Ain

**Ain** is a department in the east of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It is named after the river Ain. Its prefecture is Bourg-en-Bresse.

## History

Ain is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Bourg-en-Bresse as is capital. It was formed with four former provinces: Bresse, Bugey, Dombes, Pays de Gex and part of the province of Franc-Lyonnais.

It was divided in nine districts: Pont-de-Vaux, Bourg, Nantua, Gex, Belley, Saint-Rambert, Montluel, Trévoux and Châtillon-les-Dombes.

The department was called _départment of Bresse_ but in 1791 was changed to its present name: _départment de l'Ain_.

In 1798, Gex was separated from Ain for the creation of the old department of Léman.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the nine districts were changed into four _arrondissements_: Bourg, Belley, Nantua and Trévoux.

The department of Léman was eliminated in 1814 and Gex was again part of the department of Ain. In 1815, some _communes_ of Gex are passed to Switzerland and the _arrondissement_ of Gex is created.

On 10 September 1926, the _arrondissements_ of Gex and Trévoux were eliminated but in 1933 Gex was made again an _arrondissement_.

## Geography

Ain is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It has an area of .

The department borders with Switzerland and 6 other departments in 2 regions:
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
    - Haute-Savoie (east)
    - Savoie (southeast)
    - Isère (south)
    - Rhône (southwest)
- Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
    - Jura (north)
    - Saône-et-Loire (northwest)

The territory of the Ain department is formed by five regions:
1. Bresse, a plain between the Saône river to the east and the Jura mountains to the west.
1. Bugey-Valromey, surrounded by the Rhône and the Ain rivers, in the southern end of the Jura mountains.
1. Dombes-Plain of the Ain, in the southeast of the department, surrounded by the Rhône and the Saône rivers. Here there are many ponds and small lakes where fishes are commercially grown.
1. Pays de Gex. It has the Swiss border to the east, the mountains of Bugey to the west and the Jura mountains to the north. Here is the highest point of the Jura mountains and of the Ain department: _Crêt de la Neige_ (),  high.
1. Revermont. Here there are two ranges of low mountains that go from north to south with a valley between them: the valley of the Suran river. This region is between the Bresse and Bugey-Valromey regions.

The lowest point of the department is on the Rhône river,  high.

Several rivers flow through the department; the main rivers are the Rhône, the Ain and the Saône. The largest natural lake is the Nantua lake, with an area of .

### Climate

The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Château-Gaillard (Ain) is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Marine West Coast Climate) and of the subtype **Cfb**.

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Château-Gaillard 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 .

The average temperature for the year in Château-Gaillard 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

Ain is managed by the _Departmental Council of Ain_ in Bourg-en-Bresse. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

### Administrative divisions

There are 4 _arrondissements_ (districts), 23 _cantons_ and 410 _communes_ (municipalities) in Ain.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density (Inh./km²) !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|011|Belley|Belley|98,110|1,394.5||115|
|012|Bourg-en-Bresse|Bourg-en-Bresse|354,177|3,104.8||201|
|013|Gex|Gex|89,200|426.2||27|
|014|Nantua|Nantua|84,640|837.0||65|

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

1. Ambérieu-en-Bugey <small>(0101)</small>
1. Attignat <small>(0102)</small>
1. Bellegarde-sur-Valserine <small>(0103)</small>
1. Belley <small>(0104)</small>
1. Bourg-en-Bresse-1 <small>(0105)</small>
1. Bourg-en-Bresse-2 <small>(0106)</small>
1. Ceyzériat <small>(0107)</small>
1. Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne <small>(0108)</small>
1. Gex <small>(0109)</small>
1. Hauteville-Lompnes <small>(0110)</small>
1. Lagnieu <small>(0111)</small>
1. Meximieux <small>(0112)</small>
1. Miribel <small>(0113)</small>
1. Nantua <small>(0114)</small>
1. Oyonnax <small>(0115)</small>
1. Pont-d'Ain <small>(0116)</small>
1. Replonges <small>(0117)</small>
1. Saint-Étienne-du-Bois <small>(0118)</small>
1. Saint-Genis-Pouilly <small>(0119)</small>
1. Thoiry <small>(0120)</small>
1. Trévoux <small>(0121)</small>
1. Villars-les-Dombes <small>(0122)</small>
1. Vonnas <small>(0123)</small>

## Demographics

There is not an official demonym for the inhabitants of the Ain department; people are named after the regions:
- Bresse - Bressans
- Bugey - Bugistes
- Revermont - Revermontois
- Dombes - Dombistes
- Pays de Gex - Gessiens

Ain had a population, in 2014, of 626,127, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Bourg-en-Bresse, with 354,177 inhabitants, is the _arrondissement_ with more inhabitants.

The _communes_ in the department with more than 8,000 inhabitants are:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Bourg-en-Bresse|40,967|Bourg-en-Bresse|
|Oyonnax|22,485|Nantua|
|Ambérieu-en-Bugey|14,022|Belley|
|Bellegarde-sur-Valserine|11,745|Nantua|
|Gex|11,141|Gex|
|Saint-Genis-Pouilly|9,854|Gex|
|Miribel|9,425|Bourg-en-Bresse|
|Ferney-Voltaire|9,337|Gex|
|Divonne-les-Bains|9,100|Gex|
|Belley|8,983|Belley|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Ain department
- Communes of the Ain department

## Other websites

- Prefecture website
- General Council website
- Tourism site

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Ain
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Préfecture.Ain.JPG
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Ain department, in Bourg-en-Bresse
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Ain department, in Bourg-en-Bresse
- **image flag**: Flag of Ain variant.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Ain.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Ain-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Ain in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Bourg-en-Bresse
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Belley
- **p2**: Gex, Ain, Gex
- **p3**: Nantua
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Jean Deguerry
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 5762.4
- **population total**: 626127
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 4
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 23
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 410
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-01
- **website**: [http://www.ain.fr/ www.ain.fr/]