Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône (, lit. "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region with more people living in it.

History
Bouches-du-Rhône is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was made with part of the old province of Provence and was divided in six districts: Tarascon, Apt, Aix, Marseille, Salon and Arles, with Aix as is capital.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the six districts were changed into three arrondissements: Marseille, Aix and Tarascon. The prefecture was moved from Aix to Marseille.

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

In 1817, the subprefecture of Tarascon was moved to Arles. The arrondissement of Istres was created in 1981.

Geography
The Bouches-du-Rhône department is part of the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It has an area of .

The department is surrounded by 3 departments in 2 regions:
 Occitanie region
 Gard, to the west
 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region
 Vaucluse to the north
 Var to the east

The Mediterranean Sea is to the south and there is  of coast.

The highest mountain in Bouches-du-Rhône is Bertagne () in the Sainte-Baume Mountains. Bertagne is in the east of the department near the border with the Var department. It is   high.

The Rhone River is the western border of the department, and Durance River is its northern border. South of Arles, the Rhone divides into the Grand Rhone (Large Rhone) and the Petit Rhone (Small Rhone). The area between the Grand Rhone and the Petit Rhone is a large wetland called the Camargue.

The Frioul Archipelago is a group of 4 islands in the Mediterranean Sea almost   from Marseille.

Climate
The type of climate around Marseille is called the Mediterranean climate, with a subtype called Csa. The area around Marseille, at an altitude of about , has dry summers.

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Marseille is . October has the highest average precipitation with  and July the lowest with .

The average temperature in Marseille is . July is warmest, with an average temperature of . January is coolest, with an average temperature of .

Administration
Bouches-du-Rhône is managed by a departmental council in Marseille. The department is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.

Administrative divisions
Bouches-du-Rhône has 4 arrondissements (districts), 29 cantons, and 135 communes (municipalities).

+ Arrondissements of Bouches-du-Rhône INSEEcode  Arrondissement  Capital  Population(2014)  Area(km²)  Density(Inh./km²)  Communes 131  Aix-en-Provence  Aix-en-Provence  429,436  1,532.4    44 132  Arles  Arles  205,529  2,284.3    36 133  Marseille  Marseille  1,058,615  671.6    37 134  Istres  Istres  312,489  599.3    18

Recently the French government decided to reorganise all the nation's cantons. This change went into effect in March 2015. These are the 29 reorganised cantons of the Bouches-du-Rhône department:

 Aix-en-Provence-1 (1301)
 Aix-en-Provence-2 (1302)
 Allauch (1303)
 Arles (1304)
 Aubagne (1305)
 Berre-l'Étang (1306)
 Châteaurenard (1307)
 La Ciotat (1308)
 Gardanne (1309)
 Istres (1310)
 Marignane (1311)
 Marseille-1 (1312)
 Marseille-2 (1313)
 Marseille-3 (1314)
 Marseille-4 (1315)
 Marseille-5 (1316)
 Marseille-6 (1317)
 Marseille-7 (1318)
 Marseille-8 (1319)
 Marseille-9 (1320)
 Marseille-10 (1321)
 Marseille-11 (1322)
 Marseille-12 (1323)
 Martigues (1324)
 Pélissanne (1325)
 Salon-de-Provence-1 (1326)
 Salon-de-Provence-2 (1327)
 Trets (1328)
 Vitrolles (1329)

Demographics
People who live in the Bouches-du-Rhône department are known, in French, as Buccorhodaniens (men) or Buccorhodaniennes (women).

In 2014, Bouches-du-Rhône had 2,006,069 people living there,  or  people/km2. In the same year, the Marseille arrondissement had the highest population of the four arrondissements: 1,058,615.

Population growth in Bouches-du-Rhône

These are the 10 communes with the highest population:

 City Population  (2014) Arrondissement Marseille  858,120  Marseille Aix-en-Provence  142,149  Aix-en-Provence Arles  52,697  Arles Martigues  48,870  Istres Aubagne  45,128  Marseille Salon-de-Provence  44,187  Aix-en-Provence Istres  43,463  Istres La Ciotat  35,631  Marseille Vitrolles  34,236  Istres Marignane  34,154  Istres

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Bouches-du-Rhône department
 Communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône department

References

Other websites

 Departmental Council website  
 Prefecture of the Bouches-du-Rhône department