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| Bouches-du-Rhône | |
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| Coat of arms of the Bouches-du-Rhône department | |
| Location | |
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| Administration | |
| Department number: | 13 |
| Region: | Provence-Alpes- Côte d'Azur |
| Prefecture: | Marseille |
| Subprefectures: | Aix-en-Provence Arles Istres |
| Arrondissements: | 4 |
| Cantons: | 57 |
| Communes: | 119 |
| President of the General Council: | Jean-Noël Guérini PS |
| Statistics | |
| Population | Ranked 3rd |
| -Jan.1, 2006 estimate -March 8, 1999 census |
1,916,494 1,835,719 |
| Population density: | 377/km² |
| Land area¹: | 5,087 km² |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km². | |
Bouches-du-Rhône (Occitan: Bocas de Ròse, lit. "Mouths of the Rhône River") is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River.
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History
History of the department
Bouches-du-Rhône is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Provence and the principalities of Orange, Martigues, and Lambesc. It lost part of its territory in 1793, including Orange and Apt, when the Vaucluse department was created.
History of the area
The history of the area is closely linked to that of Provence. Marseille has been an important harbor since before Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul. The Roman presence has left numerous monuments across the department.
Geography
The department is part of the current region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It is surrounded by the departments of Gard on the west, Vaucluse on the north, and Var on the east, and by the Mediterranean Sea on the south.
Marseille contains an important harbor.
Other cities include:
Rivers include:
- Rhône, which forms the border with the Gard department
- Rhône delta (the Camargue), in the southwestern part of the department
- Durance
- Arc
- Huveaune
Lakes include:
- Étang de Berre
- Étang de Vaccarès, in Camargue
Mountains include:
- Alpilles mountain range
- Calanques between Marseille and La Ciotat
- Corniche des Crêtes
- Garlaban
- Mont Puget
- Montagnette hills
- Sainte-Victoire mountain
- Sainte-Baume massif
Culture
The department is well represented in French art. Paul Cézanne painted numerous representations of the Mont Sainte-Victoire. Vincent van Gogh spent much of his life in Arles, painting many scenes in the area.
Tourism
- Cities of Marseille and Aix-en-Provence
- Roman and Romanesque monuments of Arles
- The Camargue and the town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer
- Alphonse Daudet's windmill in Fontvieille
- Les Baux de Provence, medieval village
- Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and the ruins of the Roman city of Glanum
- Tarascon, medieval castle and church
- Salon, city of Nostradamus and one of the biggest citadels of Provence: Château de l'Empéri
See also
- Cantons of the Bouches-du-Rhône department
- Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department
- Arrondissements of the Bouches-du-Rhône department
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bouches-du-Rhône |
Bouches-du-Rhone at the Open Directory Project
- (English) Tourism Guide
- (French) Prefecture website
- (French) General Council website
- (French) Website from the Camargue
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 6 January 2009, at 19:16.
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