Why this French department wants to change name - what could it become
Two new names are on the shortlist
Politicians in Pyrénées-Orientales have said they want to change the name to something that better represents the department’s culture, geography, and history
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A department in the south of France is considering changing its name to something “more in line with its identity” this year, with a public consultation on the issue set to take place in the coming months.
President of the department, Pyrénées-Orientales, (in the region of Occitanie), Hermeline Malherbe, is spearheading the campaign. The idea is to replace the department’s name with something that better encapsulates its history, culture, and geography, she said.
Ms Malherbe first announced the idea at the start of 2022, and has been working on it since. “We will not abandon the project,” she said on January 13 at a press conference.
She said that the public consultation will take place in 2025, reports Actu.
‘In line with our identity’
The department is rare in that it stretches from the Mediterranean sea to the mountainous Pyrenees principality of Andorra, and is also on the Spanish/Catalan border. This means it has many influences and cultures, as well as a wide range of tourist attractions and history.
Proponents of the name change believe it would be more useful to tourists, as well as appreciated by the department’s 490,000 residents.
Those in favour of the plan have argued that the ‘orientales’ adjective is misleading, as the department is in the south of France (although it technically refers to its position east of the Pyrenees). Similarly, they say that the name’s focus on the Pyrenees obscures its other important influences.
The new name will be more “in line with our identity”, said Nicolas Garcia, first vice-president, at the conference.
Ms Malherbe said: “There has been a real change. Five years ago those involved in tourism and leisure told us that geography was the most important thing. Now they're telling us that the Catalan identity is important.”
Last summer, her department staff met with a number of representatives of the community in a bid to discuss the name change, including:
However, “the dissolution of the National Assembly [in summer] cut short this work and the instability of the government meant that we were unable to continue it [last year],” said Ms Malherbe.
What could the department be renamed to?
So far, two names have been considered as the frontrunners.
They are:
Pays Catalan
Pyrénées-Catalanes
Once the new name has been chosen, the department heads will need to submit a request for a change to the Prime Minister. The Conseil d'État (the French supreme administrative court) would then have the final say.
Department number change?
If the department does change its name, you could be forgiven for thinking it would be forced to change its 66 departmental number too.
In France, each department has a number, which denotes its alphabetical place in the list of all departments in the country. For example, Ain, Aisne, and Allier are numbered 1, 2, and 3 respectively; while Val-de-Marne and Val d’Oise are 94 and 95 respectively. The Overseas departments are separate and run from 971 to 976.
If the department changes its name to one of the two above options, it would not - alphabetically - appear in 66th place on the national list, and would instead come in 63rd or 65th.
Yet, in reality, the department’s number would not change, given the high administrative cost that this would incur, as well as the disruption and costs in other departments that would also have to change, to make room for the new department.
As a result, even if the Pyrénées-Orientales name does change (and the alphabetical list is technically incorrect), the department will retain its 66 number.
Name changes through history
The court has previously said that a department can only change its name for “serious reasons”, such as correcting “a historical injustice” or to “remove inequality”.
If it does change its name, the Pyrénées-Orientales would not be the first to do so, although it would join a rare list.
In the past 200 years, only seven have changed their name.
They are:
1791: Mayenne-et-Loire, changed to Maine-et-Loire
1941: Charente-Inférieure, became Charente-Maritime
1955: Seine-Inférieure, changed to Seine-Maritime
1957: Loire-Inférieure, became Loire-Atlantique
1969: Basses-Pyrénées, which became Pyrénées-Atlantiques
1970: Basses-Alpes became Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
1990: Côtes-du-Nord became Côtes-d'Armor.
