Drôme: French department

Its prefecture is the city of Valence.

Drôme
Department
Valence, capital of Drôme.
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Drôme in France
Coordinates: 44°45′N 05°10′E / 44.750°N 5.167°E / 44.750; 5.167
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Département	4 March 1790
Prefecture	Valence
Subprefectures	Die, Nyons
Government
• President	Marie-Pierre Mouton
Area
• Total	6,530.0 km2 (2,521.2 sq mi)
Population  (2014)
• Total	499,159
• Rank	33
• Density	76/km2 (200/sq mi)
Demonym	Drômois
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-26
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	19
Communes	367
Website	http://www.ladrome.fr/

Drôme is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790; it was made with part of the old French province of Dauphiné. It was divided in 6 districts: Romans, Valence, Die, Buis, Montélimar,and Crest. The capital was Chabeuil but in the same year the capital was moved to Valence.

With the creation of the arrondissements, the 6 districts became four arrondissements: Valence, Die, Montélimar and Nyons. In 1926, the arrondissement of Montélimar was eliminated.

Drôme is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in southeastern France, with an area of 6,530 km² (2,521 sq mi).

The department borders with 5 other departments in 2 regions:

• Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
  • Hautes-Alpes (east)
  • Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (southeast)
  • Vaucluse (south)
• Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
  • Ardèche (west)
  • Isère ( north and east)

There are 5 natural regions in Drôme; they are, from north to south:

1. A region with hills.
2. The plain of Valence to the west.
3. The Vercors Massif to the east.
4. The central part of the department formed by the valley of the Drôme river and the highest mountains in the department.
5. The Drôme provençale to the south.

The highest point in the department is Rocher Rond, (44°41′48″N 05°49′38″E / 44.69667°N 5.82722°E / 44.69667; 5.82722 (Rocher Rond)). It is 2,453 m (8,048 ft) high it is on the border with the Hautes-Alpes department.

The main rivers of Drôme are:

• Rhône, in the western part of the department; in the department, it is only 108 km (67 mi) long.
• Drôme river, a tributary of the Rhône.
• Isère river, another tributary of the Rhône.

Climate

The climate of the Drôme department, in the city of Valence, is an oceanic climate, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

The average temperature for the year in Valence, at an altitude of 167 m (548 ft), is 12.8 °C (55.0 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 22.2 °C (72.0 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 3.9 °C (39.0 °F).

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Valence is 845.8 mm (33.3 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is September with 129.5 mm (5.1 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of 43.2 mm (1.7 in).

Drôme is part of the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The department is managed by the Departamental Council of the Drôme in Valence.

Administrative divisions

There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 23 cantons and 353 communes (municipalities) in Drôme.

The following is a list of the 19 cantons of the Drôme department (with their INSEE codes), in France, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

The inhabitants of Drôme are known, in French, as Drômois (women: Drômoises).

Drôme has a population, in 2014, of 499,159, for a population density of 76.4 inhabitants/km². The arrondissement of Valence, with 314,233 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Nyons and Die, have respectively 141,971 and 42,955 inhabitants.

The city with more people living in it is the capital, Valence (62,150 inhabitants). The subprefectures of Nyons and Die have, respectively, 6,641 and 4,516 inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Drôme

The 10 most important cities in the department are:

• Arrondissements of the Drôme department
• Communes of the Drôme department