Vaucluse

The **Vaucluse** () is a department in the southeast of France in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its prefecture is Avignon.

It is named after a famous spring, in the *commune* Fontaine-de-Vaucluse. The name Vaucluse comes from the Latin *Vallis Clausa* ("closed valley") as the valley here ends in a cliff from which rises a spring.

## History
Vaucluse was not one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was created on 12 August 1793 with  four districts: Apt, Orange, Ouvèze (Carpentras), Vaucluse (Avignon); its capital was Avignon.

In 1800, with the creation of the *arrondissements* in France, the districts were changed into *arrondissements*: Avignon, Apt, Carpentras and Orange. It stands alone to the north of the Luberon range, separated by the Vaucluse Mountains, and just to the eastern base of the Dentelles de Montmirail.

There are several valleys and plain in the department. The main important plain is the plain of Comtat where is most of the population of the department. It is to the south and the west of the Mont Ventoux and has the Rhône river to the west, the Durance river to the south and the Vaucluse Mountains to the east.

The main rivers are the Rhône and the Durance, tributary of the Rhône. Other rivers are tributaries of those two rivers.

### Climate 
The climate in Avignon, at an altitude of , is of the subtype **Csa** (Mediterranean climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

The average temperature for the year in Avignon 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 .

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Avignon is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is January with an average of .

## Administration
Vaucluse is part of the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The department is managed by the *Departamental Council of the Vaucluse* in Avignon.

### Administrative divisions
There are 3 *arrondissements* (districts), 17 *cantons* and 151 *communes* (municipalities) in Vaucluse.

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Vaucluse department (with their INSEE codes),

# Apt (8401)
# Avignon-1 (8402)
# Avignon-2 (8403)
# Avignon-3 (8404)
# Bollène (8405)
# Carpentras (8406)
# Cavaillon (8407)
# Cheval-Blanc (8408)
# L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue (8409)
# Monteux (8410)
# Orange (8411)
# Pernes-les-Fontaines (8412)
# Pertuis (8413)
# Le Pontet (8414)
# Sorgues (8415)
# Vaison-la-Romaine (8416)
# Valréas (8417)

## Demographics
The inhabitants of Vaucluse are known, in French, as *Vauclusiens* (women: *Vauclusiennes*).

Vaucluse has a population, in 2014, of 554,374, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The *arrondissement* of Avignon, with 296,303 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Carpentras and Apt, have respectively 129,623 and 128,448 inhabitants.

The city with more people living in it is the capital, Avignon (92,209). The subprefectures of Carpentras and Apt have, respectively, 28,447 and 11,885 inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Vaucluse**

Colors=
  id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)
  id:darkgrey  value:gray(0.7)
  id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1)
  id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8)

ImageSize = width:500 height:373
PlotArea = left:50 bottom:30 top:30 right:30
DateFormat = x.y
Period = from:0 till:600000
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
AlignBars = justify
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50000 start:0
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:25000 start:0
BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo

BarData=
 bar:1968 text:1968
 bar:1975 text:1975
 bar:1982 text:1982
 bar:1990 text:1990
 bar:1999 text:1999
 bar:2008 text:2008
 bar:2014 text:2014

PlotData=
 color:barra width:30 align:left

 bar:1968 from:0 till: 353966
 bar:1975 from:0 till: 390446
 bar:1982 from:0 till: 427343
 bar:1990 from:0 till: 467075
 bar:1999 from:0 till: 499685
 bar:2008 from:0 till: 538902
 bar:2014 from:0 till: 554374

PlotData=
 bar:1968 at: 353966 fontsize:S text: 353,966 shift:(-12,5)
 bar:1975 at: 390446 fontsize:S text: 390,446 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1982 at: 427343 fontsize:S text: 427,343 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1990 at: 467075 fontsize:S text: 467,075 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1999 at: 499685 fontsize:S text: 499,685 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2008 at: 538902 fontsize:S text: 538,902 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2014 at: 554374 fontsize:S text: 554,374 shift:(-18,5)

The 12 most important cities in the department are:

## Economy 
Vaucluse has been always a rural department where farming is the main economic activity. The most important produces in the department are fruits (melons, cherries, strawberrys, apples, grapes and others) and vegetables (tomatoes).

Another important product of the region is wine, mainly those wines known as *Côtes-du-Rhône*.

## Gallery 

File:Saint-benezet in southeastern France.jpg|*Pont Saint-Bénezet* and *Palais des Papes* in Avignon
File:TrBogen Orange.jpg|The Triumphal Arch of Orange
File:Gordes 1.jpg|Gordes
File:140608 Mont-Ventoux-04.jpg|Mont Ventoux
File:DentelleMontmirail.jpg|*Dentelles de Montmirail*

## Related pages
* Arrondissements of the Vaucluse department
* Communes of the Vaucluse department

## References
## Other websites
* Departamental Council website  
* Prefecture website