As of 1 January 2004 there were 36,782 communes in France 36,568 of them in Metropolitan France and 214 of them overseas. This is considerably higher than in any other European Country.

This peculiarity is explained in detail in the history section below; briefly, French communes still largely reflect the division of France into villages or parishes at the time of the French revolution more than two centuries ago. It should also be noted that the whole of the territory of the French Republic, outside of some small overseas possessions, is divided into communes.

On the territory of the French Republic there is no such thing as unincorporated areas directly governed by a county or a higher authority. Any piece of land in the French Republic is part of a commune, both inmetropolitan France and in its overseas extensions (including uninhabited mountains or rain forests, with only the exceptions of: Wallis and Futuna (14,944 inhabitants), which still is divided according to the three traditional chiefdoms (the only permanently inhabited territory in the French Republic which is not divided in communes).

TOM (territoire d'outre-mer, i.e. overseas territory) of the French southern and Antarctic lands (no permanent population, about 170 resident scientists).
Iles and Eparses ("Scattered Islands"), a grouping of five islands in the Indian Ocean (no permanent population, 55 soldiers and meteorologists).
Clipperton Island in the Pacific Ocean (uninhabited).