On 14 April 2014, François Patriat and Marie-Guite Dufay (the presidents of Burgundy and Franche-Comté, respectively) announced in a press conference the desire for the merger of the two regions, further to the declarations of Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who proposed a simplification of the administrative divisions of France.

Acte III de la décentralisation officially adopted the merger of the two regions on 17 December 2014.

The region borders Grand Est to the north, Île-de-France to the northwest, Centre-Val de Loire to the west, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the south and Switzerland (the cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel and Jura) to the east.

[7] Bourgogne-Franche-Comté comprises eight departments: Côte-d'Or, Doubs, Jura, Nièvre, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire, Yonne, Territoire de Belfort.

The largest communes are (population as of 2017):[8] The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was €75.6 billion in 2018, accounting for 3.2% of the total economic output of France.