Vienne is a department in southwestern France in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It is named after the Vienne river, the most important river in the department.

History
Vienne is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the old provinces of Poitou, Touraine and Berry, until the 15th century part of the Duchy of Aquitaine.

The new department had six districts: Châtellerault, Civray, Loudun, Lusignan, Montmorillon and Poitiers. The capital (now prefecture) was Poitiers.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the six districts were changed into five arrondissements: Châtellerault, Civray, Loudun, Montmorillon and Poitiers.

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissements of Civray and Loudun were eliminated.

Geography
Vienne is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It has an area of .

The highest point of the department is Signal de Prun,  high, in the commune of Adriers, in the Massif Central.

The department is bordered by 6 departments in three regions:
 Pays de la Loire region
 Maine-et-Loire
 Centre-Val de Loire region
 Indre-et-Loire
 Indre
 Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
 Haute-Vienne
 Charente
Deux-Sèvres

The main river in the department is the Vienne that gives its name to the department; it is one of the main tributary of the Loire river. The Vienne river flows through the department from north to south.

Climate
The climate of Poitiers is an oceanic climate with template summers, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Poitiers is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is August with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Poitiers is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

Administration
The department is managed by the Departamental Council of the Vienne in Poitiers. Vienne is part of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Administrative divisions
There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 19 cantons and 274 communes (municipalities) in Vienne.

The following is a list of the 19 cantons of the Vienne department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Chasseneuil-du-Poitou (8601)
 Châtellerault-1 (8602)
 Châtellerault-2 (8603)
 Châtellerault-3 (8604)
 Chauvigny (8605)
 Civray (8606)
 Jaunay-Clan (8607)
 Loudun (8608)
 Lusignan (8609)
 Lussac-les-Châteaux (8610)
 Migné-Auxances (8611)
 Montmorillon (8612)
 Poitiers-1 (8613)
 Poitiers-2 (8614)
 Poitiers-3 (8615)
 Poitiers-4 (8616)
 Poitiers-5 (8617)
 Vivonne (8618)
 Vouneuil-sur-Vienne (8619)

Demographics
The inhabitants of Vienne are known, in French, as Viennois (women: Viennoises).

Vienne has a population, in 2014, of 433,203, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Poitiers, with 246,038 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Châtellerault and Montmorillon, have respectively 112,313 and 74,852 inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Vienne

The 10 main cities in the department are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Vienne department
 Communes of the Vienne department

References

Other websites

 Departamental Council website 
 Prefecture website 
 Tourism official website

Departments in Nouvelle-Aquitaine