France is divided into departments. There are regions, each of which comprises two or more departments. The regions have gradually been acquiring administrative functions since they were established in 1960, but I still consider the departments as the primary administrative subdivisions of France. The departments are divided into arrondissements. The arrondissements are further divided into cantons. The cantons, in general, are divided into communes. INSEE  (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques) has download files of all of these divisions.

Most people who know Paris are aware that it's divided into 20 arrondissements. Oddly, the arrondissements of Paris are a different type of division from the arrondissements in this table. The 'arrondissements' of Paris, Marseille, and Lyon are just municipal divisions; those of Paris are properly considered cantons.

Change history:

The French encyclopedia, Quid, has much information about the change history of arrondissements. However, it omits certain details. For example, when two arrondissements merge, it only gives the name of the one that disappeared, not the one that engulfed it.

When Quid says that X was created, I think it means that X used to be a city other than the capital of an arrondissement. A new arrondissement was split off from the old one, with X as its capital. When A is substituted for B, I think that means that the capital of arrondissement A was moved from city A to city B, and consequently the name of the arrondissement was changed from A to B. When arrondissement T is eliminated, I think the arrondissement was merged with one or more of its neighbors.

1. 1800-02-17: The arrondissements were originally created, replacing districts which had been created on 1789-12-22.
2. 1801: Saint-Pol created (Pas-de-Calais department).
3. 1803: Valenciennes created (Nord department).
4. 1803-07-22: Dunkerque substituted for Bergues (Nord).
5. 1804-12-24: Bressuire substituted for Thouars (Deux-Sèvres).
6. 1806-02-10: Sélestat substituted for Barr (Bas-Rhin).
7. 1811: Cherbourg created (Manche).
8. 1812: Fontenay substituted for Montaigu (Vendée) (1811).
9. 1812: Rambouillet created (Seine-et-Oise).
10. 1815: Gex created (Ain).
11. 1815: Montbéliard substituted for Saint-Hippolyte (Doubs).
12. 1817: Arles substituted for Tarascon (Bouches-du-Rhône).
13. 1824: Valenciennes created (Nord).
14. 1857: Cassel substituted for Hazebrouck (Nord), Mulhouse substituted for Altkirch (Haut-Rhin).
15. 1857: Cholet substituted for Beaupréau (Maine-et-Loire).
16. 1860-06-15: Grasse arrondissement transferred from Var department to Alpes-Maritimes.
17. 1868: Saint-Nazaire substituted for Savenay (Loire-Inférieure).
18. 1880-04-02: Saint-Denis and Sceaux were partially eliminated: the arrondissements remained, but were administered directly by the prefect of Seine department.
19. 1926: Langon substituted for Bazas (Gironde), Montbard substituted for Châtillon-sur-Seine (C.-d'Or), Cavaillon substituted for Apt (Vaucluse).
20. 1926-09-10: 106 sous-préfectures eliminated for professed reasons of economy, but in reality to allow an electoral redistricting. Many of these sous-préfectures were restored later. The ones that were permanently eliminated were Arcis-sur-Aube, Barbezieux, Bar-sur-Seine, Baugé, Baume-les-Dames, Bazas, Bourganeuf, Boussac, Castelnaudary, Châtillon-sur-Seine, Civray, Coulommiers, Domfront, Doullens, Embrun, Espalion, Falaise, Gaillac, Gannat, Gien, Gray, Hazebrouck, Joigny, Lavaur, Lectoure, Lombez, Loudéac, Loudun, Louviers, Mantes, Marennes, Marvejols, Mauléon, Melle, Mirecourt, Moissac, Montélimar, Montfort, Montmédy, Mortain, Moûtiers, Murat (Cantal department), Neufchâtel-en-Bray, Orange, Orthez, Paimbœuf, Ploërmel, Poligny, Pont-Audemer, Pont-l'Évêque, Puget-Théniers, Quimperlé, Remiremont, Ribérac, Rocroi, Ruffec, Saint-Affrique, Saint-Calais, Saint-Marcellin, Saint-Pol, Saint-Pons, Saint-Sever, Saint-Yrieix, Sancerre, Sisteron, Tonnerre, Trévoux, Uzès, Valognes, Villefranche-de-Lauragais, Vitré, Wassy, and Yvetot. The ones that were restored later, with the year of restoration, were: Gex, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois (1933); Sainte-Menehould (1940); Ambert, Argelès-Gazost, Bressuire, Castellane, Château-Gontier, Château-Thierry, Clermont, Issoudun, Lesparre, Lodève, Louhans, Mortagne, Muret, Nérac, Pamiers, Pithiviers, Sedan, Yssingeaux (1942); Ancenis, Calvi, Cosne, Loches, Nogent-le-Rotrou, Romorantin, Saint-Jean-d'Angély, Toul, Ussel (1943); Étampes (1966); Brignoles (1974); and Fontainebleau (1988).
21. 1933: Apt substituted for Cavaillon (Vaucluse).
22. 1933-07-27: Gex and Saint-Julien-en-Genevois restored.
23. 1934: Colmar-Ville and Metz-Ville eliminated.
24. 1940-11-14: Sainte-Menehould restored.
25. 1941-08-24: Vichy substituted for Lapalisse (Allier).
26. 1942-06-01: Ambert, Argelès-Gazost, Bressuire, Castellane, Château-Gontier, Château-Thierry, Clermont, Issoudun, Lesparre, Lodève, Louhans, Mortagne, Muret, Nérac, Pamiers, Pithiviers, Sedan, and Yssingeaux restored.
27. 1943-11-26, 1943-12-06: Ancenis, Calvi, Cosne, Loches, Nantes, Nogent-le-Rotrou, Romorantin, Saint-Jean-d'Angély, Toul, and Ussel restored. (According to French Wikipedia, Nantes had absorbed Ancenis in 1926 and now was restored to its former size.)
28. 1962: Saint-Denis and Sceaux eliminated.
29. 1962-01-10: Calais and Lens created.
30. 1962-11-07: Le Raincy, Montmorency, Palaiseau, and Saint-Germain-en-Laye created.
31. 1966-06-02: Argenteuil created. Étampes restored.
32. 1966-06-02: Corbeil-Essonnes eliminated. (The Quid page gives this date, but elsewhere it says this happened in 1962.)
33. 1966-12-30: Antony and Nogent-sur-Marne created.
34. 1972-12-27: Arrondissements of Boulogne-Billancourt and L'Haÿ-les-Roses created.
35. 1974-05-24: Arrondissements of Erstein and Sélestat merged to form Sélestat-Erstein (capital Sélestat).
36. 1974-12-04: Brignoles restored.
37. 1981-10-23: Arrondissement of Istres created. Its boundaries were modified on 1982-04-14.
38. 1984-04-06: Arrondissement of Vierzon created.
39. 1988-04-26: Fontainebleau restored.
40. 1993-02-26: Arrondissement of Noisiel created.
41. 1994-04-28: Capital of Noisiel moved to Torcy, and name of the arrondissement changed to match.
42. ~1996: Arrondissement of Saint-Denis created.
43. 1999-12-21: Name of Saint-Dié changed to Saint-Dié-des-Vosges.
44. 2000-02-23: Name of Cherbourg changed to Cherbourg-Octeville (as a result of the merging of the communes of Cherbourg and Octeville).
45. 2000-03-03: Capital of Montmorency moved to Sarcelles, and name of the arrondissement changed to match.
46. 2000-01-01: Sarralbe canton transferred from Forbach to Sarreguemines.
47. 2006-01-01: Amfreville-la-Campagne canton transferred from Évreux to Bernay; Ay canton transferred from Reims to Épernay; part of Louviers-Nord hors Louviers, part of Louviers-Sud hors Louviers, and Louviers cantons transferred from Évreux to Les Andelys; Rebais and Rozay-en-Brie cantons transferred from Meaux and Melun, respectively, to Provins.
48. 2006-02-01: Dieulefit, Marsanne, part of Montélimar 1er Canton hors Montélimar, part of Montélimar 2e Canton hors Montélimar, and Montélimar cantons transferred from Valence to Nyons.
49. 2006-02-15: Bouloire, Conlie, Montfort-le-Gesnois, Saint-Calais, Sillé-le-Guillaume, and Vibraye cantons transferred from Le Mans to Mamers; La Chartre-sur-le-Loir, Château-du-Loir, Le Grand-Lucé, Loué, and La Suze-sur-Sarthe cantons transferred from Le Mans to La Flèche.
50. 2006-12-09: Arcachon arrondissement created by taking Arcachon, Audenge, Belin-Béliet, and La Teste-de-Buch cantons from Bordeaux.
51. 2007-01-01: Le Parcq canton transferred from Arras to Montreuil; Saint-Aignan canton transferred from Blois to Romorantin-Lanthenay; part of Avion hors Méricourt, part of Rouvroy hors Méricourt, and Méricourt cantons transferred from Arras to Lens.
52. 2007-03-01: Antraigues-sur-Volane, Aubenas, Vals-les-Bains, and Villeneuve-de-Berg cantons transferred from Privas to Largentière.
53. 2007-04-24: HASC codes of 16 arrondissements changed. The former codes were as follows: Aix-en-Provence was FR.BD.AP; Bobigny was FR.SS.BB; Le Blanc was FR.IN.BL; Briançon was FR.HA.BR; Charleville-Mézières was FR.AN.CM; Chartres was FR.EL.CR; Molsheim was FR.BR.MH; Mont-de-Marsan was FR.LD.MM; Mirande was FR.GE.MR; Nancy was FR.MM.NC; Provins was FR.SE.PR; Palaiseau was FR.ES.PS; Parthenay was FR.DS.PT; Sedan was FR.AN.SD; Saint-Girons was FR.AG.SG; and Saint-Julien-en-Genevois was FR.HS.SJ.
54. 2007-12-31: Rouillac canton transferred from Angoulême to Cognac; Aigre, Mansle, Ruffec, and Villefagan cantons transferred from Angoulême to Confolens; Saugues canton transferred from Le Puy-en-Velay to Brioude.
55. 2009-01-01: Oisemont canton transferred from Amiens to Abbeville; Saint-André-de-Cubzac canton transferred from Bordeaux to Blaye; Cadillac and Polensac cantons transferred from Bordeaux to Langon; Castelnau-de-Médoc canton transferred from Bordeaux to Lesparre-Médoc; Pierrefontaine-les-Varans and Vercel cantons from Besançon and Russey canton from Montbéliard transferred to Pontarlier; Villers-Farlay canton transferred from Lons-le-Saunier to Dole, while Chaumergy canton transferred from Dole to Lons-le-Saunier.
56. 2009-11-01: Aniane, Ganges, and Saint-Martin-de-Londres cantons transferred from Montpellier to Lodève.
57. 2010-01-01: Le Haut-Nebio and La Conca-d'Oro cantons transferred from Bastia to Calvi; Alto-di-Casaconi, Fiumalto-d'Ampugnani, Campoloro-di-Moriani, and Vescovato cantons transferred from Bastia to Corte.
58. 2010-10-01: Argentré-du-Plessis, Châteaubourg, La Guerche-de-Bretagne, Retiers, Vitré, Vitré-Est, and Vitré-Ouest communes and cantons transferred from Rennes to Fougères, which was renamed Fougères-Vitré.
59. 2015-01-01: Colmar (former HASC code FR.HR.CM, 2010 population 152,185, area 666 km.²) and Ribeauvillé (FR.HR.RB, INSEE code 68 5, 52,097, 462) merged to form Colmar-Ribeauvillé; Forbach (FR.MO.FB, 172,553, 702) and Boulay-Moselle (FR.MO.BM, 80,864, 57 1, 722) merged to form Forbach-Boulay-Moselle; Haguenau (FR.BR.HG, 132,134, 666) and Wissembourg (FR.BR.WB, 67 7, 70,036, 598) merged to form Haguenau-Wissembourg; Metz-Campagne (FR.MO.MC, 225,967, 1,047) and Metz-Ville (FR.MO.MV, 57 9, 122,928, 42) merged to form Metz; Strasbourg-Campagne (FR.BR.SC, 285,468, 684) and Strasbourg-Ville (FR.BR.SV, 276,401, 67 8, 78) merged to form Strasbourg; Thann (FR.HR.TH, 82,810, 525) and Guebwiller (FR.HR.GW, 68 3, 84,914, 584) arrondissements merged to form Thann-Guebwiller; Thionville-Est (FR.MO.TE, 141,911, 686) and Thionville-Ouest (FR.MO.TO, 57 8, 122,289, 255) merged to form Thionville. At the same time, some communes were moved from one arrondissement to its neighbor, resulting in changes of area. For example, Molsheim acquired one commune from Strasbourg-Campagne and seven communes from Saverne. The table above shows areas and populations as if no communes had been moved.
60. 2016-01-01: Château-Salins (former HASC code FR.MO.CS, INSEE code 57 2, 2010 population 31,045, area 974 km.²) and Sarrebourg (FR.MO.SB, 66,120, 993) arrondissements merged to form Sarrebourg-Château-Salins. Name of Cherbourg-Octeville changed to Cherbourg-en-Cotentin (as a result of its merging with four other communes).

Other names of subdivisions:

1. Château-Chinon: Château-Chinon (Ville) (formal)