Dijon (France) – Location, History, Facts

Dijon is a city and the prefecture of the Côte-d’Or department in eastern France, within the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

Dijon, France.

Country: France
Coordinates: 47.3231° N, 5.0419° E
Country and region: France; Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Departmental role: Prefecture of Côte-d’Or
Metropolitan affiliation: Part of Dijon Métropole

Dijon overview

Dijon is a city and the prefecture of the Côte-d’Or department in eastern France, within the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. Its defining role is both administrative and regional: it hosts departmental government, forms part of Dijon Métropole, and functions as an economic, educational, cultural, and transport center. The present city combines a historic core shaped by Roman, Capetian, Gothic, Renaissance, and Burgundian development with modern institutions and infrastructure. Its location between the Saône corridor and the Côte vineyards helps explain its long-standing connections with agriculture, commerce, and regional public life.

Official recorded sales

Residential property prices in Dijon

The median recorded residential sale price was €2,743 per m² across 17,655 qualifying transactions in 2021–2025. This is a historical transaction measure, not a live asking price or a valuation.

Apartment median: €2,685/m²
House median: €3,280/m²
Source updated: 2026-07-17

Open the full data analysis and methodology

Dijon coordinates

Dijon is commonly mapped at approximately 47.3231° N, 5.0419° E, or 47.3231, 5.0419 in decimal degrees.

Degrees: 47.3231° N, 5.0419° E

Decimal: 47.3231, 5.0419

Where Dijon is located

Dijon lies on a plain crossed by the Suzon and Ouche rivers, with the vineyards of the Côte to the south. It is approximately 310 kilometres southeast of Paris, 190 kilometres northwest of Geneva, and 190 kilometres north of Lyon. The city covers 40.41 square kilometres and had 161,830 inhabitants in 2023, according to the supplied source dossier. Within France’s administrative geography, it is the prefecture of Côte-d’Or and belongs to the intermunicipal structure of Dijon Métropole. Road, rail, tram, and air links connect it to wider regional networks.

A departmental prefecture and metropolitan administrative center

Dijon performs its central civic function as the prefecture of Côte-d’Or and a municipality within Dijon Métropole.

As a prefecture, the city is the departmental administrative seat for Côte-d’Or. That role places it within France’s territorial system of public administration, while membership in Dijon Métropole connects the commune to an intermunicipal framework. The city’s other regional functions reinforce this civic position: the dossier describes it as an economic center with tertiary, food-processing, and pharmaceutical activity, and lists major educational institutions. Its public identity therefore rests on the concentration of departmental administration, metropolitan coordination, commerce, higher education, and specialized employment.

A river plain organized around a historic central core

The urban setting combines a plain crossed by two rivers, southern vineyard country, and a preserved historic center containing civic and cultural institutions.

The Suzon and Ouche rivers cross the plain on which the city stands, while the Côte vineyards lie to the south. Within this setting, the historic center retains layers of Capetian, Gothic, Renaissance, and later architecture. Medieval half-timbered houses and Burgundian polychrome tile roofs are part of that built environment. The Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy is especially important spatially and institutionally: the building now contains the city hall and the Musée des Beaux-Arts, bringing municipal government and cultural collections into the historic core.

From Roman route settlement to a modern administrative city

Public use has shifted from a Roman route settlement and ducal center to a city combining departmental government, metropolitan institutions, and cultural heritage.

Archaeological evidence reaches back to the Neolithic period, while the Roman settlement of Divio developed on the route between Lyon and Paris. From the early eleventh to the late fifteenth century, the city was associated with the Dukes of Burgundy, a connection that shaped its palace, architecture, and later heritage identity. It also experienced occupation during the Napoleonic period, the Franco-Prussian War, and the Second World War. French forces and the Resistance liberated it on 11 September 1944. These successive uses remain visible in civic buildings and commemorative history.

The palace, university, and specialist schools that structure public life

Municipal government, museums, universities, specialist schools, and regional cultural events define the city’s institutional life.

The Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy accommodates city hall and the Musée des Beaux-Arts, linking local administration with public culture. Higher education adds another institutional layer through the University of Burgundy, École nationale des beaux-arts de Dijon, Sciences Po’s European Campus, Agrosup Dijon, and Burgundy School of Business. The city’s food and cultural profile is expressed through the annual International and Gastronomic Fair and the three-yearly Florissimo event. Together, these institutions connect municipal life with education, art, agriculture, gastronomy, and professional training.

A civic identity built from Burgundian heritage and food culture

Dijon represents Burgundy through the combined public presence of ducal history, protected urban heritage, vineyards, and food traditions.

The city’s symbolic role is grounded in specific cultural relationships rather than a single landmark. Its historic center forms part of the UNESCO World Heritage site “Climats, terroirs of Burgundy,” registered in 2015. The Palace of the Dukes, Notre-Dame, Dijon Cathedral, Porte Guillaume, and the Well of Moses connect the present city to religious, political, and artistic history. Food culture adds a modern regional marker: Dijon mustard is associated with a tradition dated in the dossier to 1856, while crème de cassis and the Kir cocktail extend that association into local products and public culture.