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Drôme Droma (Occitan) Drôma (Arpitan)
Department of France
Clockwise from top: a view of Buis-les-Baronnies, Valence Cathedral, lavender fields in the Vercors Massif, Crest
FlagCoat of arms
Location of Drôme in France
Coordinates: 44°45′N 05°10′E / 44.750°N 5.167°E / 44.750; 5.167
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture	Valence
Subprefectures	Die Nyons
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Marie-Pierre Mouton (LR)
Area
• Total	6,530 km (2,520 sq mi)
Population
• Total	519,458
• Rank	52nd
• Density	80/km (210/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	26
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	19
Communes	363
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km

Drôme (French pronunciation: [dʁom] ; Occitan: Droma; Arpitan: Drôma) is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019. Drôme's prefecture is Valence.

History

Saint-Vallier in Drôme was the birthplace of one of France's most famous courtesans, the noble-born Diane de Poitiers (1499–1566), long-term mistress of King Henri II (1519–1559).

The French National Constituent Assembly set up Drôme as one of the original 83 departments of France on March 4, 1790, during the French Revolution. The territory formed part of the former French province of Dauphiné. The original Drôme department contained the exclave of Orange, which was also part of the former province of Dauphiné. In 1792, following the annexation of Comtat Venaissin, Drôme acquired the newly created district of Carpentras while Orange was ceded to Bouches du Rhône. In 1793, the district of Carpentras was ceded to the newly formed department of Vaucluse, giving the Drôme its modern-day borders.

Geography

Drôme lies within the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Drôme is bordered by Ardèche to the west, Isère to the north and east, Hautes-Alpes to the east, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence to the southeast and Vaucluse to the south. The northwestern tip of the department is only 3 miles (5 km) from the Loire border.

The boundaries of the department have changed several times with the incorporation of the Comtat Venaissin in 1792 and the creation of the Vaucluse department in 1793. Drôme surrounds an exclave of the Vaucluse department, the Canton of Valréas (Enclave des Papes).

The commune of Montfroc forms a small salient which was surrounded by the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, which is similar to the small salients of Newmarket in Suffolk, Dieveniškės in Lithuania, Bogatynia in Poland, West Bengal and Sikkim in India, and the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan. It also the pene-exclave of the department.

The department contains 363 communes. The smallest commune in France, Rochefourchat, with a population only of one person, is in Drôme.

Climate

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The Drôme department is in a zone of transition between the oceanic climate of Lyon, the continental climate to the north and the Mediterranean climate of Provence to the south. In the Rhône valley, the meeting of the mild humid southern Mediterranean air masses with the colder northern air mass sometimes causes particularly violent thunderstorms and snowstorms.

In the northern hills near Tain-l'Hermitage (15 km north of Valence), the climate is a mixture of oceanic and semi-continental climates. Rainfall occurs throughout the year with the most falling in spring and autumn. The summers are moderated by storms and the mistral does not blow hard. Saint-Donat-sur-l'Herbasse has a moderate temperature of 3 °C in January and 21 °C in July due to the Lyonnic climate, where more precipitation falls in summer than winter.

The influence of the mountains is evident in the east. In the Vercors Plateau, the mountain climate is wet due to the oceanic influences from the north. The average annual temperature at Lus la Croix Haute at altitude 1061m is 7.3 °C and the annual rainfall is 1,051 mm (41.4 in). The Diois (southern Vercors) and the Baronnies are dry regions due to the Mediterranean climate. The mistral is less influential here and this region has minimal rainfall. The lowest temperatures in January at Nyons is 0.3 °C but 1.4 °C at Pierrelatte.

The Valence plane is a transition zone between the Mediterranean influence and the northern cold climate. Summers are warmer than in the northern regions, and the increase in sunlight and heat is evident upon the appearance of Mediterranean vegetation in the region. The temperatures are moderate between Lyon and Montélimar. Valence's average temperature in January is 3.8 °C and 22 °C in July. The mistral here blows harder.

From Montélimar, the climate can be considered to be that of a Mediterranean climate. Near the highway, the change of vegetation is particularly visible near the stream at Donzère, particularly due to the change of the soil profile. The most southern part of the department clearly exhibits a Méso-Mediterranean climate with the reinforcement of the mistral and a hotter summer due to the rarity of storms. Most rainfall occurs in autumn and the winters are milder than the rest of the Drôme. Pierrelatte has an average temperature of 5 °C in January and 23 °C in July.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Drômois.

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1791 246,687 —     1801 235,357 −0.47% 1806 253,502 +1.50% 1821 273,511 +0.51% 1831 299,556 +0.91% 1841 311,551 +0.39% 1851 326,846 +0.48% 1861 326,684 −0.00% 1872 320,417 −0.18% 1881 313,763 −0.23% 1891 306,419 −0.24% 1901 297,321 −0.30% 1911 290,894 −0.22% 1921 263,509 −0.98%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 267,080 +0.13% 1936 267,281 +0.02% 1946 268,233 +0.04% 1954 275,280 +0.32% 1962 304,227 +1.26% 1968 342,891 +2.01% 1975 361,847 +0.77% 1982 389,781 +1.07% 1990 414,072 +0.76% 1999 437,778 +0.62% 2006 468,367 +0.97% 2011 487,993 +0.82% 2016 508,006 +0.81%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Sources:

Principal towns

The most populous commune, home to about 1/8 of the department's population, is Valence, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are six communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

Economy

Most of the economic activity of the Drôme department is located in the west of the department, along the Rhône valley. This area which contains most of the population of the department, also has accessible transportation, such as the A7 autoroute and the rail routes LGV Rhône-Alpes and LGV Méditerranée. Economic activity in Valence was boosted by the creation of the Valence TGV line in 2001.

Statistics

• Total employment (2004): 158 930 (about 10.6% is self-employed)
• Unemployment rate (2006): 9.9%
• Jobs per sector of activity (2005)
  • Agriculture: 6.0%
  • Industry: 20.4%
  • BTP: 6.8%
  • Commerce: 15.0%
  • Services: 51.8%
• Qualification of Jobs (1999)
  • Farmers: 4.0%
  • CEO: 7.8%
  • Executives: 9.6%
  • Technicians and associate professionals: 23.0%
  • Employees: 27.2%
  • Labourers: 28.5%
• Average annual salary (2004)
  • CEO: €53 113
  • Executives: €39 265
  • Technicians and associate professionals: €22 927
  • Employees: €15 688
  • Labourers: €16 344
  • Apprentices and labourers : €7 498

Tourism

• The Drôme benefits from an excellent image in the view of tourists. Attendance has grown steadily (+4% between 2006 and 2007), faster than the neighbouring departments of Ardèche and the Vaucluse (+1%).
• Number of overnight stays in 2022: 12.8 million
• The Tourism Committee of the Drôme department's website La Drôme, du Vercors à la Provence received over 44000 visits in 2007, along with a new TV station Drome.tv

Main companies

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Marie-Pierre Mouton, elected in May 2017.

Current National Assembly Representatives

Tourism

Sport activities in Drôme include:

• in winter: skiing, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing
• in summer: excursions, mountain biking in the mountainous area

The Drôme River is also a great place to practice canoëing and kayaking. In the spring the water flow allows for rafting. The Saoü Forest is known for its climbing paths.

• Valence Cathedral
• Lavender fields near Die
• Grignan town and castle
• Ferdinand Cheval's palace
• Vercors Plateau
• Nougat from Montélimar

See also

• Cantons of the Drôme department
• Communes of the Drôme department
• Arrondissements of the Drôme department
• Marie Louis Descorches
• Albert Severin Roche, WW1 Legion of Honour recipient.

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 4 May 2022.
2. "Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
3. ^ Populations légales 2019: 26 Drôme, INSEE
4. "Historique de la Drôme". Le SPLAF.
5. "Évolution et structure de la population en 2016". INSEE.
6. "Chiffres clés tourisme et attractivité 2022" (PDF). La Drôme Tourisme. 2023. Retrieved November 9, 2023.
7. Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français". Assemblée nationale.

External links

• "Drôme" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). 1911.
• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) Departement Council website

v t e Departments of France
Metropolitan	01 Ain 02 Aisne 03 Allier 04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence 05 Hautes-Alpes 06 Alpes-Maritimes 07 Ardèche 08 Ardennes 09 Ariège 10 Aube 11 Aude 12 Aveyron 13 Bouches-du-Rhône 14 Calvados 15 Cantal 16 Charente 17 Charente-Maritime 18 Cher 19 Corrèze 2A Corse-du-Sud 2B Haute-Corse 21 Côte-d'Or 22 Côtes-d'Armor 23 Creuse 24 Dordogne 25 Doubs 26 Drôme 27 Eure 28 Eure-et-Loir 29 Finistère 30 Gard 31 Haute-Garonne 32 Gers 33 Gironde 34 Hérault 35 Ille-et-Vilaine 36 Indre 37 Indre-et-Loire 38 Isère 39 Jura 40 Landes 41 Loir-et-Cher 42 Loire 43 Haute-Loire 44 Loire-Atlantique 45 Loiret 46 Lot 47 Lot-et-Garonne 48 Lozère 49 Maine-et-Loire 50 Manche 51 Marne 52 Haute-Marne 53 Mayenne 54 Meurthe-et-Moselle 55 Meuse 56 Morbihan 57 Moselle 58 Nièvre 59 Nord 60 Oise 61 Orne 62 Pas-de-Calais 63 Puy-de-Dôme 64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques 65 Hautes-Pyrénées 66 Pyrénées-Orientales 67 Bas-Rhin 68 Haut-Rhin 69D Rhône 70 Haute-Saône 71 Saône-et-Loire 72 Sarthe 73 Savoie 74 Haute-Savoie 76 Seine-Maritime 77 Seine-et-Marne 78 Yvelines 79 Deux-Sèvres 80 Somme 81 Tarn 82 Tarn-et-Garonne 83 Var 84 Vaucluse 85 Vendée 86 Vienne 87 Haute-Vienne 88 Vosges 89 Yonne 90 Territoire de Belfort 91 Essonne 92 Hauts-de-Seine 93 Seine-Saint-Denis 94 Val-de-Marne 95 Val-d'Oise
Overseas	971 Guadeloupe 972 Martinique (territorial collectivity) 973 French Guiana (territorial collectivity) 974 Réunion 976 Mayotte
Special	69M Lyon (collectivity with special status) 75 Paris (collectivity with special status)
Former	975 Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Overseas collectivity)

• Drôme
• 1790 establishments in France
• Departments of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
• Economy of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
• States and territories established in 1790