Bourgogne-Franche-Comté


Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, sometimes abbreviated BFC, is a region in the east of France created by the territorial reform of French Regions in 2014, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region came into existence on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections of December 2015, electing 100 members to the regional council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
The region covers an area of ; it had a population of 2,820,940 in 2015.

Toponymy

The text of the territorial reform law gives interim names for most of the merged regions, combining the names of their constituent regions separated by hyphens. Permanent names would be proposed by the new regional councils and confirmed by the Conseil d'État by 1 October 2016. Hence the interim name of the new administrative region is composed of the names of former administrative regions of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The region chose to retain its interim name as its permanent name, a decision made official by the Conseil d'État on 28 September 2016.
The merger represents a historic reunification of the Duchy of Burgundy and the Free County of Burgundy that were created by the partition of the kingdom of Burgundy in the 843 Treaty of Verdun.

History

Middle Ages

The territory that is now Burgundy and Franche-Comté was already united under the Kingdom of Burgundy. It was divided into two parts: the Duchy of Burgundy of France, and the County of Burgundy of the Holy Roman Empire. The County was reintegrated as a free province within the Kingdom of France in the 17th century, separately from the Duchy which remained a vassal province of the Kingdom of France. These two former provinces were abolished during the French Revolution.

Modern times

Most of the area making up the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté used to belong to the former provinces of Burgundy and Franche-Comté, but it also includes a significant part of the former provinces of Nivernais, Champagne, Orléanais, the Territoire de Belfort, and a small portion of Île-de-France.
From 1941 to 1944 the regional prefecture of Vichy reunited Burgundy and Franche-Comté, as did the of Dijon from 1948 to 1964. During the formation of the regions of France, Burgundy and Franche-Comté once again became two separate regions, first as public establishments in 1972, then as territorial collectivities in 1982.
On 14 April 2014, François Patriat and Marie-Guite Dufay announced in a press conference the desire for the reunification of the two regions, further to the declarations of Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who proposed a simplification of the administrative divisions of France.
On 2 June 2014 a map presented by President François Hollande showed the two regions as one. These two regions were the only ones to have voluntarily discussed a merger, and their alliance was the only one not needing revision by the National Assembly or the Senate.
Acte III de la décentralisation officially adopted the merger of the two regions on 17 December 2014. It became effective on 1 January 2016.

Geography

The region borders Grand Est to the north, Île-de-France to the northwest, Centre-Val de Loire to the west, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the south and Switzerland to the east.
The distances from Besançon, the capital of the region, to other cities are:
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté comprises eight departments: Côte-d'Or, Doubs, Jura, Nièvre, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, Yonne, Territoire de Belfort.

Major communities

The Gross domestic product of the region was 75.6 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 3.2% of French economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 24,200 euros or 80% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 96% of the EU average.

Gallery