Rhône (depairtment)

Rhône (French pronunciation: ​[ʁon]; Franco-Provençal : Rôno) is a French depairtment locatit in the central Eastren region o Rhône-Alpes. It is namit efter the Rhône River. History The Rhône depairtment wis creatit on 12 August 1793 when the umwhile département o Rhône-et-Loire wis split intae twa depairtments: Rhône an Loire. Oreeginally, the eastren border o Rhône wis the ceety o Lyon itsel, so that the communes immediately east o Lyon belangit tae neighborin depairtment. Wi the growth o Lyon an the spillin o the urban aurie ower the suburban communes o Lyon, the limits o the depairtment wur judged impractical as they left the suburbs o Lyon ootside o Rhône. Thus, Rhône wis enlairged several times tae incorporate intae it the suburbs o Lyon frae neighborin depairtment: In 1852, 4 communes frae Isère wur incorporatit intae Rhône. In 1967, 23 communes o Isère and 6 communes o Ain wur incorporatit intae Rhône. In 1971, 1 commune frae Isère wis incorporatit intae Rhône. Wi these enlairgements, the aurie o the Rhône depairtment increased frae 2,791 km² tae the current 3,249 km² (16.4% lairger). At the 1999 French census, the oreeginal Rhône depairtment wad hae haed anerlie 1,071,288 inhabitants, which means that the population in the territories addit in the last twa centuries wis 507,581 inhabitants in 1999. In 2015 the Metropolis o Lyon wis separatit frae the Rhône depairtment. Lyon, awtho nae langer pairt o the department, remains its admeenistrative center. Geografie Rivers include the Rhône an the Saône (which joins the Rhône in Lyon). The neighborin depairtments are Ain, Isère, Loire an Saône-et-Loire. Afore the Metropolis o Lyon wis separatit frae the depairtment, ower 75% o its population lives athin the Lyon metropolitan aurie, which includit aw o the lairgest ceeties o the Rhône depairtment, apairt frae Villefranche-sur-Saône (2011 census). Lyon: 491,268 inhabitants Villeurbanne: 145,034 inhabitants Vénissieux: 60,159 inhabitants Vaulx-en-Velin: 42,726 inhabitants Saint-Priest: 42,535 inhabitants Caluire-et-Cuire: 41,357 inhabitants Bron: 38,881 inhabitants Villefranche-sur-Saône: 35,640 inhabitants Politics The President of the General Council is the independent centrist Senator Michel Mercier, who leads a coalition atween centrists and the local UMP, led by Dominique Perben. See an aw Cantons o the Rhône depairtment Communes o the Rhône depairtment Arrondissements o the Rhône depairtment French leid Arpitan leid Freemit airtins (in French) Prefecture website Archived 2005-11-25 at the Wayback Machine (in French) General Council website Archived 2014-12-16 at the Wayback Machine (in French) 69.pagesd.info - Webportal and directory of communes and web sites of the Rhône (69) département website Archived 2006-10-04 at the Wayback Machine