Vaucluse
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This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French Wikipedia. (December 2008) After translating, {{Translated|fr|Vaucluse}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance.Translation instructions · Translate via Google |
| Vaucluse | |||
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| — Department — | |||
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| Coordinates: 44°00′N 05°10′E / 44°N 5.167°ECoordinates: 44°00′N 05°10′E / 44°N 5.167°E | |||
| Country | France | ||
| Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | ||
| Prefecture | Avignon | ||
| Subprefectures | Apt Carpentras |
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| Government | |||
| - President of the General Council | Claude Haut | ||
| Area1 | |||
| - Total | 3,567 km2 (1,377.2 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| - Total | 538,541 | ||
| - Rank | 48th | ||
| - Density | 151/km2 (391/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Department number | 84 | ||
| Arrondissements | 3 | ||
| Cantons | 24 | ||
| Communes | 151 | ||
| ^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | |||
The Vaucluse (French pronunciation: [voklyz]; Occitan: Vauclusa in classical norm or Vau-Cluso in Mistralian norm) is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.
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[edit] History
Vaucluse was created on 8 December 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes (later renamed Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). The then rural department was, like the nearby city of Lyon, a hotbed of the French Resistance in World War II and a short lived anti-Fascist state called the Vaucluse Republic occurred during the final years of the war.
[edit] Geography
Vaucluse is bordered by the Rhône to the west and the River Durance to the south. Mountains occupy a significant proportion of the eastern half of the department, with Mont Ventoux (1,912 m), also known as "the Giant of Provence", dominating the landscape. Other important mountain ranges include the Dentelles de Montmirail, the Monts de Vaucluse, and the Luberon. Fruit and vegetables are cultivated in great quantities in the lower-lying parts of the department, on one of the most fertile plains in southern France. The Vaucluse département has a rather large exclave within the Drôme department, the canton of Valréas (Enclave des Papes).
Important urban centres include Avignon, Orange, Carpentras, Cavaillon, and Apt.
[edit] Demographics
- Urban population: 416,301 (83%)
- Rural population: 83,384 (17%)
[edit] See also
- Canton of Valréas/(Enclave des Papes)
- Cantons of the Vaucluse department
- Communes of the Vaucluse department
- Arrondissements of the Vaucluse department
[edit] External links
- Vaucluse at the Open Directory Project
- (French) Website of the General Council
- (French) Prefecture website
