Random city generator Random city in France
899 places in mainland France and Corsica
This list covers metropolitan France: 899 communes and towns that GeoNames counts at 10,000 people or more, in the 12 mainland regions and Corsica. Paris is the only one past a million. After it come Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, and in total 40 places reach 100,000. The other end is crowded: 464 have under 20,000, among them Gérardmer in the Vosges and Villers-Cotterêts north of Paris.
The capital's region is heavy. Île-de-France has 246 entries, more than a quarter of the list, because its suburbs are separate communes, not districts of Paris. Hauts-de-France has 108, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 93. Corsica has three: Ajaccio, Bastia and Porto-Vecchio. If the suburbs keep coming up, choose a region under Region, or keep only the big cities.
Overseas departments such as Réunion or Guadeloupe are not on this list; they are filed under their own codes in GeoNames.
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Getting a random French city
- Click Draw a city. The card gives the commune, its region and its size.
- Use Filters to stay in one region or to choose a size. The button shows what is left to draw.
- Planning stages of a cycling tour or a French class quiz? Draw several with How many, then copy them from History.
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Questions about random French cities
Why do Paris suburbs come up so often?
Saint-Denis, Montreuil, Boulogne-Billancourt and dozens more are communes of their own, so each is a separate entry. Pick another region and they disappear.
Which regions are there?
The 13 regions in place since 2016, such as Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitania, Grand Est and Normandy. The old ones like Alsace or Picardy are now part of bigger regions.
Can it give me only big French cities?
Yes: big cities under Filters keeps the 40 places from 100,000 upward, from Paris to cities like Brest, Limoges and Perpignan.
Is every town equally likely?
Yes, a small town has the same chance as Lyon. The draw uses your browser's secure random generator, and nothing is sent to a server.
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