Rhône (department)

Rhône (department)
Rhône
—  Department  —

Coat of arms
Location of Rhône in France
Coordinates: 45°50′N 04°40′E / 45.833°N 4.667°E / 45.833; 4.667Coordinates: 45°50′N 04°40′E / 45.833°N 4.667°E / 45.833; 4.667
Country France
Region Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture Lyon
Subprefectures Villefranche-
sur-Saône
Government
 – President of the General Council Michel Mercier (Centrist)
Area1
 – Total 3,249 km2 (1,254.4 sq mi)
Population (2007)
 – Total 1,677,073
 – Rank 4th
 – Density 516.2/km2 (1,336.9/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 – Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Department number 69
Arrondissements 2
Cantons 54
Communes 293
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Rhône (Franco-Provençal : Rôno) is a French department located in the central Eastern region of Rhône-Alpes. It is named after the Rhône River.

Contents

History

The Rhône department was created on August 12, 1793 when the former département of Rhône-et-Loire was split into two departments: Rhône and Loire.

Originally, the eastern border of Rhône was the city of Lyon itself, so that the communes immediately east of Lyon belonged to neighboring department. With the growth of Lyon and the spilling of the urban area over the suburban communes of Lyon, the limits of the department were judged impractical as they left the suburbs of Lyon outside of Rhône . Thus, Rhône was enlarged several times to incorporate into it the suburbs of Lyon from neighboring department:

  • In 1852, 4 communes from Isère were incorporated into Rhône.
  • In 1967, 23 communes of Isère and 6 communes of Ain were incorporated into Rhône.
  • In 1971, 1 commune from Isère was incorporated into Rhône.

With these enlargements, the area of the Rhône department increased from 2,791 km² to the current 3,249 km² (16.4% larger). At the 1999 French census, the original Rhône department would have had only 1,071,288 inhabitants, which means that the population in the territories added in the last two centuries was 507,581 inhabitants in 1999.

Geography

Rivers include the Rhône and the Saône (which joins the Rhône in Lyon).

The neighboring departments are Ain, Isère, Loire and Saône-et-Loire.

Over 75% of the population lives within the Lyon metropolitan area. Apart from Villefranche-sur-Saône, the largest cities of the Rhône department are all part of the Urban Community of Lyon|Lyon metropolitan area (1999 census):

Politics

The President of the General Council is the independent centrist Senator Michel Mercier, who leads a coalition between centrists and the local UMP, led by Dominique Perben.

Party seats
Socialist Party 19
• Union for a Popular Movement 16
• MoDem 7
• Miscellaneous Right 5
• New Centre 3
French Communist Party 3
The Greens 1
Left Radical Party 1

See also

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Arrondissements of the Bouches-du-Rhône department — The 4 arrondissements of the Bouches du Rhône department are: # Arrondissement of Aix en Provence, (subprefecture: Aix en Provence) with 10 cantons and 44 communes. The population of the arrondissement was 347,431 in 1990, and was 381,986 in 1999 …   Wikipedia

  • Arrondissements of the Rhône department — The 2 arrondissements of the Rhône department are: # Arrondissement of Lyon, (prefecture of the Rhône department: Lyon) with 43 cantons and 162 communes. The population of the arrondissement was 1,346,037 in 1990, and was 1,406,043 in 1999, an… …   Wikipedia

  • Cantons of the Bouches-du-Rhône department — The following is a list of the 57 cantons of the Bouches du Rhône department, in France, sorted by arrondissement:Arrondissement of Aix en Provence (10 cantons)* Aix en Provence Centre * Aix en Provence Nord Est * Aix en Provence Sud Ouest *… …   Wikipedia

  • Cantons of the Rhône department — The following is a list of the 54 cantons of the Rhône department, in France, sorted by arrondissement:Arrondissement of Lyon (43 cantons)*L Arbresle *Bron *Caluire et Cuire *Condrieu *Décines Charpieu *Écully *Givors *Irigny *Limonest *Lyon I… …   Wikipedia

  • Communes of the Rhône department — The following is a list of the 293 communes of the Rhône département, in France. (COURLY) Agglomeration community of Greater Lyon, created in 1966. (CAV) Agglomeration community of Pays Viennois, created in 2002, most of which is located in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Rhone (disambiguation) — Rhône can refer to: * Rhone, one of the major rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France * Rhône Glacier, the source of the Rhone River and one of the primary contributors to Lake Geneva in the far eastern end of the canton of… …   Wikipedia

  • Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department — The following is a list of the 119 communes of the Bouches du Rhône département in France. (CUM) Communauté urbaine Marseille Provence Métropole, created in 2000. (CAAP) Communauté d agglomération du Pays d Aix en Provence, created in 2001, also… …   Wikipedia

  • Rhone — noun a major French river; flows into the Mediterranean near Marseilles the valley of the Rhone is famous for its vineyards • Syn: ↑Rhone River • Instance Hypernyms: ↑river • Part Holonyms: ↑Switzerland, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

  • Rhone — /rohn/, n. 1. a river flowing from the Alps in S Switzerland through the Lake of Geneva and SE France into the Mediterranean. 504 mi. (810 km) long. 2. a department in E Central France: wine growing region. 1,429,647; 1104 sq. mi. (2860 sq. km).… …   Universalium

  • Rhône — noun A department in the French region of Rhône Alpes …   Wiktionary

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