Rhône (department)

Rhône
Department
Prefecture building of the Rhône department, in Lyon
Flag 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	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture	Lyon
Subprefectures	Villefranche-sur-Saône
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Christophe Guilloteau (LR)
Area 1
• Total	2,715 km2 (1,048 sq mi)
Population  (2015)
• Total	1,835,903
• Rank	4th
• Density	680/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	69D
Arrondissements	2
Cantons	13
Communes	208
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes estuaries and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km².

Rhône (French pronunciation: ​[ʁon]; Arpitan: Rôno) is a department of east-central France, located in the central-southeastern region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is named after the river Rhône.

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 departments. With the growth of Lyon and the spilling of the urban area into the suburban communes of Lyon, such as Villeurbanne, 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, four communes from Isère were incorporated into Rhône.
• In 1967, 23 communes of Isère and six communes of Ain were incorporated into Rhône.
• In 1971, one 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.

In 2015 the Metropolis of Lyon was separated from the Rhône department.^[1] Lyon, although no longer part of the department, remains its administrative center.

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.

Demographics[]

Population development since 1801 (with Lyon Metropolis) :

Before the Metropolis of Lyon was separated from the department, over 75% of its population lived within the Greater Lyon, which included all of the largest cities of the Rhône department, apart from Villefranche-sur-Saône (2011 census).

• Lyon: 491,268 inhabitants
• Villeurbanne: 145,034 inhabitants
• Vénissieux: 60,159 inhabitants
• Vaulx-en-Velin: 42,726 inhabitants
• Saint-Priest: 42,535 inhabitants
• Caluire-et-Cuire: 41,357 inhabitants
• Bron: 38,881 inhabitants
• Villefranche-sur-Saône: 35,640 inhabitants

Politics[]

The President of the Departmental Council is Christophe Guilloteau, a member of the Republicans (LR).

Current National Assembly Representatives[]

This list includes representatives from Lyon Metropolis created in 2015 as a separate department.

Tourism[]

• 

  Beaujolais vineyards

• 

  Oingt, one of The Most Beautiful Villages of France

• 

  Château de Jarnioux

See also[]

• Cantons of the Rhône department
• Communes of the Rhône department
• Arrondissements of the Rhône department
• French language
• Arpitan language

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rhône.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Rhône.

• Prefecture website (in French)
• General Council website (in French)
• 69.pagesd.info - Webportal and directory of communes and web sites of the Rhône (69) département website (in French)