- Cities have no article : je viens de Paris, il vient de Tokyo.
- Big independent islands have no article : il vit dans Cuba.
- Big dependent islands are feminine : je viens de Sardaigne.
NOTEZ : With « de », feminine countries, regions, etc. lose the article!
Je viens de Californie, je pars de Corse.
- Small islands have no article or are masculine singular or plural : Elle
vient des Seychelles, il vient de Tahiti.
- À + LA is never used with geographical places! It’s replaced by EN.
Also, EN is used in front of any place, masculin or feminine, that has
an article and starts by a vowel or a mute H : j’habite en Alberta(f.),
en Alaska(m.) BUT dans Hawaï (no art.)
- Rule of thumb : Any region, department, province, district or other
juristiction ending in an « E » is assumed feminine! Even if it is not,
using the feminine form won’t be frowned upon!
- Dans les É-U: La Californie, la Louisiane, la Virginie du Nord, la
Virginie.MAIS:Le Maine, Le New Hampshire, Le Tennessee.
- A region doesn’t have to be official to use the rules : je viens des
Prairies, il habite dans les Prairies.