Occitan Occitan may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain.
* Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France.
* Occitan language
Occitan (; o ...
: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
in the
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...
prefecture
A prefecture (from the Latin ''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 international ...
is
Valence
Valence or valency may refer to:
Science
* Valence (chemistry), a measure of an element's combining power with other atoms
* Degree (graph theory), also called the valency of a vertex in graph theory
* Valency (linguistics), aspect of verbs rel ...
French province
The Kingdom of France was organised into provinces until the National Constituent Assembly adopted a more uniform division into departments (''départements'') and districts in late 1789. The provinces continued to exist administratively until 21 ...
of Dauphiné. The original Drôme department contained the exclave of Orange, which was also part of the former province of Dauphiné. In 1792, following the annexation of Comtat Venaissin, Drôme acquired the newly created district of Carpentras while Orange was ceded to Bouches du Rhône. In 1793, the district of Carpentras was ceded to the newly formed department of Vaucluse, giving the Drôme its modern-day borders.
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...
. Drôme is bordered by
Ardèche
Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Isère
Isère ( , ; frp, Isera; oc, Isèra, ) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.Hautes-Alpes to the east,
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west ...
to the southeast and Vaucluse to the south. The northwestern tip of the department is only 3 miles (5 km) from the Loire border.
The boundaries of the department have changed several times with the incorporation of the Comtat Venaissin in 1792 and the creation of the Vaucluse department in 1793. Drôme surrounds an exclave of the Vaucluse department, the
Canton of Valréas
The canton of Valréas, sometimes called the ''enclave des Papes'' ("Enclave of the Popes"), is a canton of the Vaucluse department, a part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (PACA) region in Southern France. It consists of four communes: Grill ...
(
Enclave des Papes
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
).
The commune of
Montfroc
Montfroc () is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Drôme department
The following is a list of the 363 communes of the Drôme department of France.
The communes cooperate in the ...
forms an small salient which was surrounded by the department of
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP (; oc, Aups d'Auta Provença; ) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west ...
, which is lookly similar to the small salients of Newmarket in
Suffolk
Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
,
Dieveniškės
Dieveniškės (in Lithuanian literally: ''Place of gods''; pl, Dziewieniszki; be, Дзевянішкі ''Dzevyanishki'') is a town in the Vilnius County of Lithuania, about from the Belarusian border in the so-called Dieveniškės appendix. I ...
in
Lithuania
Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
Rochefourchat
Rochefourchat (; Vivaro-Alpine: ''Ròchaforchaa'') is a commune in the Drôme department, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, southeastern France. In the commune there is a single house, the St. Pierre's Church, a converted barn, and the ruins ...
, with a population only of one person, is in Drôme.
Climate
The Drôme department is in a zone of transition between the oceanic climate of Lyon, the
continental climate
Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...
to the north and the Mediterranean climate of Provence to the south. In the Rhône valley, the meeting of the mild humid southern Mediterranean air masses with the colder northern air mass sometimes causes particularly violent thunderstorms and snowstorms.
In the northern hills near
Tain-l'Hermitage
Tain-l'Hermitage (; oc, Tinh de l'Ermitatge or ), commonly known as Tain, is a commune in the French department of Drôme, southeastern France.
Geography
It is located on the left bank of the river Rhône, opposite Tournon-sur-Rhône, which is l ...
(15 km north of
Valence
Valence or valency may refer to:
Science
* Valence (chemistry), a measure of an element's combining power with other atoms
* Degree (graph theory), also called the valency of a vertex in graph theory
* Valency (linguistics), aspect of verbs rel ...
), the climate is a mixture of oceanic and semi-continental climates. Rainfall occurs throughout the year with the most falling in spring and autumn. The summers are moderated by storms and the mistral does not blow hard. Saint-Donat-sur-l'Herbasse has a moderate temperature of 3 °C in January and 21 °C in July due to the Lyonnic climate, where more precipitation falls in summer than winter.
The influence of the mountains is evident in the east. In the Vercors Plateau, the
mountain climate
Alpine climate is the typical weather (climate) for elevations above the tree line, where trees fail to grow due to cold. This climate is also referred to as a mountain climate or highland climate.
Definition
There are multiple definitions of ...
is wet due to the oceanic influences from the north. The average annual temperature at Lus la Croix Haute at altitude 1061m is 7.3 °C and the annual rainfall is 1051mm. The Diois (southern Vercors) and the
Baronnies
The Baronnies, in French Les Baronnies, is a historic name for the area East and North of Mont Ventoux in Southern France.
Today most of the Baronnies is part of the ''département'' Drôme (a part of the ''région'' Rhône-Alpes). Smaller areas ...
are dry regions due to the Mediterranean climate. The mistral is less influential here and this region has minimal rainfall. The lowest temperatures in January at Nyons is 0.3 °C but 1.4 °C at Pierrelatte.
The Valence plane is a transition zone between the Mediterranean influence and the northern cold climate. Summers are warmer than in the northern regions, and the increase in sunlight and heat is evident upon the appearance of Mediterranean vegetation in the region. The temperatures are moderate between Lyon and Montélimar. Valence's average temperature in January is 3.8 °C and 22 °C in July. The mistral here blows harder.
From Montélimar, the climate can be considered to be that of a Mediterranean climate. Near the highway, the change of vegetation is particularly visible near the stream at Donzère, particularly due to the change of the soil profile. The most southern part of the department clearly exhibits a Méso-Mediterranean climate with the reinforcement of the mistral and a hotter summer due to the rarity of storms. Most rainfall occurs in autumn and the winters are milder than the rest of the Drôme. Pierrelatte has an average temperature of 5 °C in January and 23 °C in July.
Demographics
The inhabitants of the department are called ''Drômois''.
Principal towns
The most populous commune, home to about 1/8 of the department's population, is
Valence
Valence or valency may refer to:
Science
* Valence (chemistry), a measure of an element's combining power with other atoms
* Degree (graph theory), also called the valency of a vertex in graph theory
* Valency (linguistics), aspect of verbs rel ...
, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:
Economy
Most of the economic activity of the Drôme department is located in the west of the
department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
, along the Rhône valley. This area which contains most of the population of the department, also has accessible transportation, such as the A7 autoroute and the rail routes LGV Rhône-Alpes and LGV Méditerranée. Economic activity in
Valence
Valence or valency may refer to:
Science
* Valence (chemistry), a measure of an element's combining power with other atoms
* Degree (graph theory), also called the valency of a vertex in graph theory
* Valency (linguistics), aspect of verbs rel ...
was boosted by the creation of the Valence TGV line in 2001.
*The Drôme benefits from an excellent image in the view of tourists. Attendance has grown steadily (+4% between 2006 and 2007), faster than the neighbouring departments of Ardèche and the Vaucluse (+1%).
*Number of overnight stays in 2007: 7,994,076
*The
Tourism Committee of the Drôme department
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
The President of the Departmental Council is Marie-Pierre Mouton, elected in May 2017.
Current National Assembly Representatives
Tourism
Sport activities in Drôme include:
* in winter: skiing, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing
* in summer: excursions, mountain biking in the mountainous area
The Drôme River is also a great place to practice canoëing and kayaking. In the spring the water flow even allows you to practice rafting. The Saoü Forest is known for its climbing paths.
File:Valence cathedrale 2003-12-10 047.jpg, Valence Cathedral
File:Dielavan.jpg, Lavender fields near
Die
Die, as a verb, refers to death, the cessation of life.
Die may also refer to:
Games
* Die, singular of dice, small throwable objects used for producing random numbers
Manufacturing
* Die (integrated circuit), a rectangular piece of a semicondu ...
File:France Provence Grignan castle château.JPG,
Grignan
Grignan (; oc, Grinhan) is a commune in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France.
It has a Renaissance castle and is mentioned in the letters that Madame de Sévigné wrote to her daughter, Madame de Gr ...
town and castle
File:P1130738 modified.jpg,
Ferdinand Cheval
Ferdinand Cheval (19 April 1836 – 19 August 1924), often nicknamed Facteur Cheval ("Mail Carrier Cheval") was a French mail carrier who spent 33 years building Le Palais idéal (the "Ideal Palace") in Hauterives, in southeastern France.
Marie Louis Descorches
Marie Louis Henri Descorches (17 September 1749 – 1830) was a French diplomat.
Born into French nobility (marquis d`Escorches de Sainte Croix) he enlisted in the French Army, reaching the rank of a colonel in 1780. He renounced his title, ado ...