Tarn ( or ; ) is a department in the

Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...

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 ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

. Named after the river Tarn, it had a population of as of 2019.Populations légales 2019: 81 Tarn
INSEE Its

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''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 inter ...

and

largest city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metrop ...

Albi Albi (; ) is a commune in France, commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department, on the river Tarn (river), Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ...

; it has a single

subprefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Counties of Albania, Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several Districts of Albania, district ...

Castres Castres (; ''Castras'' in the Languedocian dialect, Languedocian dialect of Occitan language, Occitan) is the sole Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in the Occitania (adminis ...

. In French, the inhabitants of Tarn are known as (masculine) and (feminine).Le nom des habitants du 81 - Tarn
habitants.fr Its INSEE and postcode number is 81.

History

Tarn is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, through application of the Law of 22 December 1789. It was created from part of the former province of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (, , ; ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately . History ...

, and comprised the dioceses of

and Castres (which found themselves merged in 1817). Old houses by the Agout River in Castres

The new department had five

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

s: Albi, Castres, Lavaur, Gaillac, Lacaune. The capitals (now

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''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 inter ...

) were, alternatively,

and

but, from 1790 to 1797, the capital was only Albi; in 1797, the capital was moved to Castres. In 1800, Albi became again the capital of the department and the arrondissements were created; the department had four arrondissements: Albi, Castres, Gaillac and Lavaur. In 1926, the arrondissements of Gaillac and Lavaur were eliminated. By the law of 28

Pluviôse Pluviôse (; also ''Pluviose'') was the fifth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European langua ...

Year 5 Year 5 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the fifth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between nine and eleven. Australia In Austr ...

, the departments of

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

and of Tarn exchanged the canton of Anglès (which had been part of the diocese of Saint-Pons, but which has remained in Tarn) for that of Saint-Gervais-sur-Mare (which had been part of the diocese of Castres, but which today remains in Hérault).

Geography

Tarn is part of the Occitanie

and has an area of . The department is surrounded by five departments, all belonging to the

Occitanie:

to the southeast,

Aude Aude ( ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it " ...

to the south,

Aveyron Aveyron (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron (river), Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyro ...

to the north and east,

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...

to the southwest and west, as well as

Tarn-et-Garonne Tarn-et-Garonne (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. It is traversed by the rivers Tarn (river), Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its n ...

to the northwest. It is one of two French departments surrounded entirely by other departments of the same region. The slope of the department is from east to west, and its general character is mountainous or hilly. Tarn's three principal ranges lying to the south-east are: the Mountains of

Lacaune Lacaune (; , meaning ''the cave'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Tarn (department), Tarn Departments of France, department in southern France. Geography The river Gijou has its source in the commune. History In 1797, the feral child ...

, the Sidobre and the

Montagne Noire The Montagne Noire (; , known as the 'Black Mountain' in English) is a mountain range in central southern France. It is located at the southwestern end of the Massif Central at the juncture of the Tarn, Hérault and Aude departments. Its highe ...

, belonging to the

Cévennes The Cévennes ( , ; ) is a cultural region and range of mountains in south-central France, on the south-east edge of the Massif Central. It covers parts of the '' départements'' of Ardèche, Gard, Hérault and Lozère. Rich in geographical, ...

. The stony and wind-blown slopes of the Mountains of

(''Monts de Lacaune'') are used for

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Types of pasture Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, c ...

. The highest point of the range and of the department is the ''Puech Montgrand'', high; several other summits are not much short of this. The granite-strewn plateaux of the Sidobre, from high, separate the valley of the river

Agout The Agout or Agoût (; ) is a long river in south-western France. It is a left tributary of the Tarn. Its source is in the southern Massif Central, in the Haut-Languedoc Regional Nature Park. It flows generally west through the following depar ...

from that of its western tributary, the Thoré River. The

, on the southwestern border of the department, derives its name from the forests on its northern slope. Its highest point is the Pic de Nore at high. The

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

foot-hills are clothed with

vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...

s and fruit trees, and are broken by deep alluvial valleys of particular fertility. With the exception of a small portion of the Montagne Noire, which drains into the river

, the whole department belongs to the basin of the

Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...

Demographics

Tarn has a population, in 2019, of 389,844, for a population density of inhabitants/km².

Population evolution

Population development since 1801:

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 10 communes with more than 6,000 inhabitants:

Administration

Administrative divisions

There are 2 arrondissements, 23

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, th ...

and 314

communes A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in Tarn.

Politics

Departmental Council of Tarn

The Departmental Council of Tarn has 46 seats. In the 2015 departmental elections, the

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 ...

(PS) won 26 seats and The Republicans (LR) and

Union of Democrats and Independents The Union of Democrats and Independents (, , UDI) is a Liberalism, liberal List of political parties in France, political party in France and former electoral alliance founded on 18 September 2012 on the basis of the UDI and Independents group, e ...

(UDI) alliance won 18 seats; two

miscellaneous right Miscellaneous right (', ''DVD'') in France refers to centre-right or right-wing candidates who are not members of any large party. This can include members of small right-wing parties, dissidents expelled from their party for running against thei ...

candidates complete the assembly composition. Christophe Ramond (PS) has been President of the Departmental Council since 2017.

Members of the National Assembly

In the 2017 legislative election, Tarn elected the following members of 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 repr ...

Tourism

(Albi) - Palais de la Berbie vu de la rive droite du Tarn.jpg, Palais de la Berbie Albi (Albi) East views of the Ste Cécile Cathedral - Apse.jpg,

Albi Cathedral The Cathedral of Saint Cecilia of Albi ( French: ''Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile d'Albi''), also known as Albi Cathedral, is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Albi. First built in the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade, the grim exterior res ...

(Castres) Le théâtre et le musée Goya vus du jardin de l'évêché.jpg,

The theater and the Goya Museum (Episcopal Palace) seen from the bishop's garden Rue Castelnau de Montmiral.jpg, Street in Castelnau-de-Montmiral Cordes-sur-Ciel, june 2016 - 3185.jpg, View of Cordes-sur-Ciel France Occitanie 81 Penne 04.jpg, Street in

Penne Penne () are an extruded type of pasta in the shape of tubular pieces with ends cut at an angle. They are usually made from wheat flour. Etymology ''Penne'' is the plural form of the Italian ''penna'' (meaning "feather", but "pen" as well), de ...

References

External links

Departmental Council website

Prefecture website

Discover Tarn – Comité Départemental du Tourisme du Tarn

Photos of the Tarn
{{Authority control 1790 establishments in France Departments of Occitania (administrative region) States and territories established in 1790 Massif Central