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Ardèche
Coat of arms of the Ardèche department
Location
Location of Ardèche in France
Administration
Department number: 07
Region: Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture: Privas
Subprefectures: Largentière
Tournon-sur-Rhône
Arrondissements: 3
Cantons: 33
Communes: 339
President of the General Council: Pascal Terrasse
PS
Statistics
Population Ranked 76th
 -1999 286,023
Population density: 52/km²
Land area¹: 5529 km²
¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km². The term administration, as used in the context of Government, differs according to Jurisdiction. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, Rhône-Alpes ( Franco-Provençal: Rôno-Arpes; Occitan: Ròse Aups) is one of the 26 regions of France, located on the A prefecture ( préfecture) in France can refer to: the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a ''département'' Privas is a commune of France, préfecture (capital of the Ardèche département. Subprefectures (sous-préfectures are the administrative towns of arrondissements in France that do not contain the prefecture for its department. Largentière ( L'Argentièira in Occitan) is a commune and sub-prefecture of the Ardèche department in the Rhône-Alpes Tournon-sur-Rhône is a commune in the Ardèche department in southeastern France. The 100 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts. The 3 arrondissements of the Ardèche department are Arrondissement of Largentière, ( subprefecture: Largentière The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 341 arrondissements and 100 departments. The following is a list of the 33 cantons of the Ardèche department, in France, sorted by arrondissement: Arrondissement The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The following is a list of the 339 communes of the Ardèche département in France. In France, the President of the General Council (French Président du conseil général) is the locally-elected head of the General Council, the assembly The Socialist Party ( Parti Socialiste, PS is the largest left-wing political party in France. As of January 1, 2008, 64473140 people live in the French Republic. To help compare Orders of magnitude of different geographical regions we list here areas between 1000 km2 and 10000 km2 An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open
France

Ardèche (Occitan and Arpitan: Ardecha) is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River. Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan Franco-Provençal ( Francoprovençal) or Arpitan ( Vernacular: frp francoprovençâl arpitan patouès; francoprovenzale arpitano dialetto In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Ardèche ( Occitan: Ardecha) is a 125 km long River in south-central France, right tributary of the Rhône River.

Contents

History

The area has been inhabited by humans at least since the Upper Paleolithic, as attested by the famous cave paintings at Chauvet Pont d'Arc. The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe Africa The Chauvet Cave or Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave is located at N 44° 21' and E 4° 29' 24" near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc, in the Ardèche département in southern The plateau of the Ardeche River has extensive standing stones (dolmens and menhirs) likely erected by the Celts thousands of years ago . The river is the largest natural canyon in Europe and the caves that dot the cliffs (which go as high as 1,000 feet) are known for signs of prehistoric inhabitants (arrowheads and silex knives are often found. )

The Vivarais, as the Ardèche is still called, takes its name and coat-of-arms from Viviers, which was the capital of the Gaulish tribe of Helvii, part of Gallia Narbonensis, after the destruction of their previous capital at Alba-la-Romaine. Viviers (also Viviers-sur-Rhône) is a commune in the département of Ardèche in southern France. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Gallia Narbonensis ( Narbonese Gaul) was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. Alba-la-Romaine is a commune in the Ardèche department in southern France. Saint Andéol, a disciple of St. Polycarp, is supposed to have evangelized the Vivarais during the reign of Emperor Septimius Severus, and was supposedly martyred in 208. Bourg-Saint-Andéol is a commune in the Ardèche department in the Rhône Valley in southern France. Saint Polycarp of Smyrna (ca 69 – ca 155 was a second century Bishop of Smyrna. Lucius Septimius Severus (or rarely Severus I) ( April 11 145 - February 4 211) was a Roman general and Roman Emperor The term martyr ( Greek μάρτυς martys "witness" is most commonly used today to describe an individual who sacrifices their life (or personal freedom His body was buried by the Blessed Tullie. Auxonius, in 430, transferred the see to Viviers as a result of the problems suffered at its previous site in Alba Augusta.

After a period of eclipse, Viviers was re-established in 1822 as the site of the bishopric see of Ardèche, which it retains to this day.

The area of the Vivarais suffered greatly in the 9th century with raids from Magyar Hungary and Saracen slavers operating from the coast of Provence resulting in an overall depopulation of the region. Hungarians (or Magyars, magyarok are an Ethnic group primarily associated with Hungary. Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Saracen was a term used by Europeans in the Middle Ages for Fatimids at first then later for all who professed the religion of Islam. Provence ( Provençal Occitan: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm is a region of southeastern France Depopulation is a term used to describe any great reduction in a human population

In the early 10th Century, economic recovery saw the building of many Romanesque churches in the region including Ailhon, Mercuer, St Julien du Serre, Balazuc, Niègles and Rochecolombe. Regional characteristics of Romanesque architecture|Romanesque art Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which The medieval county of Viviers or Vivarais at this time was administratively a part of the Kingdom of Arles, formed in 933 with the fusion by Rudolph II of Burgundy of the realms of Provence and Burgundy and bequeathed by its last monarch Rudolph III of Burgundy to the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II in 1032. The Kingdom of Arles ( Arelat) was a Frankish dominion surrounding Arles, established in 933 by combining Upper and Lower Burgundy Rudolf II (died July 11, 937) was king of Upper Burgundy (912&ndash937 Lower Burgundy ( Provence) (933&ndash937 and Italy (effective Provence ( Provençal Occitan: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm is a region of southeastern France Burgundy (Bourgogne Burgund is a region historically situated in modern-day France and Switzerland, inhabited in turn by Celts ( Gauls) Rudolf III of Burgundy (called Rudolf der Faule in German and Rodolphe le Fainéant meaning sluggard or do-nothing or - le Pieux the Pious in French The Holy Roman Empire ( HRE; German Heiliges Römisches Reich (HRR, Latin Sacrum Romanum Imperium (SRI was a union of territories in Conrad II (c 990&ndash June 4, 1039) was the son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace who inherited Locally throughout this period the Church played an important role. John II (Giovanni of Siena), Cardinal and Bishop of Viviers (1073-95), accompanied Pope Urban II to the Council of Clermont. Pope The Council of Clermont was a mixed Synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, which was held on November 27 1095 at Clermont France It was later held in fief by the Counts of Toulouse, who lost it to the French crown in 1229. The first comites ( counts) of Toulouse were the administrators of the city and its environs under the Merovingians No succession of such royal In 1284, with the Cistercian Abbey of Marzan, Philip IV established Villeneuve de Berg, and by the treaty of 10 July 1305 Philip IV of France obliged the bishops of Vivarais to admit the sovereignty of the Kings of France over all their temporal domain. Events 48 BC - Battle of Dyrrhachium, Julius Caesar barely avoids a catastrophic defeat to Pompey in Macedonia. The realm was largely ignored by the Emperors and was finally granted to France as part of the domain of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of Valois in 1308. The Dauphin of France (Dauphin de France—strictly Dauphin of Viennois ( Dauphin de Viennois)—was the title given to the Heir apparent of the Charles VII (22 February 1403 – 22 July 1461 called the Victorious (le Victorieux or the Well-Served (le Bien-Servi was King of France from 1422 See also France in the Middle Ages, Early Modern France Unexpected inheritance The Capetian dynasty seemed secure both during and During this period the Maillard family, as Counts of Tournon, were influential in the Ardèche. During the Hundred Years War, the area maintained its loyalty to the French crown, despite frequent attacks from the west. The Hundred Years' War (Guerre de Cent Ans was a prolonged conflict lasting from 1337 to 1453 between two royal houses for the French throne vacant with the extinction of the senior

As a result of the reformation of John Calvin in Geneva, the Vivarais Ardèche was one of the areas which strongly embraced Protestantism partly as a result of the missionary activity of 1534 by Jacques Valery. John Calvin (or Jean Calvin) (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564 was a French Protestant theologian during the Protestant Reformation and Geneva (Genève is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and is the most populous city of Romandy (the French -speaking Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. During the following Wars of Religion (1562-1598), the Ardeche was considered a strategically important location between Protestant Geneva, Lyon and Catholic Languedoc. The French Wars of Religion (1562 to 1598 between French Catholics and Protestants ( Huguenots involved both civil infighting The region had prospered with the introduction of tobacco growing from America, and the agrarian experiments of Olivier de Serres, father of modern French agriculture. Tobacco is an Agricultural product recognized as an addictive drug processed from the fresh Leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. Olivier de Serres (1539 &ndash 1619 was a French author and soil scientist whose Théâtre d'Agriculture was the text book of French agriculture in the 1600s The influence of Protestant Lyon, and the growth of the silk industry, thanks to the planting of mulberry trees, had given the burghers of the Vivarais towns a certain independence of thinking, and with the support of the powerful Protestant Huguenots, the Compte de Crussol and Olivier de Serres the Vivarais became a Protestant stronghold. Silk is a natural Protein Fiber, some forms of which can be woven into Textiles The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth Olivier de Serres (1539 &ndash 1619 was a French author and soil scientist whose Théâtre d'Agriculture was the text book of French agriculture in the 1600s As a result it suffered many attacks and eight pitched battles between 1562 and 1595. In 1598, the Edict of Nantes put an end to these struggles. The Edict of Nantes was issued on April 13, 1598 by Henry IV of France to grant the Calvinist Protestants of At that time the Vivarais had over 75 Protestant churches and 5 fortified strongholds with permanent garrisons. But the problems of the area were not over. In 1629, Paule de Chambaud, daughter of the Hugenot lord of Privas, chose instead to marry a Catholic, the Vicompte de l'Estrange, who supported the persecution of Protestants by Cardinal Richelieu. This article is about a cardinal For information on the Russian also called The Red Eminence, see Mikhail Andreyevich Suslov. Privas, with a majority of the population Protestant, refused to submit, and as a centre of the revolt of the Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise, was burned to the ground by the forces of Louis XIII, sent to support the Vicompte de l'Estrange. Benjamin de Rohan, duc de Soubise (1580? - 1642 was a French Huguenot leader For the cognac see Louis XIII de Rémy Martin. Louis XIII ( September 27, 1601 – May 14, 1643) As a result, one-fifth of the Protestant population of the Vivarais emigrated.

The Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685, which finally outlawed Protestantism, resulted in the peasant family of Marie and Pierre Durand leading a revolt against royal authority. The Edict of Fontainebleau (October 1685 was an Edict issued by Louis XIV of France, also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes of In 1810 the Englishman Peter Durand (also known as Pierre Durand) was granted a Patent by King George III of England for his idea of preserving food This led to the Camisard revolt of the Ardèche prophets. Camisards were French Protestants ( Huguenots) of the rugged and isolated Cevennes region of south-central France, who raised an insurrection against Louis IV responded by despatching Dragoons, who brutalised the population by "dragonards", destroying a number of communities. A dragoon is a soldier intended primarily to fight on foot but trained also in Horse riding and cavalry combat especially The brutality of those years was enormous and peace was only restored in 1715. As a result of bestiality on both sides, a further 50,000 Archèche Protestants left France, many fleeing to Switzerland, whilst others were forced into abjuration (conversion).

In the following century, despite the growth of the community of Annonay, an increasing polarisation between the upper nobility families auch as Rohan Soubise, and Vogue, Count of Aubenas, possessing huge financial fortunes, and the lesser nobility, the village clergy and the bourgeoisie of the Vivarais paralleled developments elsewhere in France. Despite this the sons of a local Annonay paper-maker, Joseph and Jacques Etienne Montgolfier ascended in the first hot air balloon over the town on 4 June 1783. Joseph-Michel Montgolfier ( 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier ( 6 January 1745 Joseph-Michel Montgolfier ( 26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier ( 6 January 1745 The hot air balloon is the oldest successful human-carrying Flight technology Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China. Year 1783 ( MDCCLXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or The firm of Canson Mongolfier continues making paper to this day and on the anniversary every year on the first weekend in June a large hot air balloon gathering celebrates the event of the first journey. At the 200th anniversary in 1983 some 50 hot air balloons took part with the first historic flight relived with people dessed in period costume.

During the French Revolution, in 1789, with the Declaration of Human Rights, Ardèche Protestants were at last recognised as citizens in their own right, free at last to practise their faith. But Catholicism continued to grow and by the early nineteenth century, the Ardèche included only 34,000 Protestants out of a population of 290,000. Named after the river of the same name the Ardèche was one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an Events 51 - Nero, later to become Roman Emperor, is given the title Princeps iuventutis (head of the youth Year 1790 ( MDCCXC) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The support of Count François Antoine de Boissy d'Anglas representing the Third Estate of the Vivarais in the States General, the freeing of the serfs and the support of the lesser clergy of the church ensured that the Ardèchois had supported the early revolution, but they withdrew support when things became more radical. François Antoine de Boissy d'Anglas (1756&mdash1828 was a French statesman of the Revolution, First Republic and Empire. During the Reign of Terror, in 1794, a guilotine was kept busy with the execution of the former moderate supporters of the revolution at Privas. Saint justjpg|thumbnail|200px| Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just]] The Reign of Terror' (5 September 1793 &ndash 28 July 1794 or simply The Terror (la Terreur was The guillotine ( pronounced /ˈgijətin/ or /ˈgɪlətin/ in English in French was a device used for carrying out executions by Decapitation. During the Directory bands of Chouans took to the Cevennes to escape and support former emigrees. The Executive Directory ( Directoire exécutif) was a body of 5 single-male Directors that held executive power in France following This article deals with the name its origins and usage For the course of the revolt itself see Chouannerie, and for the family in particular see Chouan family

With the Naploeonic period, the Ardèche entered a period of increasingly prosperous inconspicuousness. Throughout the 19th century a modest economic growth took place. The population for instance grew from 273,000 in 1793 to 388,000 in 1861. The silk worm industry boomed until 1855, when disease affected the worms and competition with China undermined the industry's profitability. Mining at Privas saw the exploitation of local iron ore, which was quickly depleted. As a result 6 blast furnaces were established, but were only moderately profitable, the last closing at Pouzain in 1929. A blast furnace is a type of metallurgical Furnace used for Smelting to produce metals generally Iron.

Despite the scientific work of Marc Seguin with the development of early locomotives, and Vincent D'Indy the composer, since the 1860s the Ardèche economy has split between the prosperous Rhône and the poverty stricken Haut Vivarais. Marc Seguin ( April 20, 1786 - February 24, 1875) was a French Engineer, Inventor of the Wire - Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (March 27 1851 &ndash December 2 1931 was a French Composer and teacher Sheep farming did not lead to the prosperity hoped for and wine growing has had to compete with other more established areas of France.

Geography

The department, corresponding to the ancient province of Vivarais, is part of the current region of Rhône-Alpes (Rôno-Arpes in Arpitan), of the administrative division of Languedoc and is surrounded by the French departments of Drôme, Vaucluse, Gard, Lozère, Haute-Loire, and Isère. France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, Rhône-Alpes ( Franco-Provençal: Rôno-Arpes; Occitan: Ròse Aups) is one of the 26 regions of France, located on the Franco-Provençal ( Francoprovençal) or Arpitan ( Vernacular: frp francoprovençâl arpitan patouès; francoprovenzale arpitano dialetto Languedoc ( in French Lengadòc in Occitan) is a former Province of France, now continued in the modern-day ''régions'' of Languedoc-Roussillon The Vaucluse ( Provençal Occitan: Vauclusa in classical norm or Vau-Cluso in Mistralian norm is a department in the southeast of Gard ( Occitan: Gard) is a département located in southern France in the Languedoc-Roussillon region Lozère (in Occitan Losera) is a department in southeast France near the Massif Central. Haute-Loire ( Occitan: Naut Léger) is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River. Isère ( Arpitan: Isera, Occitan: Isèra) is a department, in the Rhône-Alpes ( Rôno-Arpes in Arpitan It is a land of great contrasts: at the lowest it is at a mere 40 metres of altitude above sea level at the point at which the Ardèche river flows into the Rhône (in the south east of the department) up to 1,754 metres at Mont Mézenc (Centre-west), it is bordered to the east by the length of the Rhône valley for 140 km and to the west by the high plateaus of the Massif Central.

At its widest the department doesn't exceed 75 km. It covers an area of 5550 square kilometres, a size that hides the great diversity from place to place in terms of relief, the absence of access to rapid transport (unique in France) and the difficulties in transport from one part of the Ardeche to another, above all in winter. Privas shares this inaccessibility, being by road 589 km from Paris, 574 km from Strasbourg, 215 km from Marseille, 211 km from Annecy, 162 km from Chambéry, 147 km from Nîmes, 140 km from Lyon, 135 km from Grenoble, and 127 km from Saint-Etienne.

Differing natural regions

There are 5 natural regions of the Ardèche:

They border the western frontier of the department with an average altitude of 1,100 metres. Basically they are of granitic composition split by the Velay Basalts of the Massif of Mézenc, and the Forez Mounts, centred upon volcanic cones of ash, lava plugs and numerous magma flows (Mézenc:- 1,754 mètres; Gerbier de Jonc:- 1,551 m). Granite (ˈɡrænɪt is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, Felsic, igneous rock. Basalt (bəˈsɔːlt ˈbeisɔːlt ˈbæsɔːlt is a common Extrusive Volcanic rock. Plate tectonics and hotspots Divergent plate boundaries At the Lava is molten rock expelled by a Volcano during an eruption When first expelled from a volcanic vent it is a Liquid at Temperatures Magma (Plurals magmas and magmata) is molten rock that sometimes forms beneath the surface of the Earth (or any other Terrestrial planet Their inclination slopes gently towards the west, thus leading to a westerly flow of water towards the Atlantic. Here the Loire has its source. Loire ( Arpitan: Lêre, Occitan: Léger) is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the Within a distance of a few kilometres is the volcanic lake of Issarlès (92 ha, 5 km in circumference, 108 m in depth). The climate is extreme: snow for many months, very violent winds over autumn and winter (known locally as "la burle"), frequent fogs in the valleys, extreme falls of temperature between the seasons, with heavy rains (1,500 mm per year in average) strongly concentrated in September and October.

The transition zone descending from the mountains (1,200 m) to the valley of the Rhône (300 to 400 m), is the plateau region. The medium altitude of the plateau is one of green forested crests separated by wild and uncrossable gorges. For the song see CANYONMID. For the band see Canyon (band. A canyon (rarely cañon) or gorge Hydrographic resources are dominated by these torrential streams and rainfall is characterised by the frequent importance of summer showers, with climate much less extreme than that of the mountains to the west. Hydrology (from Greek Yδωρ hudōr, "water" and λόγος logos, "study" is the study of the movement distribution and quality of

The Ardèche river flows as far as the Rhône, following a course generally to the south east. This Karst region is formed of calcareous limestones, where the streams flow in steep-sided valleys separated by sharp crests. Karst topography is a landscape shaped by the dissolution of a layer or layers of soluble Bedrock, usually Carbonate rock such as Limestone Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 With a generally low altitude the Bas-Vivarais enjoys a warm, and dry, almost Mediterranean climate. Skies are wide and bright, temperatures more elevated (+3 or +4 °C in January). The winds from the north-east are dominant, but those of the south (known as the "vent du midi") and of the west are full of humidity, bringing heavy precipitation for a few days at a time. The few rivers, the Lavezon, Escoutay, and Frayol, provide less of a hydrological resource than one sees in the crysaline granitic areas to the north. This is te country of the vine, of shrubland, of cereals and extensive fruit trees (this is the region of Aubenas and of Joyeuse). Aubenas is a commune in the southern part of the Ardèche department in the Rhône Valley in southern France. Joyeuse (Juèsa is a commune in the French department of Ardèche in the region of Rhône-Alpes.

This plateau with an altitude of 800 metres above sea level, is completely surrounded to the north by the valleys of the Ouvèze and the Payre, to the south by the valley of the Escoutay, to the west by the Col of the Escrinet and the valley of Vesseaux. It is built of basalt which extends in length 18 km in the direction of the Rhône, and at its widest is a maximum 11 km in width. The climate here is also fairly extreme: snow, withought being thick, is frequent, variations of temperature accentuated by the fact of the strong cold winds that blow. The soil is rich and fertile. Farming is dominated by the growing of wheat, oats and potatoes, dominates, with the raising of goats and cattle. On the slopes one finds vines and fruit trees.

The Rhône corridor is very strait on the right bank which runs almost at the foot of the Vivarais plateaus, leaving tiny plains where the rivers from the Vivarais descend to the Rhône. Here the strong wind of the north, (known as the "Mistral") dominates. The Mistral in France is a fresh or cold often violent and usually dry Wind, blowing throughout the year but is most frequent in winter and spring Nevertheless the temperatures are moderated by the influence of the "Midi" to the south. The small plains are very fertile and favourable to orchards (peaches and apricots) at first and on the slopes the vines dominate.

Maps of different types of agricultural products translate clearly into these five regions. "The true character of the Ardèche is" according to A. Siegfried, "of a slope turning towards the Mediterranean, open to the influences coming from the Midi. These influences climb the length of the valleys to the summit of the high plateau, which resists their passage, not letting them penetrate. The high and the low are thus opposed, such is the character of the Ardèche personality. "

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Ardéchois. As one of the poorer districts in France, the emigration from the Ardèche for a long time outnumbered immigrants, although this situation has recently changed. "Emigrant" redirects here For the Butterflies, see Catopsilia. Immigration refers to the movement of people among countries While the movement of people has existed throughout human history at various levels modern immigration implies long-term Since 1990 Ardèche reached once again the population level it had 50 years earlier. Today the population numbers 286,000 (compared to 390,000 in 1860). Despite this demographic recovery, the area remains marked by a rural exodus, which minimises the effects of a higher than average birth rate. Crude birth rate is the natality or Childbirths per 1000 people per year Despite this the rate of natural increase is pracically non-existent, as the Ardèche also has a higher than average median age amongst Ardèche born inhabitants, and thus also a higher than average death rate. Mortality rate is a measure of the number of Deaths (in general or due to a specific cause in some population scaled to the size of that population per unit time

Ardèche has a low population of foreign born immigrants, found almost exclusively in the tourist locations of Largentière, Le Pouzin and Bourg-Saint-Andéol. They number about 11,000, representing a mere 4% of the population. During the summer months many European tourists visit the Ardèche, principally Dutch and Germans staying at camping sites.

Some 50% of the population of the department lives in rural communities, compared to a national average of 75% of the French population living in urban locations. The Ardèche has an average population density of 52 per km², compared to 122 per km² for the Rhône-Alpes region and 104 per km² in France. Rhône-Alpes ( Franco-Provençal: Rôno-Arpes; Occitan: Ròse Aups) is one of the 26 regions of France, located on the Population density is highest in the regions around the two towns of Annonay and Aubenas and along the edge of the Rhône valley. Annonay is a commune in the north of the Ardèche department in the Rhône-Alpes region in southern France. Aubenas is a commune in the southern part of the Ardèche department in the Rhône Valley in southern France. The mountainous areas is much less densely populated with only 6 to 7 inhabitants per km² in the cantons of Saint-Etienne-de-Lugdarès and Valgorge. As the mountains and the plateau continue to depopulate, those of the Rhône valley, Bas-Vivarais and lower Ardèche are continuing to grow, but the population situation, whilst better than in the past, still remains an issue for the region.

The Rhône valley and the Annonay region, close to the main axes of communication, (Highways and the TGV railway) are the most urbanised areas of the department. Here the natural growth in population is everywhere positive. Annonay, Tournon-sur-Rhône and Guilherand-Granges benefit from the proximity of the nearby town of Valence and the economically more advanced department of la Drôme. In the southern interior with the town of Aubenas and the valley of the Ardèche river, the population of the cantons of Villeneuve-de-Berg and of Vallon-Pont-d'Arc grow at four times the speed of the departmental average.

The high plateau and the mountainous areas as far as Privas continue to lose its young population (the median age of the population as a whole is growing more elderly as a result of the weakness of the power of this region to attract new permanent inhabitants). Privas is a commune of France, préfecture (capital of the Ardèche département. For example le Cheylard and Lamastre have recently lost 300 and 250 inhabitants respectively.

Culture

With its rivers and streams, Ardèche has become a favorite place for canoe and kayak enthusiasts from around the world. A canoe is a small narrow Boat, typically human-powered though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors A kayak is a small human-powered Boat. It typically has a covered deck and a cockpit covered by a Spraydeck. Ardèche contains a part of the Cévennes National Park. The Cévennes National Park (Parc national des Cévennes is a National park, located in southern France, in the mountainous area of Cévennes.

Miscellaneous topics

A UK series produced by Nigel Farrell called "A Place in France" showed the travails of Farrell's attempt to buy a place in Ardèche, to open an Indian restaurant in the small village of Laurac-en-Vivarais, and finally a B&B. Laurac-en-Vivarais is a commune in the Ardèche department in southeastern France. All failed remarkably. It also contains The American School In Switzerland's summer program in a small hamlet called Les Tapies, located outside of St. Pierreville.

See also

External links

The following is a list of the 33 cantons of the Ardèche department, in France, sorted by arrondissement: Arrondissement The following is a list of the 339 communes of the Ardèche département in France. The 3 arrondissements of the Ardèche department are Arrondissement of Largentière, ( subprefecture: Largentière
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