The arrondissement of Vannes was created in 1800.[4] At the January 2017 reorganisation of the arrondissements of Morbihan, it gained two communes from the arrondissement of Lorient, and it lost 21 communes to the arrondissement of Pontivy.[5]
As a result of the reorganisation of the cantons of France which came into effect in 2015, the borders of the cantons are no longer related to the borders of the arrondissements. The cantons of the arrondissement of Vannes were, as of January 2015:[6]