In France and many other French-speaking countries, a préfet (English: prefect) is the State's representative in a département or région (in the later case, he is called a préfet de région). Sub-prefects (sous-préfets) are responsible for the sub-districts (arrondissements) into which départements are divided. The office of a prefect is known as a préfecture, that of a sub-prefect as a sous-préfecture. The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ... France is divided into 26 régions: 21 of these are in the continental part of metropolitan France, one is Corse on the island of Corsica (although strictly speaking Corse is in fact a territorial collectivity, not a région, but is referred to as a région in common... The 100 French départements are divided into 342 arrondissements. ... In France, a préfecture is the capital city of a département. ... Subprefecture is an administrative level that is below prefecture or province. ...

Roles

The prefect of a région is also responsible for the département which houses his préfecture; similarly, the prefect of a département is also responsible for the arrondissement in which his préfecture is situated.

Prefects operate under the Minister of the Interior. Their main missions include. Categories: French government | Stub ...

• representing the state to local governments;
• security
  • the coordination of police and gendarmerie forces;
  • handling major crises;
  • emergency defence procedures;
• responsibility for official documents, such as
  • the production of identity documents, including identity cards and passports;
  • the issuing of driving licences;
  • the application of immigration rules;
• ensuring respect for legality: officials working for the prefect verify the legality of decisions made by local governments and submit doubtful cases to administrative courts or to financial auditing courts.

Prefects may issue administrative orders (arrêtés) in areas falling within the competency of the national government, including general safety. For instance, they may prohibit the use of certain roads without special tyres in times of snow. The prohibition on smoking or leaving the motor running while filling the fuel tank of a motor vehicle is another example of a matter typically decided by prefectoral arrêté. The National Police (Police Nationale) is the main civil law enforcement agency of France, with primary jurisdiction in cities and large towns. ... Gendarmes guarding the Paris Hall of Justice Gendarmerie motorcyclists police the roads and autoroutes of rural France. ... Crisis is also the name of a British comic published from 1988 to 1991 — see Crisis (comic) — and a heavy metal group Crisis (band) — and a 1946 film directed by Ingmar Bergman — see Crisis (film) Crisis is a term meaning a testing time or emergency event. It is a concept... The words defense or defence can refer to any of the following: For defense of a doctoral dissertation see thesis committee For the military term see defense (military) Civil defense measures and emergency preparedness In politics, defense may be a euphemism for war For legal defense see defense (legal) For... German identity document sample An identity document is a piece of documentation designed to prove the identity of the person carrying it. ... This article is about the international travel document. ... Driving licences within the European Union are subdivided in different categories. ... Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. ... This article is about law in society. ... Tyre (native Phoenician Ṣur, Latin Tyrus, Akkadian Ṣurru, Tiberian Hebrew צר Ṣōr, Greek Τύρος Týros, Arabic الصور aṣ-Ṣūr) is an ancient Phoenician city in Lebanon on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, about 23 miles, in a direct line, north of Acre, and 20 south of Sidon. ... This page is about the form of precipitation. ...

On official occasions, prefects wear a uniform. This page describes uniform in the sense of clothing. ...

Special cases

In New Caledonia and French Polynesia, the roles of the prefect, with certain differences in status, are fulfilled by a high commissioner (haut commissaire); in Wallis and Futuna, by a superior administrator (administrateur supérieur). Map of New Caledonia New Caledonia (French: Nouvelle-Calédonie; popular names: Kanaky, Le caillou) is a French territory of 18,575 km² (7,172 sq. ... National motto: Tahiti Nui Marearea Official language French Political status Dependent territory Capital Papeete Largest City Papeete President Oscar Temaru Area  - Total  - % water 4,167 km² 12% Population  - Total (2002)  - Density 245,405 64/km² Currency CFP franc Time zone UTC -10 Internet TLD . ... The Collectivity of Wallis and Futuna ( French: Collectivité de Wallis et Futuna) is a group of mainly three volcanic tropical islands (Wallis, Futuna, and Alofi) with fringing reefs located in the South Pacific Ocean between Fiji and Samoa. ...

Paris, which is itself a département, and the three départements surrounding it (the petite couronne, or "little crown") are an exception. These four départements are governed by a single préfecture for law enforcement and security purposes — the préfecture de police (PP) — and the law enforcement powers exercised in other French cities and towns by the mayor here belong to the préfet de police (see Prefecture of Police). A mayor (Latin maīor better) is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. ...

See also

• Prefect