Savoie is a département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France, bordering  Italy.

Name 
Before 1860, the territory of the modern Haute-Savoie and Savoie departments had been part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, as a Duchy, since 1713. Annexation of the region by France was made in 1860. In that year, the Emperor Napoléon III divided the territory in two departments: Savoie, to the south, with the city of Chambéry, and Haute-Savoie, to the north, with the city of Annecy.

History
The department of Savoie was created in 1860 from the southern part of the Duchy of Sardinia with four arrondissements: Chambéry, Albertville, Moûtiers and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. The capital was Chambéry.

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissement of Moûtiers was eliminated.

During World War II, the department was occupied by fascist Italy from November 1942 to September 1943.

Geography
The Savoie is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It has an area of .

The department borders with the Ain, Isère and Haute-Savoie departments in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, the Hautes-Alpes in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region and with Italy (Piedmont region).

Much of Savoie is covered by mountains; the highest mountain in the department is La Grande Casse () in the Alps; it is  high.

The main rivers in the department are the Isère and its tributary Arch; both flow through the department from east to west. They are within the watershed of the Rhône river. The main lake in the department is the Lac du Bourget, the largest and deepest lake entirely in France.

Climate
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Chambéry is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype Cfb.

Administration
Savoie is managed by the Departmental Council of Savoie in Chambéry. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Savoie is a member of the UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization) and maintains relations with several other underrepresented and unrepresented nations.

Administrative divisions
There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 19 cantons and 285 communes (municipalities) in Savoie.

The following is a list of the 19 cantons of the Savoie department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Aix-les-Bains-1 (7301)
 Aix-les-Bains-2 (7302)
 Albertville-1 (7303)
 Albertville-2 (7304)
 Bourg-Saint-Maurice (7305)
 Bugey savoyard (7306)
 Chambéry-1 (7307)
 Chambéry-2 (7308)
 Chambéry-3 (7309)
 Modane (7310)
 Montmélian (7311)
 La Motte-Servolex (7312)
 Moûtiers (7313)
 Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin (7314)
 La Ravoire (7315)
 Saint-Alban-Leysse (7316)
 Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (7317)
 Saint-Pierre-d'Albigny (7318)
 Ugine (7319)

Demographics
The inhabitants of Savoie are known, in French, as Savoyards (women: Savoyardes).

Savoie had a population, in 2014, of 426,924, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Chambéry, with 271,647 inhabitants, is the arrondissement with more inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Haute-Savoie

The communes in the department with more inhabitants are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Savoie department
 Communes of the Savoie department

References

Other websites

 Departmental Council website 
 Prefecture website 

Departments in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes