Jura (department)

**Jura** is a department in the east of France in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. It is named after the Jura mountains.

The largest city in the department is Dole but its prefecture (capital) is the city of Lons-le-Saunier.

## History

Historically, Jura belonged to the Free County of Burgundy, known in French as the Franche-Comté. Dole was the capital until the region was conquered by Louis XIV. Louis XIV moved the capital to Besançon and Dole is now a _sous-préfecture_ of Jura.

As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the southern 2/3 of Jura spoke a dialect of Arpitan language. It continued to be spoken in rural areas into the 20th century.

Jura is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Free County. The department was created with six districts: Dole, Lons-le-Saunier, Orgelet, Poligny, Saint-Claude and Salins; the capital was Lons-le-Saunier alternating with Dole, Poligny and Salins but from 1794 only Lons-le-Saunier remained as the capital.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the six districts were changed into four _arrondissements_: Lons-le-Saunier, Dole, Poligny and Saint-Claude. On 10 September 1926, the _arrondissement_ of Poligny was eliminated.

## Geography

Jura is part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. It has an area of .

The department borders with 5 departments in two regions. The Swiss canton of Vaud is to the southeast.

- Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
    - Haute-Saône (north)
    - Doubs (east)
    - Saône-et-Loire (west)
    - Côte-d'Or (northwest)
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
    - Ain (south)

The highest point in the department is Crêt Pela (),  high; it is also the highest mountain of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. The _Crêt Pela_ mountain is in the _Forêt du Massacre_, Jura mountain range.

Many lakes can be found throughout the Jura department. The largest natural lake in the department is the Lac De Chalain. It is  long and  wide. Lac de Vouglans was formed after the building of a hydro-electric dam; it is one of the largest man-made lakes in France.

The Ain river starts in the Jura department but it is the main river of the Ain department. The Doubs also flows through a part of the department. Many tributaries of both rivers flow, partially or completely, in the Jura department.

### Climate

The climate of the Jura varies greatly by elevation. The lower valleys are temperate and pleasant, but the high mountain valleys have bitterly cold winters.

## Administration

Jura is managed by the _Departmental Council of Jura_ in Lons-le-Saunier. The department is part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 17 _cantons_ and 509 _communes_ (municipalities) in Jura.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width=60px | Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|391|Dole|Dole|83,701|1,171.2||191|
|392|Lons-le-Saunier|Lons-le-Saunier|126,071|2,825.4||258|
|393|Saint-Claude|Saint-Claude|50,909|1,002.6||60|

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

- Arbois <small>(3901)</small>
- Authume <small>(3902)</small>
- Bletterans <small>(3903)</small>
- Champagnole <small>(3904)</small>
- Dole-1 <small>(3905)</small>
- Dole-2 <small>(3906)</small>
- Lons-le-Saunier-1 <small>(3907)</small>
- Lons-le-Saunier-2 <small>(3908)</small>
- Moirans-en-Montagne <small>(3909)</small>
- Mont-sous-Vaudrey <small>(3910)</small>
- Morez <small>(3911)</small>
- Poligny <small>(3912)</small>
- Saint-Amour <small>(3913)</small>
- Saint-Claude <small>(3914)</small>
- Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux <small>(3915)</small>
- Saint-Lupicin <small>(3916)</small>
- Tavaux <small>(3917)</small>

## Demographics

Jura had a population, in 2014, of 260,681, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Lons-le-Saunier, with 126,071 inhabitants, is the _arrondissement_ with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Jura**

The cities with more than inhabitants in the department are:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Dole|23,312|Dole|
|Lons-le-Saunier|17,311|Lons-le-Saunier|
|Saint-Claude|10,096|Saint-Claude|
|Champagnole|7,908|Lons-le-Saunier|
|Hauts de Bienne|5,457|Saint-Claude|
|Poligny|4,146|Lons-le-Saunier|
|Tavaux|3,957|Dole|
|Arbois|3,463|Lons-le-Saunier|
|Les Rousses|3,276|Saint-Claude|
|Montmorot|3,019|Lons-le-Saunier|

## Economy

Jura is a wine-growing region. The Jura wines are very distinctive and unusual wines, such as vin jaune, which is made by a similar process to sherry. It develops under a flor of yeast. This is made from the local Savagnin grape variety. Other grape varieties include Poulsard, Trousseau, and Chardonnay.

## Tourism

The Jura mountains provide ample opportunities for hiking, skiing, mountain biking and other winter sports.

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Jura department
- Communes of the Jura department

## Other websites

- Prefecture website
- Departmental Council website
- Tourism website
- Tourism Information

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Jura
- **native name lang**: fr
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Lons-le-Saunier - Hôtel de ville 2.jpg
- **image alt**: City hall of Lons-le-Saunier
- **image caption**: City and town halls, City hall of Lons-le-Saunier.
- **image flag**: Flag of Jura (department).svg
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Jura.svg
- **image map**: Jura-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Jura in France
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Lons-le-Saunier
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Dole, Jura, Dole
- **p2**: Saint-Claude, Jura, Saint-Claude
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Clément Pernot
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 4999.2
- **elevation min m**: 200
- **elevation max m**: 1200
- **population total**: 260681
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Jurassiens
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 17
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 509
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-39
- **website**: [http://www.jura.fr/ www.jura.fr]