Rhône (department)

Rhône (French: [ʁon] ; Arpitan: Rôno) is a French department located in the east-central administrative region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Rhône, its prefecture is Lyon. Its sole subprefecture is Villefranche-sur-Saône. Including the Metropolis of Lyon, it had a population of 1,914,667 in 2023; excluding the Metropolis of Lyon, it had 478,313 inhabitants. History The department was created on 12 August 1793, when the former Rhône-et-Loire was split into two departments: Rhône and Loire. Originally, the eastern border of Rhône was the City of Lyon itself, so that the communes immediately east of Lyon belonged to neighbouring departments. With the growth of Lyon and the extension of its urban area into communes such as Villeurbanne, Vénissieux and Saint-Priest, the limits of the department were judged impractical as they left the suburbs of Lyon outside of Rhône. Thus, Rhône was enlarged several times to incorporate into it the suburbs of Lyon from neighbouring department: In 1852, four communes from Isère were incorporated into Rhône. In 1967, 23 communes of Isère and six communes of Ain were incorporated into Rhône. In 1971, one commune from Isère was incorporated into Rhône. With these enlargements, the area of the department increased from 2,791 km2 to 3,249 km2 (16.4% larger). At the 1999 census, the original department of Rhône would have had only 1,071,288 inhabitants, which means that the population in the territories added in the last two centuries was 507,581 inhabitants in 1999. In 2015 the Metropolis of Lyon was administratively separated from the department of Rhône, with the competencies of an intercommunality and department. It functions with its own council which does not rely on cantons. The separation made Rhône lose 16% of its territory and 75% of its population. Lyon, although no longer part of the department, remains its administrative centre, since its prefect sits there. This makes Rhône the sole department with a prefecture that is outside its territory. The departmental council also did not move to Villefranche-sur-Saône, meaning that it sits outside the territory on which it has jurisdiction. The department and metropolis share a prefect. Geography Rivers include the Rhône and the Saône (which joins the Rhône in Lyon). The neighboring departments are Ain, Isère, Loire and Saône-et-Loire. Demographics Population development since 1801 (including the Lyon Metropolis): Before the Metropolis of Lyon was separated from the department, over 75% of its population lived within Greater Lyon, which included all of the largest cities of the Rhône department, apart from Villefranche-sur-Saône. The most populous commune of the new department of Rhône is Villefranche-sur-Saône. As of 2023, there are 5 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants: Politics The President of the Departmental Council has been Christophe Guilloteau since 2015, a member of The Republicans (LR). Representation in Paris Rhône elects its representatives in Paris within the same electoral constituency as the Lyon Metropolis, the departmental constituency of Rhône (circonscription départementale du Rhône). Members of the National Assembly In the 2024 legislative election, Rhône elected the following members of the National Assembly: This list includes representatives from the Lyon Metropolis created in 2015 as a separate collectivity. Tourism See also Cantons of the Rhône department Communes of the Rhône department Arrondissements of the Rhône department References External links Prefecture website (in French) Departmental Council website (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 (in French)