The four departments of Burgundy (Yonne, the Côte d'Or, Nièvre and Saône-et-Loire) are very different from each other and in some cases have few inhabitants.

The region is best-known for its capital, Dijon, a city with artistic and historical associations, and for its wines which rival those of the Bordeaux area. There are farms in the north (both cereal and livestock), a wine-growing area in the east and an industrial area in the south; but the region has suffered badly from thr recession and has seen many of its inhabitants, particularly younger people, leave for Lyon, the second biggest city in France.