Ardeche
(
Occitan
:
Ardecha
) is a
departement
in the
Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes
region
of south-central France. It is named after the
Ardeche river
.
The department of Ardeche was created on 4 March 1790 with seven
districts
: Annonay, Aubenas, L'Argentiere, Privas, Tournon, Vernoux and Villeneuve-de-Berg. The
capital
was
Privas
alternating with Annonay, Aubenas, Le Bourg(-Saint-Andeol) and Tournon. In August of that year, the number of districts was reduced to three: Mezenc, Aubenas and Tanargue. In September, Privas became the only capital of the department.
[4]
In 1800, with the creation of the
arrondissements
in France, the three districts were changed into three
arrondissements
: Privas, L'Argentiere and Tournon.
[4]
On 18 March 1988, Tournon changed its name to Tournon-sur-Rhone.
[4]
The Ardeche is part of the
Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes
region
. It has an area of 5,528.6 km
2
(2,135 sq mi).
[2]
The department is surrounded by 7 departments in 3 regions:
The highest point in the department is
Mont Mezenc
(
44°54′40″N
04°11′27″E
/
44.91111°N 4.19083°E
/
44.91111; 4.19083
(
Mont Mezenc
)
). It is 1,753 m (5,751 ft) high.;
[5]
it is in the northwest of the department, on the border with the
Haute-Loire
department. The lowest point, 40 m (131 ft)
above sea level
, is where the Ardeche river flows into the
Rhone
(in the south east of the department).
The main
rivers
in Ardeche are:
The
Allier
river forms the border of the
Lozere
department and the Ardeche for about 20 km (12 mi).
The
Koppen climate classification
type for the climate at
Privas
is an "
Oceanic climate
" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype
Cfb
. The southern part of the department has a
Mediterranean climate
of the subtype
Csb
.
Ardeche is managed by the
Departmental Council of Ardeche
in
Privas
. The department is part of the
Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes
region.
There are 3
arrondissements
(
districts
), 17
cantons
and 339
communes
(
municipalities
) in Ardeche.
[6]
The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Ardeche department (with their
INSEE
codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
[9]
The inhabitants of Ardeche are known, in
French
, as
Ardechois
(women:
Ardechoises
).
[10]
Ardeche had a population, in 2014, of 322,381,
[3]
for a population density of 58.3 inhabitants/km
2
. The
arrondissement
of Tournon-sur-Rhone, with 135,786 inhabitants, is the
arrondissement
with more inhabitants.
[7]
Evolution of the population in Allier
The
communes
in the department with more than 7,000 inhabitants are:
[7]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Ardeche
.