Why this french department wants to change name and what it could become

TWO NEW NAMES ARE ON THE SHORTLIST 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: * A dozen academics * Eleven heads of cultural and Catalan language associations * Representatives of

chambers of commerce * Employers‘ organisations * Trade unions 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.