Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked

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 French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 86 Vienne
INSEE

History

Established on March 4, 1790, during the French Revolution, Vienne is one of the original 83 departments. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou, Touraine, and

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

, the latter being a part of the Duchy of Aquitaine until the 15th century. The original

Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the de ...

s, who settled in and around what is now Nova Scotia, left Vienne for North America after 1604. Kennedy (2014) argues that the emigrants carried to Canada their customs and social structure. They were frontier peoples, who dispersed their settlements based on kinship. They optimized use of farmland and emphasized trading for a profit. They were hierarchical and politically active.Gregory M.W. Kennedy. ''Something of a Peasant Paradise? Comparing Rural Societies in Acadie and the Loudunais, 1604-1755'' (MQUP, 2014)

Geography

The department of Vienne has an area of . Part of the region Nouvelle-Aquitaine, it borders

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-e ...

to the northwest, Indre-et-Loire to the north,

Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

to the east,

Haute-Vienne Haute-Vienne (; oc, Nauta Vinhana, ; English: Upper Vienne) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwest-central France. Named after the Vienne River, it is one of the twelve departments that together constitute Nouvelle-Aquitai ...

to the southeast,

Charente Charente (; Saintongese: ''Chérente''; oc, Charanta ) is a department in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, south western France. It is named after the river Charente, the most important and longest river in the department, an ...

to the south and Deux-Sèvres to the west. It is crossed by the river Vienne, a tributary of the Loire.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

Poitiers Poitiers (, , , ; Poitevin: ''Poetàe'') is a city on the River Clain in west-central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and the historical centre of Poitou. In 2017 it had a population of 88,291. Its agglomerat ...

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 7,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Politics

Édith Cresson, France's first woman Prime Minister from 1991-1992, was a deputy (MP) for the department. The president of the Departmental Council is Alain Pichon, elected in 2020. Vienne has three arrondissements:

, the prefecture, and the subprefectures

Châtellerault Châtellerault (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Châteulrô/Chateleràud''; oc, Chastelairaud) is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in France. It is located in the northeast of the former province Poitou, and the re ...

and

Montmorillon Montmorillon () is a commune in central-western France, in the Vienne department of which it is a sub-prefecture, in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Its inhabitants are called ''Montmorillonnaises'' ''and Montmorillonnais''. Montmorillon is a Book town an ...

Current National Assembly Representatives

Religion

The capital, Poitiers, is the see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Poitiers, which pastorally serves the department.

Tourism and sights

The most famous tourist sites include the Futuroscope theme park,

(city of Art and History), the

Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe The Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe is a Roman Catholic church located in Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, in Poitou, France. The Romanesque church was begun in the mid-11th century and contains many beautiful 11th- and 12th-century murals whic ...

, a UNESCO world heritage site, the animal parks o
Monkey's Valley in Romagne
and th
Crocodile Planet in Civaux

Economy

Goat

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

making is an important industry of Vienne.

International relations

Vienne has a partnership relationship with:

Notable people

* Benoît-François Bernier (1720–1799), New France army officer, served as financial commissary of wars

Gallery

File:Poitiers, Église Notre-Dame la Grande-PM 31852.jpg, Notre-Dame of

File:Saint-Martin-l'Ars 86 Abbaye la Réau Vue SW 2012.jpg,

Saint-Martin-l'Ars Saint-Martin-l'Ars is a commune in the Vienne department and Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of western France. Geography The Clouère flows north-northwest through the middle of the commune. The Clain flows northwest through the south-western part of ...

File:Romagne Saint-Laurent 2010.jpg, Romagne File:Blanzay 86 Église 2012.jpg, Blanzay File:Civray Tympan 2012.jpg, Tympan of the church of Civray

References

External links

Departmental Council website

Prefecture website

Vienne Tourism Agency
{{Authority control 1790 establishments in France Departments of Nouvelle-Aquitaine States and territories established in 1790