Conseil Départemental du Finistère

The department was created in 1790 during the French Revolution, as were most French departments. With a surface area of 6,733 km2, it has a population of 911,735 (source INSEE 2018).

Finistère is made up of 277 communes:

- the capital is Quimper - 63,532 inhabitants ;
- the most populous is Brest, with 139,386 inhabitants;
- the largest is Scaër - 117.58 km².
- 4 communes are islands: Batz in the English Channel off Roscoff, Ouessant and Molène in the Iroise Sea off Brest and Le Conquet and the Ile de Sein off the Pointe du Raz and the Bay of Audierne. All these islands, along with the Glénan archipelago in the commune of Fouesnant, off Concarneau, are part of the Ponant islands.

Finistère is organised into 27 cantons and 21 inter-municipalities, and is made up of 5 Pays:

- in the north of the department, the Pays de Brest and the Pays de Morlaix ;
- in the centre, the Centre Ouest Bretagne or "COB", which also includes the south-east of the Côtes d'Armor and the north-west of Morbihan;
- to the south, from west to east, the Pays de Cornouaille and the Pays de Lorient.