Léman () was a department of the

French First Republic In the history of France, the First Republic (french: Première République), sometimes referred to in historiography as Revolutionary France, and officially the French Republic (french: République française), was founded on 21 September 1792 ...

and

French First Empire The First French Empire, officially the French Republic, then the French Empire (; Latin: ) after 1809, also known as Napoleonic France, was the empire ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, who established French hegemony over much of continental E ...

. Its name came from the French name of

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...

, ''Lac Léman''. It was formed in 1798, when the

Republic of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva (french: link=no, République et canton de Genève; frp, Rèpublica et canton de Geneva; german: Republik und Kanton Genf; it, Repubblica e Cantone di Ginevra; rm, Republica e ...

was annexed by the French Republic. Léman also included districts that were previously part of the departments of

Mont-Blanc Mont Blanc (french: Mont Blanc ; it, Monte Bianco , both meaning "white mountain") is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe, rising above sea level. It is the List of European ultra-prominent peaks, second-most prominent mountai ...

(northern

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

) and

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 ...

(around Gex). Its territory corresponded with the present

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

canton of Geneva The Canton of Geneva, officially the Republic and Canton of Geneva (french: link=no, République et canton de Genève; frp, Rèpublica et canton de Geneva; german: Republik und Kanton Genf; it, Repubblica e Cantone di Ginevra; rm, Republica e ...

and parts of the present French departments 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 ...

. The

Chef-lieu An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lux ...

of the department was

Genève , neighboring_municipalities= Carouge, Chêne-Bougeries, Cologny, Lancy, Grand-Saconnex, Pregny-Chambésy, Vernier, Veyrier , website = https://www.geneve.ch/ Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevr ...

. The department was subdivided into the following three

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

s and

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...

: *

Carouge Carouge () is a municipality in the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Carouge is first mentioned in the Early Middle Ages as ''Quadruvium'' and ''Quatruvio''. In 1248 it was mentioned as ''Carrogium'' while in the 14th Century it was kn ...

, Chêne-Thônex, Collonge,

Frangy Frangy () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Savoie department The following is a list of the 279 Communes of France, communes of the French ...

(3 cantons), Gex,

Reignier Reignier-Esery (; before 2008: ''Reignier''Décret n° 2008-626 du 27 juin ...

and Saint-Julien. * Bonneville: Bonneville,

Chamonix Chamonix-Mont-Blanc ( frp, Chamôni), more commonly known as Chamonix, is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It was the site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924. In 2019, it had ...

Cluses Cluses (; frp, Clluses) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. Citizens are known as ''Clusiens''. The commune is situated in the Arve Valley, on the river which bears the same n ...

Megève Megève (; frp, Megéva) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France with a population of more than 3,000 residents. The town is well known as a ski resort near Mont Blanc in the French ...

, La Roche,

Sallanches Sallanches (; frp, Salenches) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department of France. Located close to the Mont Blanc massif, many visitors pass through the town en route to well-known alpine resorts such as Chamonix, Megève and Saint-Gervais-le ...

Samoëns Samoëns () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. It is the principal commune for the canton which bears its name. The town of Samoëns is located in the Vallée du Giffre (Giff ...

Taninges Taninges () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Taninges is a pleasant town of over 3000 people in the French Alps, about 35 km directly east-southeast of Geneva and clos ...

and

Viuz-en-Sallaz Viuz-en-Sallaz (; frp, Viu) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department and Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France, close to the Swiss border. It was historically a possession of the noble house of de Faucigny and then passed to Arduti ...

. *

Thonon Thonon-les-Bains (; frp, Tonon), often simply referred to as Thonon, is a subprefecture of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 35,241. Thonon-les-Bains is ...

Douvaine Douvaine () is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Location Located on the old Roman way, now the National Road 5, Douvaine is part of the Canton of Sciez that includes 25 comm ...

Évian Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evia ...

Saint-Jean-d'Aulps Saint-Jean-d'Aulps (; frp, San Zhan) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France. Situated in the heart of the Vallée d'Aulps, as well as being the home to an active farming communit ...

and

. After the final defeat of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

in 1815, the former Republic of

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

became a

canton, and Savoy was returned to the

Kingdom of Sardinia The Kingdom of Sardinia,The name of the state was originally Latin: , or when the kingdom was still considered to include Corsica. In Italian it is , in French , in Sardinian , and in Piedmontese . also referred to as the Kingdom of Savoy-S ...

. The area around Gex returned to the department of

Administration

Prefects

The Prefect was the highest state representative in the department.

Secretary-General

The Secretary-General was the deputy to the Prefect.

Subprefects of Bonneville

Subprefects of Genève

The office of Subprefect of Genève was held by the Prefect until 1811.

Subprefects of Thonon

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leman Former departments of France in Switzerland States and territories established in 1798 Former departments of France in France States and territories disestablished in 1815 Haute-Savoie History of Geneva 1798 establishments in France