Côte-d'Or

**Côte-d'Or** (literally, "Slope of Gold", "Golden Slope") is a department in the eastern France. It is one of the 83 first French departments made during the French revolution and one of the eight departments of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

Its prefecture (capital) is the city of Dijon. The inhabitants of the department are called _Costaloriens_ (women:_Costaloriennes_) or _Côte-d'Oriens_ (women:_Côte d'Oriennes_).

## History

Côte-d'Or is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was formed from part of the old province of Burgundy. It was divided in seven districts: Arnay-le-Duc, Beaune, Châtillon-sur-Seine, Dijon, Is-sur-Tille, Saint-Jean-de-Losne and Semur-en-Auxois.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the seven districts were changed into four _arrondissements_: Dijon, Beaune, Châtillon-sur-Seine and Semur-en-Auxois.

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

In 1926, the _arrondissement_ of Montbard was made with the _arrondissements_ of Châtillon-sur-Seine and Semur-en-Auxois.

## Origin of name

Côte-d'Or is the only French department who was not named after a geographical feature: a river, a mountain, and so on. The name was chosen by Charles-André-Rémy Arnoult, member of the National Constituent Assembly of 1789, who suggested the name, inspired by the golden hue that took the vineyards of the region in the autumn.

The French word _côte_ means, in this case, a slope that geologists usually name with the Spanish word _cuesta_.

## Geography

Côte-d'Or is part of the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The department borders with 7 departments that are part of 2 regions:
- Grand Est region
    - Aube (north)
    - Haute-Marne (northeast)
- Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
    - Haute-Saône (east)
    - Jura (southeast)
    - Saône-et-Loire (south)
    - Nièvre (southwest)
    - Yonne (west)

The department has an area of . The highest point of the department is Mont de Gien (),  high; it is in the _commune_ Ménessaire. The lowest point of the department,  high, is where the river Saône leaves the department, in the _commune_ Chivres.

A chain of hills called the Plateau de Langres runs from north-east to south-west through the department to the north of Dijon and continues south-westwards as the Côte d'Or escarpment, which takes its name from that of the department (without the hyphen). It is the south-east facing slope of this escarpment which is the site of the celebrated Burgundy vineyards. To the south-east of the plateau and escarpment, the department lies in the broad valley of the middle section of the river Saône.

### Rivers

The main rivers of Côte-d'Or are:
- The Seine, with its source in the southern end of the Plateau de Langres, in the _commune_ Source-Seine.
    - The Aube, right tributary of the Seine.
    - The Armançon and the Serein, tributaries of the Yonne which is a left tributary of the Seine.
- The Saône, an important tributary of the Rhône. It flows through several _communes_ of the Côte-d'Or department and some of the tributaries are Vingeanne, Tille, Bèze and Ouche.
- The Arroux is a right tributary of the Loire.

### Climate

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

The average temperature for the year in Dijon 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 .

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

In the Plateau de Langres, winters are long and cold with frequent frosts.

## Administration

The department is managed by the _Departmental Council of Côte-d'Or_ in Dijon. Côte-d'Or is part of the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 23 _cantons_ and 704 _communes_ (municipalities) in Côte-d'Or.
|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width=60px | Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|211|Beaune|Beaune|97,107|2,118.3||223|
|212|Dijon|Dijon|373,574|3,049.0||228|
|213|Montbard|Montbard|60,699|3,595.9||253|

The following is a list of the 23 cantons of the Côte-d'Or department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Arnay-le-Duc <small>(2101)</small>
1. Auxonne <small>(2102)</small>
1. Beaune <small>(2103)</small>
1. Brazey-en-Plaine <small>(2104)</small>
1. Châtillon-sur-Seine <small>(2105)</small>
1. Chenôve <small>(2106)</small>
1. Chevigny-Saint-Sauveur <small>(2107)</small>
1. Dijon-1 <small>(2108)</small>
1. Dijon-2 <small>(2109)</small>
1. Dijon-3 <small>(2110)</small>
1. Dijon-4 <small>(2111)</small>
1. Dijon-5 <small>(2112)</small>
1. Dijon-6 <small>(2113)</small>
1. Fontaine-lès-Dijon <small>(2114)</small>
1. Genlis <small>(2115)</small>
1. Is-sur-Tille <small>(2116)</small>
1. Ladoix-Serrigny <small>(2117)</small>
1. Longvic <small>(2118)</small>
1. Montbard <small>(2119)</small>
1. Nuits-Saint-Georges <small>(2120)</small>
1. Saint-Apollinaire <small>(2121)</small>
1. Semur-en-Auxois <small>(2122)</small>
1. Talant <small>(2123)</small>

## Demographics

Côte d'Or has a population, in 2014, of 531,380, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Dijon, with 373,574 inhabitants, is by far the one with more inhabitants. The other two, Beaune and Montbard, have respectively 97,107 and 60,699 inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Côte-d'Or**

The main cities in the department are:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Dijon|153,668|Dijon|
|Beaune|21,579|Beaune|
|Chenôve|14,165|Dijon|
|Talant|11,346|Dijon|
|Chevigny-Saint-Sauveur|11,097|Dijon|
|Quetigny|9,675|Dijon|
|Fontaine-lès-Dijon|8,968|Dijon|
|Longvic|8,959|Dijon|
|Auxonne|7,835|Dijon|
|Saint-Apollinaire|7,353|Dijon|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Côte-d'Or department
- Communes of the Côte-d'Or department

## Other websites

- Departmental Council website
- Prefecture website
- Pays Beaunois

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Côte-d'Or
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Dijon prefecture.jpg
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Côte-d'Or department, in Dijon
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Côte-d'Or department, in Dijon
- **image flag**: Drapeau non-officiel fr département Côte-d'Or.svg
- **flag alt**: Flag
- **flag size**: 125px
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Côte-d’Or.svg
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Côte-d’Or-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Côte-d’Or in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Dijon
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Beaune
- **p2**: Montbard
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: François Sauvadet
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 8763.2
- **population total**: 531380
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Côte-d'oriens, Costaloriens
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 23
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 704
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-21
- **website**: [http://www.cotedor.fr/ http://www.cotedor.fr]