It covers 30,627 square kilometres (11,825 sq mi),[4] comprising roughly 5% of the territory of metropolitan France.

In 1204, during the reign of John of England, mainland Normandy was taken from the Angevin Empire by France under King Philip II.

In 1259, Henry III of England recognized the legality of French possession of mainland Normandy under the Treaty of Paris.

[6] The Regional Council of Normandy, created on 1 January 2016, has 102 members who are elected under a system of proportional representation.

The council is based in Caen, making Normandy one of only two regions (the other being Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) where the prefecture and seat of local government are located in different cities.