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. 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.

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:

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

## 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/km2. The *arrondissement* of Tournon-sur-Rhône, with 135,786 inhabitants, is the *arrondissement* with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Allier**

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  bar:1975 text:1975
  bar:1982 text:1982
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  bar:1968 from:0 till: 256927
  bar:1975 from:0 till: 257065
  bar:1982 from:0 till: 267970
  bar:1990 from:0 till: 277581
  bar:1999 from:0 till: 286023
  bar:2006 from:0 till: 305804
  bar:2014 from:0 till: 322381
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 bar:1975 at: 257065 fontsize:S text: 257,065 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1982 at: 267970 fontsize:S text: 267,970 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1990 at: 277581 fontsize:S text: 277,581 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1999 at: 286023 fontsize:S text: 286,023 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2006 at: 305804 fontsize:S text: 305,804 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2014 at: 322381 fontsize:S text: 322,381 shift:(-18,5)

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

## Gallery

File:Annonay, vue générale.JPG|Annonay
File:Château d'Aubenas.jpg|Aubenas
File:Villagelargentiere.jpg|Largentière
File:Privas2.jpg|Privas
File:Chateau tournon-6.jpg|Tournon-sur-Rhône

## Related pages
* Cantons of the Ardèche department
* Arrondissements of the Ardèche department
* Communes of the Ardèche department

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