Caen, making Normandy one of two regions in France (along with Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) in which the prefect does not sit in the same city as the regional council.