Burkina Faso is divided into thirteen regions, forty-five provinces, and 351 departments.
Since 2012, every department includes now a single commune (municipality) covering all urbanized areas in the department and representing its population for local elections (by village, or by urban sector within cities and towns). Two very populated departments (Ouagadougou and Bobo-Dioulasso) are also further subdivided into arrondissements, which split their capital city (and also cover all surrounding villages): their urban commune have a specific status.
The thirteen regions are: