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, ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

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 ...

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.Populations légales 2019: 38 Isère
INSEE Its

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

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

. It borders

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

to the northwest,

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

to the north,

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...

to the east,

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...

to the south,

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

and

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.Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

to the west.

History

Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

on 4 March 1790. It was established from the main part of the former province of

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

. Its area was reduced twice, in 1852 and again in 1967, on both occasions losing territory to the department of

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

.

In 1852 in response to rapid urban development around the edge of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, the (hitherto Isère) communes of

Bron Bron () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, eastern France. Geography Bron lies east-southeast of central Lyon. It is the sixth-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is adjacent to its east side. Climat ...

,

Vaulx-en-Velin Vaulx-en-Velin () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is the third-largest suburb of the city of Lyon, and is located to its northeast, on the river Rhône. History The rivers, including th ...

,

Vénissieux Vénissieux (; Arpitan language, Arpitan: or in the Lyonnais dialect) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in eastern France. Geography Vénissieux is located on the sou ...

and

Villeurbanne Villeurbanne (; frp, Velorbana) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is situated northeast of Lyon, with which it forms the heart of the second-largest metropolitan area in France after tha ...

were transferred to

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

. In 1967 the redrawing of local government borders led to the creation of the

Urban Community of Lyon The Urban Community of Lyon (french: Urban communities in France, Communauté urbaine de Lyon), also known as Grand Lyon (i.e. "Greater Lyon") or by its former acronym COURLY, is the former intercommunality, intercommunal structure gathering the ci ...

(more recently known simply as Greater Lyon or Grand Lyon). At that time intercommunal groupings of this nature were not permitted to straddle departmental frontiers, and accordingly 23 more Isère communes (along with six communes from

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

) found themselves transferred to Rhône. The affected Isère communes were

Chaponnay Chaponnay () is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. Population See also Communes of the Rhône department The following is a list of the 208 communes of the Rhône department of France. This list does not includes the Lyon ...

,

Chassieu Chassieu (; frp, Chassiô) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Population Twin town Chassieu has been twinned with Coleshill, England, near Birmingham since 1983. See also * Eurexpo ...

,

Communay Communay () is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. It is around 15 km south of the centre of Lyon. See also *Communes of the Rhône department The following is a list of the 208 communes of the Rhône department of Fra ...

,

Corbas Corbas (; frp, Corbê) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. Demographics Twin towns Corbas is twinned with: * Corbetta, Lombardy Corbetta ( lmo, Corbetta , ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in th ...

,

Décines-Charpieu Décines-Charpieu (; frp, Dessines) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. The name of the city is often shortened and simply called Décines. Geography Décines is located near Grand Large res ...

,

Feyzin Feyzin () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas region ...

,

Genas Genas () is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France.Commune de Genas (69277 ...

, Jonage, Jons, Marennes,

Meyzieu Meyzieu (; frp, Mêsiô) is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. It is a large suburb of Lyon, situated 13 km east of the city centre on the left bank of the Rhône. Before 1967, it was part of t ...

,

Mions Mions () is a commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France. The residents of the city are called ''Miolands'' and ''Miolandes''. Population See also *Communes of the Metropolis of Lyon The following is ...

,

Pusignan Pusignan () is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. See also *Communes of the Rhône department The following is a list of the 208 communes of the Rhône department of France. This list does not includes the Lyon Metropolis ...

,

Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure ( frp, Sant-Bônèt-de-Mures) is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Rhône department The following is a list of the 208 communes of the Rhône department of Fran ...

,

Saint-Laurent-de-Mure Saint-Laurent-de-Mure () is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. Saint-Laurent-de-Mure forms part of the communauté de communes (grouping of villages) in the eastern Lyons area which support one another to provide improved ser ...

,

Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu () is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. See also *Communes of the Rhône department The following is a list of the 208 communes of the Rhône department of France. This list does not includes the L ...

, Saint-Priest,

Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon () is a commune in the Rhône department, within the urban area of Lyon, in eastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Rhône department The following is a list of the 208 communes of the Rhône department ...

, Sérézin-du-Rhône, Simandres,

Solaize Solaize (; frp, Celuése) is a Communes of France, commune in the Metropolis of Lyon in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in eastern France. See also *Communes of the Metropolis of Lyon References

Communes of Lyon Metro ...

, Ternay and Toussieu. Most recently, on 1 April 1971,

Colombier-Saugnieu Colombier-Saugnieu () is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France. Since 2008, Pierre Marmonier has been the mayor of Colombier-Saugnieu. He was re-elected in the 2020 municipal elections. Geography The river Bourbre forms part of ...

was transferred to Rhône. Banners appeared in the commune's three little villages at the time proclaiming '' Dauphinois toujours'' ("Always Dauphinois"). ''Isère'' was also the name of the French ship which delivered the 214 boxes containing the components of the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; French: ''La Liberté éclairant le monde'') is a List of colossal sculpture in situ, colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the U ...

.

Geography

Isère includes a part of the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

. The highest point in the department is the subpeak Pic Lory at 4,088 metres (13,412 ft), subsidiary to the 4,102 metres (13,458 ft)

Barre des Écrins The Barre des Écrins () is a mountain in the French Alps with a peak elevation of . It is the highest peak of the Massif des Écrins and the Dauphiné Alps and the most southerly alpine peak in Europe that is higher than 4,000 metres. It is the ...

in the adjoining

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...

department. The summit of

La Meije La Meije is a mountain in the Massif des Écrins range, located at the border of the Hautes-Alpes and Isère ''départements''. It overlooks the nearby village of La Grave, a mountaineering centre and ski resort, well known for its off-piste ...

at 3,988 metres (13,083 ft) is also well known. The

Vercors Plateau The Vercors Massif is a range in France consisting of rugged plateaus and mountains straddling the ''départements'' of Isère and Drôme in the French Prealps. It lies west of the Dauphiné Alps, from which it is separated by the rivers Drac ...

aesthetically dominates the western part of the department.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 7 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Inhabitants of the department are called ''Isérois'' (masculine) and ''Iséroises'' (feminine). Population development since 1801:

Politics

Departmental politics

The President of the Departmental Council has been Jean-Pierre Barbier of The Republicans (LR) since 2015. Following the 2021 departmental election, the Departmental Council of Isère (58 seats) was composed as follows:

Representation in Paris

National Assembly

In the 2017 legislative election, Isère elected the following representatives to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

:

Senate

In the 2017 Senate election, Isère elected Didier Rambaud (

La République En Marche! Renaissance (RE), previously known as La République En Marche ! (frequently abbreviated LREM, LaREM or REM; translated as "The Republic on the Move" or "Republic Forward"), or sometimes called simply En Marche ! () as its original name, is a l ...

),

Guillaume Gontard Guillaume Gontard (born 11 March 1971) is a French politician who is president of the Ecologist group in the French Senate. Political career Guillaume Gontard was born on March 11, 1971 in Tours (Indre-et-Loire). His family moved to the vill ...

(

miscellaneous left Miscellaneous left (', ''DVG'') in France refers to left-wing candidates who are not members of any party or a member of party that has no elected seats. They include either small left-wing parties or dissidents expelled from their parties for run ...

), Frédérique Puissat ( The Republicans), Michel Savin ( The Republicans) and

André Vallini André Vallini (born 15 July 1956) is a French politician. He is the grandson of Italian immigrants and the son of a small industrialist from Tullins. He was President of the general council for Isère from 2011 to 2014 and member of the Fre ...

(

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

) for the 2017–2023 term.

Culture

The

Grande Chartreuse Grande Chartreuse () is the head monastery of the Carthusian religious order. It is located in the Chartreuse Mountains, north of the city of Grenoble, in the commune of Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse (Isère), France. History Originally, the ch ...

is the mother abbey of the

Carthusian The Carthusians, also known as the Order of Carthusians ( la, Ordo Cartusiensis), are a Latin enclosed religious order of the Catholic Church. The order was founded by Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its ...

order. It is located 22 km (14 mi) north of Grenoble. As early as the 13th century, residents of the north and central parts of Isère spoke a dialect of the

Franco-Provençal language Franco-Provençal (also Francoprovençal, Patois or Arpitan) is a language within Gallo-Romance originally spoken in east-central France, western Switzerland and northwestern Italy. Franco-Provençal has several distinct dialects and is separ ...

called Dauphinois, while those in the Southern parts spoke the

Vivaro-Alpine Vivaro-Alpine ( oc, vivaroalpenc, vivaroaupenc) is a variety of Occitan language, Occitan spoken in southeastern France (namely, around the Dauphiné area) and northwestern Italy (the Occitan Valleys of Piedmont and Liguria). There is also a sma ...

dialect of

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 ...

. Both continued to be spoken in rural areas of Isère into the 20th century.

Tourism

Isère features many

ski resort A ski resort is a resort developed for skiing, snowboarding, and other winter sports. In Europe, most ski resorts are towns or villages in or adjacent to a ski area – a mountainous area with pistes (ski trails) and a ski lift system. In North ...

s, including the

Alpe d'Huez L'Alpe d'Huez () is a ski resort in southeastern France at . It is a mountain pasture in the Central French Western Alps, in the commune of Huez, which is part of the department of Isère in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is part of th ...

,

Les Deux Alpes Les 2 Alpes () is a ski resort in the French '' department'' of Isère, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The village sits at and lifts run to . It has the largest skiable glacier in Europe and is France's second oldest ski resort behind Chamonix. It h ...

, the

1968 Winter Olympics The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games (french: Les Xes Jeux olympiques d'hiver), were a winter multi-sport event held from 6 to 18 February 1968 in Grenoble, France. Thirty-seven countries participated. Frenchm ...

resorts of

Chamrousse Chamrousse () is a ski resort in southeastern France, in the Belledonne mountain range near Grenoble in the Isère department. It is located in a commune of the same name and is situated on the Recoin at and the Roche Béranger at . The ski- ...

, Villard de Lans,

Autrans Autrans () is a former commune in the Isère department in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Autrans-Méaudre-en-Vercors. At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, it hosted ...

. Other popular resorts include

Les 7 Laux Les Sept Laux is a group of three winter sports resorts of the Alps located in the Belledonne (Isère) about from Grenoble and from Chambery on common Theys, Les Adrets and La Ferrière. Les Sept Laux has two stations side valley of the Isè ...

,

Méaudre Méaudre () is a former commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Autrans-Méaudre-en-Vercors.Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse () is a commune in the Isère department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. It is located in the Chartreuse Mountains, to the north of the city of Grenoble. The Grande Chartreuse, the head monas ...

, Alpe du Grand Serre and

Gresse-en-Vercors Gresse-en-Vercors is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Twin towns Gresse-en-Vercors is twinned with: * Calvanico, Italy, since 2003 See also * Communes of the Isère department *Parc naturel régiona ...

. At the department level, Isère is the third-largest ski and winter destination in France, after

Savoie Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Southeastern France. Located in the French Alps, its prefecture is Chambéry. In 2019, Savoie had a population of ...

and

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is ...

. It also hosts

Coupe Icare Coupe Icare, also known as the Icarus Cup, is an annual festival of free flight held between Saint-Hilaire (on the border of Chartreuse Mountains) and Lumbin (in the valley of Isère in France). The festival typically lasts four days and is held i ...

, an annual festival of free flight, such as

paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...

and

hang-gliding Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

, held at the world-renowned paragliding site at

Lumbin Lumbin () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Population Twin towns Lumbin is twinned with: * Vipava, Vipava, Slovenia, since 2005 See also *Communes of the Isère department * Funiculaire de Saint-Hilaire du To ...

. Grenoble has a dozen museums, including its most famous, established in 1798, the

Museum of Grenoble The Museum of Grenoble (french: Musée de Grenoble) is a municipal museum of Fine Arts and antiquities in the city of Grenoble in the Isère region of France. Located on the left bank of the Isère River, place Lavalette, it is known both for it ...

. The

European Synchrotron Radiation Facility The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) is a joint research facility situated in Grenoble, France, supported by 22 countries (13 member countries: France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, ...

(ESRF), an international research facility in Grenoble, is also open to visitors. Fontaine trois ordres - Grenoble.JPG,

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

Vercors 001.jpg, The

Grand Veymont Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commun ...

Dent de Crolles.jpg, The

Dent de Crolles The Dent de Crolles () is a karstic mountain (2,062 m) of the Chartreuse Mountains range, north east of Grenoble, Isère, France. It has a characteristic "tooth-like" profile and is easily recognizable in the Isère Valley (Grésivaudan) in the G ...

Lac du Curtillard et montagne de l'Arpette (août 2020).JPG,

Le Haut-Bréda Le Haut-Bréda () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. It was established on 1 January 2019 by merger of the former communes of La Ferrière (the seat) and Pinsot.Queyras The Queyras ( oc, Cairàs) is a valley located in the French Hautes-Alpes, of which the geographical extent is the basin of the river Guil, a tributary of the Durance. The Queyras is one of the oldest mountain ranges of the Alps, and it was one of ...

Valley Lac de Monteynard 3.jpg,

Lac de Monteynard-Avignonet The Lac de Monteynard-Avignonet (Lake of Monteynard-Avignonet) is an artificial water reservoir for the Électricité de France (EDF) power station on the river Drac. It belongs to the department of Isère. It is bounded by the canyons of the Drac ...

La Ruchère en Chartreuse.JPG,

Saint-Christophe-sur-Guiers Saint-Christophe-sur-Guiers (, literally ''Saint-Christophe on Guiers'') is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. La Ruchère La Ruchère, rural district, mainly famous for cross country skiing slopes, was attached to Saint- ...

References

External links

Prefecture website

Departmental Council website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Isere 1790 establishments in France Departments of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia States and territories established in 1790