Bouches-du-Rhône (, lit. "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region with more people living in it.

History
Bouches-du-Rhône is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was made with part of the old province of Provence and was divided in six districts: Tarascon, Apt, Aix, Marseille, Salon and Arles, with Aix as is capital.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the six districts were changed into three arrondissements: Marseille, Aix and Tarascon. The prefecture was moved from Aix to Marseille.

After the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), the department was occupied by the Austrian army from June 1815 to November 1818.

In 1817, the subprefecture of Tarascon was moved to Arles. The arrondissement of Istres was created in 1981.

Geography
The Bouches-du-Rhône department is part of the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It has an area of .

The department is surrounded by the 3 departments in 2 regions:
 Occitanie region
 Gard, to the west
 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region
 Vaucluse to the north
 Var to the east

The Mediterranean Sea is to the south and there is  of coast.

The highest mountain in Bouches-du-Rhône is Bertagne () in the eastern part of the department, near the border with the Var department in the massif de la Sainte-Baume; it is  high.

The department is bordered by the Rhone river to the west and the Durance river to the north. The Rhone divides into the Grand Rhone and Petit Rhone south of Arles; the area between forms the Camargue, a large wetland.

The Frioul archipelago is a group of 4 islands in the Mediterranean Sea approximately at  from Marseille.

Climate
The area around Marseille, at an altitude of about , is characterized by climates with dry summers. The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Marseille is a "Mediterranean climate" and of the subtype "Csa".

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

The average temperature for the year in Marseille 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
Bouches-du-Rhône is managed by the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône in Marseille. The department is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.

Administrative divisions
There are 4 arrondissements (districts), 29 cantons and 135 communes (municipalities) in Bouches-du-Rhône.

The following is a list of the 29 cantons of the Bouches-du-Rhône department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Aix-en-Provence-1 (1301)
 Aix-en-Provence-2 (1302)
 Allauch (1303)
 Arles (1304)
 Aubagne (1305)
 Berre-l'Étang (1306)
 Châteaurenard (1307)
 La Ciotat (1308)
 Gardanne (1309)
 Istres (1310)
 Marignane (1311)
 Marseille-1 (1312)
 Marseille-2 (1313)
 Marseille-3 (1314)
 Marseille-4 (1315)
 Marseille-5 (1316)
 Marseille-6 (1317)
 Marseille-7 (1318)
 Marseille-8 (1319)
 Marseille-9 (1320)
 Marseille-10 (1321)
 Marseille-11 (1322)
 Marseille-12 (1323)
 Martigues (1324)
 Pélissanne (1325)
 Salon-de-Provence-1 (1326)
 Salon-de-Provence-2 (1327)
 Trets (1328)
 Vitrolles (1329)

Demographics
The inhabitants of the Bouches-du-Rhône department are known, in French, as Buccorhodaniens or (women: Buccorhodaniennes),

Bouches-du-Rhône had a population, in 2014, of 2,006,069, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Marseille, with 1,058,615 inhabitants, is the arrondissement with more inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Bouches-du-Rhône

The 10 communes with more inhabitants in the Bouches-du-Rhône department are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Bouches-du-Rhône department
 Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department

References

Other websites

 Departmental Council website 
 Prefecture of the Bouches-du-Rhône department 

Departments in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur