Var (department)

The **Var** is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Provence in southeastern France. It takes its name from the river Var, which used to flow along its eastern border, but the border was moved in 1860.

Its prefecture is the city of Toulon.

## History

Var is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Toulon as is capital. It was formed with part of the former province of Provence.

It was divided in nine districts: Toulon, Grasse, Hyères, Draguignan, Brignoles, Saint-Maximin, Fréjus, Saint-Paul-lès-Vence and Barjols.

The capital was moved, in 1793, from Toulon to Grasse and, in 1795, from Grasse to Brignoles. In 1797, the capital was moved again, to Draguignan.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the nine districts were changed into four _arrondissements_: Brignoles, Draguignan, Grasse and Toulon.

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

On 15 June 1860, the _arrondissement_ of Grasse passed to the new department of Alpes-Maritimes. With this change, the Var river does not flow any longer through the department named after it.

On 10 September 1926, the _arrondissement_ of Brignoles was eliminated but in 1974 Brignoles was made again an _arrondissement_ and the capital was moved from Draguignan to Toulon. The Var is the only French department that has had four different capitals: Toulon, Grasse, Brignoles and Draguignan; now Toulon is the prefecture (capital) and Brignoles and Draguignan are subprefectures. Grasse is now a subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department.

During World War II, the department was occupied by the fascist Italy, from November 1942 to December 1943. In 1944, the German army occupied the territory of the Var department.

## Geography

Var is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It has an area of .

The department borders with 3 other departments, all in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region:
- Alpes-Maritimes (east)
- Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (north)
- Bouches-du-Rhône (west)

It also borders the Vaucluse department, to the nortwest, but only for a very short distance.

The highest point of the department is _Mont de Lachens_ () with an altitude of  high.; it is in the _commune_ of Mons in the northeast of the department near the border with the Alpes-Maritimes department.

The _Îles d'Hyères_ is a group of three islands off Hyères. The islands are named Porquerolles, Port-Cros, and Île du Levant. Together, they make up an area of . They can be reached by boat from either Hyères or Toulon.

### Climate

The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Toulon is a "Mediterranean climate" and of the subtype "Csa".

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

The average temperature for the year in Toulon 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

Var is managed by the _Departmental Council of Ardennes_ in Toulon. The department is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 23 _cantons_ and 153 _communes_ (municipalities) in Var.
|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population (2014) !! width="50px" | Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|831|Draguignan|Draguignan|321,569|2,416.5||54|
|832|Toulon|Toulon|565,669|1,295.8||32|
|833|Brignoles|Brignoles|150,974|2,260.2||67|

The following is a list of the 23 cantons of the **Var** department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Brignoles <small>(8301)</small>
1. La Crau <small>(8302)</small>
1. Draguignan <small>(8303)</small>
1. Flayosc <small>(8304)</small>
1. Fréjus <small>(8305)</small>
1. La Garde <small>(8306)</small>
1. Garéoult <small>(8307)</small>
1. Hyères <small>(8308)</small>
1. Le Luc <small>(8309)</small>
1. Ollioules <small>(8310)</small>
1. Roquebrune-sur-Argens <small>(8311)</small>
1. Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer <small>(8312)</small>
1. Sainte-Maxime <small>(8313)</small>
1. Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume <small>(8314)</small>
1. Saint-Raphaël <small>(8315)</small>
1. La Seyne-sur-Mer-1 <small>(8316)</small>
1. La Seyne-sur-Mer-2 <small>(8317)</small>
1. Solliès-Pont <small>(8318)</small>
1. Toulon-1 <small>(8319)</small>
1. Toulon-2 <small>(8320)</small>
1. Toulon-3 <small>(8321)</small>
1. Toulon-4 <small>(8322)</small>
1. Vidauban <small>(8323)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of the Var department are known, in French, as _Varois_ (women: _Varoises_),

Var had a population, in 2014, of 1,038,212, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Toulon, with 565,669 inhabitants, is the _arrondissement_ with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Var**

The _communes_ with more inhabitants in the department are:

|City|Population (2014)|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Toulon|165,584|Toulon|
|La Seyne-sur-Mer|64,675|Toulon|
|Hyères|56,502|Toulon|
|Fréjus|53,511|Draguignan|
|Draguignan|40,054|Draguignan|
|Saint-Raphaël|34,567|Draguignan|
|Six-Fours-les-Plages|33,652|Toulon|
|La Garde|25,145|Toulon|
|La Valette-du-Var|22,271|Toulon|
|La Crau|16,749|Toulon|
|Brignoles|16,690|Brignoles|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Var department
- Communes of the Var department

## Other websites

- Departmental Council website

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Var
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Toulon place de la liberté-fontaine.jpg
- **image alt**: Place de la Liberté in Toulon
- **image caption**: _Place de la Liberté_ in Toulon
- **image flag**: Proposition de drapeau pour le Var.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **image shield**: Blason departement Var.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Var-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Var in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Toulon
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Brignoles
- **p2**: Draguignan
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Marc Giraud
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 5972.5
- **population total**: 1038212
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: _Varois_
- **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**: 153
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-83
- **website**: [http://www.var.fr/ www.var.fr]