Besides the village of Dortan itself, the commune includes the hamlets of Uffel, Vouais, Bonaz, Emondeau, Sénissiat and Maissiat.

During the feudal period in the ninth century, the counts were Lambert and Geoffroy de Dortenc, and twenty generations of these seignieres followed.

He had committed various misdeeds and his successor sold the château to Pierre Gaulthier, adviser and secretary of Louis XIV.

[3] In July 1944, during World War II, the Germans looted and burned the village in reprisal for activities by the French Maquis.

The commune includes the hamlets of Uffel, Vouais, Bonaz, Emondeau, Sénissiat and Maissiat, and scattered farms.