# Istres

Istres (French pronunciation:; Occitan: Istre) is a commune in southern France, some 60 km (38 mi) northwest of Marseille. It is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture.

## Location

Istres is adjacent to the Étang de Berre lagoon (the largest in Europe) and the Étang de l'Olivier lagoon. It is located some 60 km (38 mi) north-west of Marseille, 20 km (13 mi) south-west of Salon-de-Provence, 10 km (6 mi) north of Martigues and 45 km (28 mi) south-east of Arles. Istres is also adjacent to the plaine de la Crau and the Camargue national park.

## Sports

The city has numerous sports facilities and exactly 102 clubs. Each year, a race is organized around the Étang de l'Olivier. Many runners participate. The town's main football club is FC Istres.

## Facilities

Istres is the home of the Istres-Le Tubé Air Base (BA 125). This air base was one of three utilized by NASA as a contingency landing site for the Space Shuttle in the case of a Transoceanic Abort Landing. Istres shared this responsibility with Zaragoza, Spain and Moron, Spain.

## Climate

Istres has a Mediterranean climate characterised by mild, humid winters and hot, dry summers. January and February are the coldest months, averaging temperatures of around 7 °C. July and August are the hottest months. The mean summer temperature is around 24 °C (75 °F) with an average maximum temperature around 32 °C. The amount of precipitation is around 566 mm (22 inches) per year. The mistral, a cold and often violent wind, blows through the city mostly in winter and spring.
Climate data for Istres (1981–2010 averages, extremes 1920–present) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 21.0 (69.8) | 23.3 (73.9) | 26.0 (78.8) | 29.8 (85.6) | 34.5 (94.1) | 44.3 (111.7) | 39.5 (103.1) | 39.8 (103.6) | 34.9 (94.8) | 30.9 (87.6) | 25.2 (77.4) | 20.3 (68.5) | 44.3 (111.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 11.2 (52.2) | 12.4 (54.3) | 15.6 (60.1) | 18.3 (64.9) | 22.5 (72.5) | 27.1 (80.8) | 30.2 (86.4) | 29.8 (85.6) | 25.4 (77.7) | 20.6 (69.1) | 14.8 (58.6) | 11.6 (52.9) | 20.0 (68.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 7.0 (44.6) | 7.8 (46.0) | 10.7 (51.3) | 13.3 (55.9) | 17.4 (63.3) | 21.5 (70.7) | 24.6 (76.3) | 24.2 (75.6) | 20.3 (68.5) | 16.3 (61.3) | 10.8 (51.4) | 7.7 (45.9) | 15.2 (59.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.8 (37.0) | 3.2 (37.8) | 5.7 (42.3) | 8.3 (46.9) | 12.2 (54.0) | 16.0 (60.8) | 18.9 (66.0) | 18.6 (65.5) | 15.3 (59.5) | 11.9 (53.4) | 6.9 (44.4) | 3.8 (38.8) | 10.3 (50.5) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −11.1 (12.0) | −13.6 (7.5) | −7.2 (19.0) | −1.4 (29.5) | 3.1 (37.6) | 6.7 (44.1) | 9.0 (48.2) | 9.6 (49.3) | 5.1 (41.2) | −2.0 (28.4) | −4.9 (23.2) | −12.6 (9.3) | −13.6 (7.5) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 53.9 (2.12) | 36.2 (1.43) | 33.9 (1.33) | 53.1 (2.09) | 42.2 (1.66) | 25.7 (1.01) | 10.2 (0.40) | 26.5 (1.04) | 76.8 (3.02) | 84.8 (3.34) | 60.2 (2.37) | 50.8 (2.00) | 554.3 (21.82) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) | 5.2 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 5.9 | 4.7 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 4.3 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 5.5 | 53.5 |
| Average snowy days | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 2.8 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 74 | 71 | 67 | 65 | 65 | 63 | 59 | 62 | 69 | 73 | 73 | 75 | 68 |
| Source 1: Meteo France ||||||||||||||
| Source 2: Infoclimat.fr (humidity and snowy days 1961–1990) ||||||||||||||

## Population

| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1793 | 2,081 | — |
| 1800 | 2,081 | +0.00% |
| 1806 | 1,991 | −0.73% |
| 1821 | 2,785 | +2.26% |
| 1831 | 3,023 | +0.82% |
| 1836 | 3,036 | +0.09% |
| 1841 | 3,122 | +0.56% |
| 1846 | 3,268 | +0.92% |
| 1851 | 3,389 | +0.73% |
| 1856 | 3,614 | +1.29% |
| 1861 | 3,776 | +0.88% |
| 1866 | 3,905 | +0.67% |
| 1872 | 3,937 | +0.14% |
| 1876 | 3,849 | −0.56% |
| 1881 | 3,701 | −0.78% |
| 1886 | 3,750 | +0.26% |
| 1891 | 3,405 | −1.91% |
| 1896 | 3,495 | +0.52% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1901 | 3,517 | +0.13% |
| 1906 | 3,681 | +0.92% |
| 1911 | 3,810 | +0.69% |
| 1921 | 5,462 | +3.67% |
| 1926 | 5,547 | +0.31% |
| 1931 | 7,034 | +4.86% |
| 1936 | 7,286 | +0.71% |
| 1946 | 5,749 | −2.34% |
| 1954 | 8,009 | +4.23% |
| 1962 | 9,478 | +2.13% |
| 1968 | 13,404 | +5.95% |
| 1975 | 18,129 | +4.41% |
| 1982 | 28,561 | +6.71% |
| 1990 | 35,163 | +2.63% |
| 1999 | 38,855 | +1.12% |
| 2007 | 42,775 | +1.21% |
| 2012 | 42,944 | +0.08% |
| 2017 | 43,133 | +0.09% |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. :
Source: EHESS and INSEE (1968-2017) :