Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 60 Oise
INSEE

History

Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

and Picardy. After the coalition victory at Waterloo, the department was occupied by British

troops A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a Squadron (cavalry), squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section (military unit), section or platoon. Exception ...

between June 1815 and November 1818. In March 2021, local Member of Parliament Olivier Dassault was killed in a plane crash.

Geography

Oise is part of the current

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 ...

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...

and is situated 35 km north of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. It is surrounded by the departments of Somme,

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...

, Seine-et-Marne, Val-d'Oise, Eure, and

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inf� ...

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Beauvais, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 13 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants. The 10 most populous communes are:

Demographics

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Nadège Lefebvre, elected in 2017.

Presidential elections 2nd round

Current National Assembly Representatives

Tourism

The major tourist attraction of the department is the Parc Astérix, which opened in 1989. Other interesting sites are Beauvais Cathedral, the Château de Pierrefonds, restored by Viollet-le-Duc, and the art collection of the Château de Chantilly, which is one of the largest outside Paris. File:Chateau de Chantilly 009.JPG, Art gallery in the Château de Chantilly File:Beauvais 1.JPG, Beauvais Cathedral File:Goudurix.jpg, Rollercoaster at the Parc Astérix File:Renault FT17 IMG 8406.jpg, Renault FT in the Glade of the Armistice File:Chateau de Pierrefonds.jpg, Château de Pierrefonds

Twinned county

Oise is twinned with

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is also twinned with the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

n regency of Karanganyar and the Chinese provinces of

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

and Zhejiang. One of the villages along the river Oise is Auvers-sur-Oise, famous for having been visited by several impressionist artists. This is where Vincent van Gogh spent his last 70 days and is his and his brother Theo's resting place.