Rhône (department)

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.

For the river, see Rhône. For other uses, see Rhone (disambiguation).
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
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
PrefectureLyon (provisional)
SubprefecturesVillefranche-sur-Saône
Government
 • President of the Departmental CouncilChristophe Guilloteau (LR)
Area
 • Total2,715 km2 (1,048 sq mi)
Population
 (2015)
 • Total471,026
 • Rank4th
 • Density170/km2 (450/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number69
Arrondissements2
Cantons13
Communes208
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes estuaries and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km².

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) :

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1801299,390—    
1831434,429+1.25%
1841500,831+1.43%
1851574,745+1.39%
1861662,493+1.43%
1872670,247+0.11%
1881741,470+1.13%
1891806,737+0.85%
1901843,179+0.44%
1911915,581+0.83%
1921956,566+0.44%
19311,046,028+0.90%
19361,028,379−0.34%
1946918,866−1.12%
1954966,782+0.64%
19621,116,664+1.82%
19681,325,571+2.90%
19751,429,647+1.09%
19821,445,208+0.15%
19901,508,966+0.54%
19991,578,869+0.50%
20061,669,653+0.80%
20161,835,903+0.95%
source:[2]

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).

Politics

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

Current National Assembly Representatives
ConstituencyMember[3]Party
Rhône's 1st constituency Thomas Rudigoz La République En Marche!
Rhône's 2nd constituency Hubert Julien-Laferrière Ecology Democracy Solidarity
Rhône's 3rd constituency Jean-Louis Touraine La République En Marche!
Rhône's 4th constituency Anne Brugnera La République En Marche!
Rhône's 5th constituency Blandine Brocard La République En Marche!
Rhône's 6th constituency Bruno Bonnell La République En Marche!
Rhône's 7th constituency Anissa Khedher La République En Marche!
Rhône's 8th constituency Patrice Verchère The Republicans
Rhône's 9th constituency Bernard Perrut The Republicans
Rhône's 10th constituency Thomas Gassilloud La République En Marche!
Rhône's 11th constituency Jean-Luc Fugit La République En Marche!
Rhône's 12th constituency Cyrille Isaac-Sibille MoDem
Rhône's 13th constituency Danièle Cazarian La République En Marche!
Rhône's 14th constituency Yves Blein La République En Marche!

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

Tourism

See also

References
  1. La Métropole de Lyon
  2. Site sur la Population et les Limites Administratives de la France
  3. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/
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