Côte-d'Or () is a département in the

Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (; , sometimes abbreviated BFC; Arpitan: ''Borgogne-Franche-Comtât'') is a region in eastern France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions, from a merger of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. The new region ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.Populations légales 2019: 21 Côte-d'Or
INSEE Its

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

is Dijon and subprefectures are Beaune and Montbard.

History

Côte-d'Or is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was formed from part of the former

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of Burgundy. It is arguably unique among the departments in having a name which is poetic, rather than geographic. Given by the representative of Dijon ( :fr:Charles-André-Rémy Arnoult), it is said to refer to the autumn gold of the flanks of the hills in the wine-growing area..

Geography

The department is part of the current

. It is surrounded by the departments of Yonne, Nièvre,

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is B ...

, Jura,

Aube Aube ( ) is a French departments of France, department in the Grand Est region of northeastern France. As with sixty departments in France, this department is named after a river: the Aube (river), Aube. With 310,242 inhabitants (2019),

, Haute-Saône, and Haute-Marne. A chain of hills called the Plateau de Langres runs from north-east to south-west through the department to the north of Dijon and continues south-westwards as the Côte d'Or escarpment, from which the department takes its name. It is the south-east facing slope of this escarpment which is the site of the celebrated Burgundy

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s. To the west of the Plateau de Langres, towards Champagne, lies the densely wooded district of Châtillonais. To the south-east of the plateau and escarpment, the department lies in the broad, flat-bottomed valley of the middle course of the Saône. Rivers include: * The Saône * The

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

rises in the southern end of the Plateau de Langres. * The Ouche rises on the dip slope of the escarpment and flows to the Saône via Dijon. * The Armançon rises on the dip slope of the escarpment and flows north-westward. * The

Arroux The Arroux () is a river in central France. It is a right tributary of the Loire. It is long. Its source is east of Arnay-le-Duc, in Côte-d'Or. The Arroux flows generally south through the following departments and towns: * Côte-d'Or: Arna ...

rises on the dip slope of the escarpment at the southern end of the department.

Climate

The climate of the department is continental, with abundant rain on the west side of the central range.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Dijon, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called ''Costaloriens''. Population development since 1791:

Politics

The President of the Departmental Council is François Sauvadet of the Union of Democrats and Independents.

Current National Assembly Representatives

Economy

This is a premier wine-growing region of France. It produces what are arguably the world's finest, and definitely most expensive Pinot noir and Chardonnay wines from some of the most rigorously and painstakingly (thanks to the region's many monasteries) classified vineyards in the world. Wine from the Côte-d'Or was a favorite of the emperor Charlemagne. Other crops include cereal grains and potatoes. Sheep and cattle are also raised in the department. The region is famous for Dijon mustard. There are coal mines and

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

, including steel, machinery, and earthenware. The industries most developed in Côte-d'Or are * agriculture and food (14% of employees) * metallurgy and metal manufacture (12% of employees) * chemicals, rubber and plastics (12% of employees) * pharmacy * electrical and electronic components and equipment * wood and paper industries. The big works are generally in the conurbation of Dijon although the biggest (CEA Valduc) is at Salives in the Plateau de Langres. There is also the SEB metal works at Selongey below the plateau on the margin of the Saône plain and the Valourec metalworking group at Montbard in the west of the department on the River Brenne near its confluence with the Armançon. The Pharmaceutical industry has shown the greatest growth in recent years. However, since the Dijon employment statistics zone includes the urban and administrative centre of the Burgundy region, the service sector is proportionately bigger there in relation to the industrial, than in the other three zones of Côte-d'Or. * Referenc
Industry in Bourgogne website

Tourism

Some of the major tourist attractions are the Gothic abbey church of Saint-Seine-l'Abbaye and the 11th-century Romanesque abbey church at Saulieu, as well the 12th-century Château de Bussy Rabutin at Bussy-le-Grand. The Abbey of Cîteaux, headquarters of the Cistercian Order, lies to the east of Nuits-Saint-Georges in the south of the department. File:Palais des Ducs.JPG,

Palace of the Dukes of Burgundy The Palace of the Dukes and Estates of Burgundy or ''Palais des ducs et des États de Bourgogne'' is a remarkably well-preserved architectural assemblage in Dijon. The oldest part is the 14th and 15th century Gothic architecture, Gothic ducal pa ...

in Dijon File:Hostel Dieu Beaune.jpg, Hospices de Beaune File:Abbaye de Fontenay-EgliseBatiments.jpg, Abbey of Fontenay File:Chateau La Rochepot 01.jpg, Château de la Rochepot File:Clos-Vougeot.JPG, Clos de Vougeot, Burgundy wine File:Muséoparc d'Alésia 0040.jpg, Reenactment of the siege of Alesia in Alise-Sainte-Reine

References

External links

*
Prefecture website
*
Departmental Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cote-D'or 1790 establishments in France Departments of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia States and territories established in 1790