The arrondissement of Vire was created in 1800.[4] At the January 2017 reorganisation of the arrondissements of Calvados, it gained 20 communes from the arrondissement of Caen and four communes from the arrondissement of Bayeux.[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 Vire were, as of January 2015:[6]
^(in French) "Guyot, Régis, Marie, Denis" (prefect, born 1949), page 1069 in Who’s Who in France : Dictionnaire biographique de personnalités françaises vivant en France et à l’étranger, et de personnalités étrangères résidant en France, 44th edition for 2013 edited in 2012, 2371 p., 31 cm, ISBN978-2-85784-053-4 .