Ardèche

**Ardèche** () is a département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. It is named after the Ardèche river.

## History

The department of Ardèche was created on 4 March 1790 with seven districts: Annonay, Aubenas, L'Argentière, Privas, Tournon, Vernoux and Villeneuve-de-Berg. The capital was Privas alternating with Annonay, Aubenas, Le Bourg(-Saint-Andéol) and Tournon. In August of that year, the number of districts was reduced to three: Mézenc, Aubenas and Tanargue. In September, Privas became the only capital of the department.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the three districts were changed into three _arrondissements_: Privas, L'Argentière and Tournon.

On 18 March 1988, Tournon changed its name to Tournon-sur-Rhône.

## Geography

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

The department is surrounded by 7 departments in 3 regions:

- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
    - Loire (north)
    - Isère (northeast)
    - Drôme (east)
    - Haute-Loire (west)
- Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region
    - Vaucluse (southeast)
- Occitanie region
    - Gard (south)
    - Lozère (southwest)

The highest point in the department is  _Mont Mézenc_ (). It is  high.; it is in the northwest of the department, on the border with the Haute-Loire department. The lowest point,  above sea level, is where the Ardèche river flows into the Rhône (in the south east of the department).

The main rivers in Ardèche are:
- Loire, that flows through the western part of the department and ends in the Atlantic Ocean.
- Rhône, that makes the eastern border of the department and ends in the Mediterranean Sea.
- Ardèche, a tributary of the Rhône.

The Allier river forms the border of the Lozère department and the Ardèche for about .

### Climate

The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Privas is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype **Cfb**. The southern part of the department has a Mediterranean climate of the subtype **Csb**.

## Administration

Ardèche is managed by the _Departmental Council of Ardèche_ in Privas. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 17 _cantons_ and 339 _communes_ (municipalities) in Ardèche.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|071|Largentière|Largentière|98,821|2,511.3||153|
|072|Privas|Privas|87,774|1,159.4||66|
|073|Tournon-sur-Rhône|Tournon-sur-Rhône|135,786|1,858.0||120|

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Ardèche department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Annonay-1 <small>(0701)</small>
1. Annonay-2 <small>(0702)</small>
1. Aubenas-1 <small>(0703)</small>
1. Aubenas-2 <small>(0704)</small>
1. Bourg-Saint-Andéol <small>(0705)</small>
1. Le Cheylard <small>(0706)</small>
1. Guilherand-Granges <small>(0707)</small>
1. Lamastre <small>(0708)</small>
1. Le Pouzin <small>(0709)</small>
1. Privas <small>(0710)</small>
1. Sarras <small>(0711)</small>
1. Le Teil <small>(0712)</small>
1. Thueyts <small>(0713)</small>
1. Tournon-sur-Rhône <small>(0714)</small>
1. Vallon-Pont-d'Arc <small>(0715)</small>
1. Les Vans <small>(0716)</small>
1. La Voulte-sur-Rhône <small>(0717)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of Ardèche are known, in French, as _Ardéchois_ (women: _Ardéchoises_).

Ardèche had a population, in 2014, of 322,381, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Tournon-sur-Rhône, with 135,786 inhabitants, is the _arrondissement_ with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Allier**

The _communes_ in the department with more than 7,000 inhabitants are:

|City|Population (2014)|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Annonay|16,302|Tournon-sur-Rhône|
|Aubenas|11,917|Largentière|
|Guilherand-Granges|10,841|Tournon-sur-Rhône|
|Tournon-sur-Rhône|10,558|Tournon-sur-Rhône|
|Le Teil|8,376|Privas|
|Privas|8,313|Privas|
|Saint-Péray|7,494|Tournon-sur-Rhône|
|Bourg-Saint-Andéol|7,236|Tournon-sur-Rhône|

## Related pages

- Cantons of the Ardèche department
- Arrondissements of the Ardèche department
- Communes of the Ardèche department

## Other websites

- Departmental Council website
- Prefecture website

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Ardèche
- **native name lang**: fr
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image flag**: Drapeau fr département Ardèche.svg
- **flag alt**: Flag of Ardèche
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Ardèche.svg
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Ardèche-Position.svg
- **map alt**: Location of Ardèche in France
- **map caption**: Location of Ardèche in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Privas
- **parts type**: Subprefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Largentière
Tournon-sur-Rhône
- **leader party**: Socialist Party (France), PS
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Laurent Ughetto
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 5528.6
- **population total**: 322381
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Ardéchois
- **blank name sec1**: Departments of France, Department number
- **blank info sec1**: 07
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: arrondissements of the Ardèche department, 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: cantons of the Ardèche department, 17
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: communes of the Ardèche department, 339
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **footnotes**: French Land Register data, which exclude estuary, estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km<sup>2</sup>