Oise

Oise (/wɑːz/ WAHZ, French: [waz] (listen)) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called Oisiens or Isariens, after the Latin name for the river, Isara.

Oise
Prefecture building in Beauvais
Coat of arms
Location of Oise in France
Coordinates: 49°23′N 02°25′E
CountryFrance
RegionHauts-de-France
PrefectureBeauvais
SubprefecturesClermont
Compiègne
Senlis
Government
  President of the General CouncilNadège Lefevre
Area
  Total5,860 km2 (2,260 sq mi)
Population
 (2016)
  Total823,542
  Rank26th
  Density140/km2 (360/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number60
Arrondissements4
Cantons21
Communes679
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

History

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1801350,854    
1821375,817+0.34%
1831397,725+0.57%
1841398,868+0.03%
1851403,857+0.12%
1861401,417−0.06%
1872396,804−0.11%
1881404,555+0.22%
1891401,835−0.07%
1901407,808+0.15%
1911411,028+0.08%
1921387,760−0.58%
1931407,432+0.50%
1936402,569−0.24%
1946396,724−0.15%
1954435,308+1.17%
1962481,289+1.26%
1968540,988+1.97%
1975606,320+1.64%
1982661,781+1.26%
1990725,603+1.16%
1999766,441+0.61%
2006792,975+0.49%
2016823,542+0.38%
source:[1]

Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Île-de-France and Picardy.

After the coalition victory at Waterloo, the department was occupied by British troops between June 1815 and November 1818.

Geography

Oise is part of the current region of Hauts-de-France and is situated 35 km north of Paris. It is surrounded by the departments of Somme, Aisne, Seine-et-Marne, Val-d'Oise, Eure, and Seine-Maritime.

Principal towns

Most Populous Oise communes[2]
Rank Commune Canton Arrondissement Population
1 Beauvais Beauvais-1
Beauvais-2
Beauvais 55,252
2 Compiègne Compiègne-1
Compiègne-2
Compiègne 40,430
3 Creil Creil Senlis 34,262
4 Nogent-sur-Oise Nogent-sur-Oise Senlis 18,753
5 Senlis Senlis Senlis 15,583
6 Crépy-en-Valois Crépy-en-Valois Senlis 14,962
7 Méru Méru Beauvais 13,995
8 Noyon Noyon Compiègne 13,894
9 Montataire Montataire Senlis 12,843
10 Pont-Sainte-Maxence Pont-Sainte-Maxence Senlis 12,637

Politics

Current National Assembly Representatives

ConstituencyMember[3]Party
Oise's 1st constituency Olivier Dassault The Republicans
Oise's 2nd constituency Agnès Thill La République En Marche!
Oise's 3rd constituency Pascal Bois La République En Marche!
Oise's 4th constituency Éric Woerth The Republicans
Oise's 5th constituency Pierre Vatin The Republicans
Oise's 6th constituency Carole Bureau-Bonnard La République En Marche!
Oise's 7th constituency Maxime Minot The Republicans

Tourism

The major tourist attraction of the department is the Parc Astérix, which opened in 1989. Other very interesting sites are Beauvais Cathedral, the Chateau de Pierrefonds, restored by Viollet-le-Duc, and the art collection of the Château de Chantilly, which is one of the largest outside Paris.

Twinned county

Oise is twinned with Bedfordshire. One of the villages along the river Oise is Auvers-sur-Oise, famous for having been visited by several impressionist artists. This is where Vincent van Gogh spent his last 70 days and is his and his brother Theo's resting place.

See also

References

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