Historic Map : Weiland Antique Map of France, 1826, Vintage Wall Art

This is a scarce separate-issue 1826 C. F. Weiland map of France. It covers the Kingdom of France showing its various military divisions and departments. Corsica is included in the lower right quadrant. A list of French Departments appears along the right border. Various towns, cities, rivers, and several other topographical features are noted with relief shown by hachure.

The French Department system was established on March 4th, 1790 by the National Constituent Assembly to replace the provinces with what the Assembly deemed a more rational political structure. The new department system was intended to deliberately break up France's historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences and build a more homogeneous nation. Initially there were 83 departments but by 1800 that number increased to roughly 130. This map details 86 of those departments. Many of the departments that were created in 1790 remain the administrative districts to this day.

This map was created by C. F. Weiland and published by the Weimar Geographical Institute.