The national parks of France is a system of ten national parks throughout metropolitan France and its overseas departments, coordinated by the government agency Parcs Nationaux de France. The French national parks protect a total area of 3,710 square kilometres (1,430 sq mi) in core area and 9,162 square kilometres (3,537 sq mi) in buffer zones in metropolitan France. This puts over 2% of the total area of metropolitan France under some level of protection. French national parks draw over seven million visitors every year.
| Name | Photo | Department | Area | Established |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vanoise National Park (Parc national de la Vanoise) |
Savoie | 70031250000000000001,250 !1,250 km2 (483 sq mi) | 6 July 1963 | |
| Port-Cros National Park (Parc national de Port-Cros) |
Var | 70007000000000000007 !7 km2 (3 sq mi) | 14 December 1963 | |
| Pyrénées National Park (Parc national des Pyrénées) |
Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques | 7002457000000000000457 !457 km2 (176 sq mi) | 23 March 1967 | |
| Cévennes National Park (Parc national des Cévennes) |
Mainly Lozère and Gard, also Ardèche and Aveyron | 7002913000000000000913 !913 km2 (353 sq mi) | 2 September 1970 | |
| Écrins National Park (Parc National des Écrins) |
Isère and Hautes-Alpes | 7002918000000000000918 !918 km2 (354 sq mi) | 27 March 1973 | |
| Mercantour National Park (Parc national du Mercantour) |
Alpes-Maritimes and Alpes-de-Haute-Provence | 7002685000000000000685 !685 km2 (264 sq mi) | 18 August 1979 | |
| Guiana Amazonian Park (Parc amazonien de Guyane) |
French Guiana (overseas department) | 700433900000000000033,900 !33,900 km2 (13,089 sq mi) | 2007 | |
| Réunion National Park (Parc national de la Réunion) |
Réunion (overseas department) | 70031054000000000001,054 !1,054 km2 (407 sq mi) | 2007 | |
| Guadeloupe National Park (Parc national de la Guadeloupe) |
Guadeloupe (overseas department) | 7002173000000000000173 !173 km2 (67 sq mi) | 20 February 1989 | |
| Calanques National Park (Parc national des Calanques) |
Bouches-du-Rhône | 7002520000000000000520 !520 km2 (201 sq mi) | 18 April 2012 |
Famous quotes containing the words national, parks and/or france:
“If the national security is involved, anything goes. There are no rules. There are people so lacking in roots about what is proper and what is improper that they don’t know there’s anything wrong in breaking into the headquarters of the opposition party.”
—Helen Gahagan Douglas (1900–1980)
“Perhaps our own woods and fields,—in the best wooded towns, where we need not quarrel about the huckleberries,—with the primitive swamps scattered here and there in their midst, but not prevailing over them, are the perfection of parks and groves, gardens, arbors, paths, vistas, and landscapes. They are the natural consequence of what art and refinement we as a people have.... Or, I would rather say, such were our groves twenty years ago.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“In France one must adapt oneself to the fragrance of a urinal.”
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)