Ardèche

Ardèche
Department
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Ardèche in France
Coordinates: 44°40′N 4°25′E / 44.667°N 4.417°E / 44.667; 4.417
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture	Privas
Subprefectures	Largentière Tournon-sur-Rhône
Government
• President	Laurent Ughetto[1] (PS)
Area [2]
• Total	5,528.6 km2 (2,134.6 sq mi)
Population  (2014)[3]
• Total	322,381
• Density	58/km2 (150/sq mi)
Demonym	Ardéchois
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	07
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	17
Communes	339
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Ardèche (Occitan: Ardecha) is a département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. It is named after the Ardèche river.

The department of Ardèche was created on 4 March 1790 with seven districts: Annonay, Aubenas, L'Argentière, Privas, Tournon, Vernoux and Villeneuve-de-Berg. The capital was Privas alternating with Annonay, Aubenas, Le Bourg(-Saint-Andéol) and Tournon. In August of that year, the number of districts was reduced to three: Mézenc, 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'Argentière and Tournon.^[4]

On 18 March 1988, Tournon changed its name to Tournon-sur-Rhône.^[4]

The Ardèche is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It has an area of 5,528.6 km² (2,135 sq mi).^[2]

The department is surrounded by 7 departments in 3 regions:

• Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
  • Loire (north)
  • Isère (northeast)
  • Drôme (east)
  • Haute-Loire (west)
• Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region
  • Vaucluse (southeast)
• Occitanie region
  • Gard (south)
  • Lozère (southwest)

The highest point in the department is Mont Mézenc (44°54′40″N 04°11′27″E / 44.91111°N 4.19083°E / 44.91111; 4.19083 (Mont Mézenc)). 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 Ardèche river flows into the Rhône (in the south east of the department).

The main rivers in Ardèche are:

• Loire, that flows through the western part of the department and ends in the Atlantic Ocean.
• Rhône, that makes the eastern border of the department and ends in the Mediterranean Sea.
• Ardèche, a tributary of the Rhône.

The Allier river forms the border of the Lozère department and the Ardèche for about 20 km (12 mi).

The Köppen 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.

Ardèche is managed by the Departmental Council of Ardèche in Privas. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 17 cantons and 339 communes (municipalities) in Ardèche.^[6]

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Ardèche department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:^[9]

The inhabitants of Ardèche are known, in French, as Ardéchois (women: Ardéchoises).^[10]

Ardèche had a population, in 2014, of 322,381,^[3] for a population density of 58.3 inhabitants/km². The arrondissement of Tournon-sur-Rhône, 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]

• 
  Annonay
• 
  Aubenas
• 
  Largentière
• 
  Privas
• 
  Tournon-sur-Rhône

• Cantons of the Ardèche department
• Arrondissements of the Ardèche department
• Communes of the Ardèche department

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ardèche.

• Departmental Council website (in French)
• Prefecture website Archived 2004-12-17 at the Wayback Machine (in French)