Yonne () is a

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 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the river Yonne, which flows through it, in the country's north-central part. One of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's eight constituent departments, it is located in its northwestern part, bordering Île-de-France. It was created in 1790 during the French Revolution. 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 Auxerre, with subprefectures in Avallon and

Sens Sens () is a Communes of France, commune in the Yonne Departments of France, department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France, 120 km from Paris. Sens is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture and the second city of the d ...

. Its INSEE and postcode number is 89. Yonne is Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's fourth-most populous department, with a population of 335,707 (2019).Populations légales 2019: 89 Yonne
INSEE Its largest city is its prefecture Auxerre, with a population of about 35,000 within city limits and 68,000 in the urban area.

History

The first evidence of occupation in this area is found in the Grottes d'Arcy-sur-Cure, where paintings have been found dating back 28,000 years. The Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers of that time also left behind numerous flint artefacts. The area is believed to have been occupied for about 200,000 years. By 4000 BC, a wave of Neolithics arrived from the Danube River region of eastern Europe. They built substantial wooden houses and introduced pottery decorated with the characteristics of the

Linear Pottery culture The Linear Pottery culture (LBK) is a major archaeological horizon of the European Neolithic period, flourishing . Derived from the German ''Linearbandkeramik'', it is also known as the Linear Band Ware, Linear Ware, Linear Ceramics or Inci ...

. Further waves of migrants followed, the Chasséen culture, and the Michelsberg culture. The Celtic tribe in the area were named "Icauna", after the River Yonne which they thought sacred. The region was later occupied by Gallic tribes. In that period, the area came under the control of the Roman Empire, whose chief town was Sens, which they called Agendicum. It was the capital of their province of Gallia Lugdunensis, one of four provinces into which France was subdivided. The present main roads from Lyon to

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

, and from Sens to Alise-Sainte-Reine date from this period. About this time, Auxerre, Tonnerre (Tornodurum) and Avallon were growing in size. In the fourth century, Sens became a walled city. The first bishops were appointed in Sens and Langres, and they influenced the region profoundly because of their power. In 1771, the northwesterly part of the present department belonged to

Prince Francis Xavier of Saxony Franz Xavier of Saxony ( pl, Ksawery Saski) (b. Dresden, 25 August 1730 – d. Dresden, 21 June 1806) was a Saxon prince and member of the House of Wettin. He was the fourth but second surviving son of Augustus III, King of Poland and Elector of S ...

, the uncle of Louis XVI of France. The current Yonne department was organized and defined during the French Revolution, on March 4, 1790, as a result of the passing of an Act on December 22, 1789. It was carved out of parts of the provinces of

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

, Champagne and Orléans, and to a lesser extent from parts of the Nivernais and Île-de-France.

Geography

Yonne is a department in central France, one of the eight constituent departments of the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. To the northeast lies the department of Aube, to the east lies

Côte-d'Or Côte-d'Or (; literally, "Golden Slope") is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.Nièvre, to the west lies Loiret and to the northwest, the department of Seine-et-Marne. The River Yonne flows northwards through the department. Auxerre, the capital of the department, is situated on the River Yonne, and the River Serein joins this a few kilometres north of the city. The Canal de Bourgogne, which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, joins the River Yonne through locks at Migennes a little further north. The second biggest town is

, situated at the confluence of the rivers

Vanne Vanne () is a commune in the Haute-Saône department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. See also *Communes of the Haute-Saône department The following is a list of the 539 communes in the French department of Haut ...

and Yonne. The geology of the department is complex with concentric rings of granite, Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks, and layers of sedimentary rocks. The terrain is mostly a low-lying plateau used for agriculture. The southwestern part is the Puisaye, which has a higher elevation and is more wooded. To the centre and east, the land inclines to the northwest where the higher land of the Tonnerrois region lies. To the east the rock is mostly limestone. The Auxerrois region is renowned for the grapes grown here, which are used in the production of Chablis wine. To the south lies the mountainous massif of Morvan, the highest parts of which are in the neighbouring department of Nièvre. The department has some forested areas but is mainly used for pasture or cultivated for wheat.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Auxerre, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Economy

Over fifty percent of the inhabitants of the department are engaged in agricultural activities. It is one of the poorest and most rural departments in France. During the hundred years leading up to 1962, its population declined by around 100,000, while all of the surrounding departments had population growth. Yonne had been bypassed by the development of the railways. As French industry flourished elsewhere in the late nineteenth century, the young people left Yonne seeking better opportunities, and the department stagnated. The viticulture industry was severely affected by the advent of powdery mildew and the arrival of ''

Phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belong to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs ...

'' in the nineteenth century; at the same time, the development of the railway network allowed cheaper wines from other regions to undercut Chablis wine in the Paris market. The once-thriving industry never recovered. By 1945, only 4000 hectares of grapevines remained, and only 471 hectares of grapes were grown for Chablis. More recently, the population trend has been reversed. During the period 1999 to 2007, it rose by 8000 to a total of 341,418. However, with a population of 46 inhabitants per square kilometre, the density in Yonne is still less than half that for the whole of France, which was 100.5 for the same year.

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Patrick Gendraud, elected in 2017. In 2015, the General Council of the department was allotted a budget of 410 million euros.

Current National Assembly Representatives

The department elects three members of parliament to the National Assembly. In the 2012–17 parliamentary term, two represented the right-wing Union for a Popular Movement (UMP) and one the Socialist Party (France) (PS).

Tourism

File:1240-Auxerre.jpg, Auxerre and the Yonne River File:Léglise Saint-Maurice et lYonne à Sens (2637691088).jpg,

on the Yonne river File:Avallon-Tour de l'Horloge depuis la place de la Collégiale Saint-Lazare.jpg, Avallon File:2012-DSC 0335-Villeneuve-sur-Yonne-Porte-de-Joigny.jpg,

Villeneuve-sur-Yonne Villeneuve-sur-Yonne () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. It is surrounded by a partly intact wall, built during the 12th century, which was one of the 8 residences of the French kings. Ge ...

File:Château de Guédelon (juillet 2009).jpg, The medieval construction project of Guédelon Castle as of 2009

References

External links

*
Prefecture website
*
Departmental Council website
* * (in French
Chamber of commerce
{{Authority control Departments of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté States and territories established in 1790