Burgundy

Burgundy () is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It was also a historic region in eastern France. The French adjective and name of the inhabitants of the region is Bourguignon.

With over , it is one of the largest region of France. It covers about 6% of the territory of the country.

The four departments in the region were Côte-d'Or, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire and Yonne. Its capital was Dijon.

History
Burgundy was named for the Germanic Burgundian tribe who moved there from an island in the Baltic Sea.  They moved when the Roman Empire fell apart to set up a kingdom with its own laws. This included part of what is now Switzerland.

During the Middle Ages, Burgundy was ruled by dukes. In the 15th century it was very powerful. The dukes ruled lands as far north as the Netherlands. After Duke Charles the Bold died when he wanted to conquer the city of Nancy in 1477, France took southern Burgundy. It was a province until 1790. The House of Habsburg got the northern part, which later became the Southern Netherlands.

Geography
The Burgundy region is one of the largest regions of Metropolitan France. It has an area of . It bordered with five other regions: Champagne-Ardenne to the north, Franche-Comté to the east, Rhône-Alpes to the southeast, Auvergne to the southwest, Centre-Val de Loire to the west and Île-de-France to the north.

Most of the territory of Burgundy is occupied by a plateau of low hills (the Burgundy Hills) surrounded by valleys of the main rivers. The valley of the Yonne river and its tributaries is to the north of the region. To the southeast is the valley of the Saône river.

In the centre of the plateau (and of the region), there is a group of low mountains: the Morvan. The highest point in Burgundy, the Haut-Folin (), is in these mountains, in the Saône-et-Loire department. It is  high.

The main rivers of the region are Yonne, Armançon, Loire, Seine and Saône.

The climate of Burgundy is an oceanic climate with temperate summers, "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

Departments
The Burgundy region is formed by four departments:
DépartementPréfectureISO3166-2Population(2012)Area(km²)Density(Inh./km²)Côte-d'OrDijon FR-21 527,403  8,763 NièvreNeversFR-58216,7866,817 Saône-et-LoireMâconFR-71555,0398,575 YonneAuxerreFR-89341,9027,427 

Demographics
The Burgundy region has a population, in 2012, of 1,641,130, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

The ten main cities in the region are:
 City  Population  (2012) Départment Dijon  152,071  Côte-d'Or Chalon-sur-Saône  44,564  Saône-et-Loire Nevers  35,327  Nièvre Auxerre  35,096  Yonne Mâcon  32,917  Saône-et-Loire Sens  25,106  Yonne Le Creusot  22,574  Saône-et-Loire Beaune  21,806  Côte-d'Or Montceau-les-Mines  18,956  Saône-et-Loire Autun  14,124  Saône-et-Loire

Economy
The region is known for its wines, both red and white. Many well-known wines, such as Macon and Beaujolais, were first made here. A few wines are also the 'Arbois'-type.  Arbois wines are between red and white and almost yellow in colour.

Gallery

References

Other websites

 Regional Council of Burgundy official website  
 Official website of Tourism of Burgundy 
 Netbourgogne.com
 About-France.com: BURGUNDY - a short guide

Category:Former administrative regions of France
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