Yonne
Yonne | ||
---|---|---|
Communes 423 | | |
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2 |
Yonne (French: [jɔn]) is a département 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 is Auxerre, with subprefectures in Avallon and Sens. Its INSEE and postcode number is 89.
Yonne is Bourgogne-Franche-Comté's fourth-most populous department, with a population of 335,707 (2019).[3] 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.
The
In 1771, the north-westerly part of the present department belonged to
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
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.[7] The department has some forested areas but is mainly used for pasture or cultivated for wheat.[8]
Principal towns
The most populous commune is Auxerre, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants:[3]
Commune | Population (2019) |
---|---|
Auxerre | 34,451 |
Sens | 26,688 |
Joigny | 9,557 |
Migennes | 7,258 |
Avallon | 6,462 |
Villeneuve-sur-Yonne | 5,165 |
Demographics
Population development since 1801:
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
source:[9][10] |
Economy
Over fifty percent of the inhabitants of the department are engaged in agricultural activities. Yonne 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 experienced 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.[citation needed]
The viticulture industry was severely affected by the advent of powdery mildew and the arrival of Phylloxera 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.[11] By 1945, only 4000 hectares of grapevines remained, and only 471 hectares of grapes were grown for Chablis.[8]
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.[12]
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.[13]
Current National Assembly Representatives
The department elects three members of parliament to the
Constituency | Member[14] | Party | |
---|---|---|---|
Yonne's 1st constituency | Daniel Grenon | National Rally | |
Yonne's 2nd constituency | André Villiers | Horizons | |
Yonne's 3rd constituency | Julien Odoul | National Rally |
Tourism
-
Yonne River
-
Sens on the Yonne river
-
The medieval construction project of Guédelon Castle as of 2009
See also
- Cantons of the Yonne department
- Communes of the Yonne department
- Arrondissements of the Yonne department
References
- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 4 May 2022.
- ^ "Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
- ^ a b Populations légales 2019: 89 Yonne, INSEE
- ISBN 2-86621-043-3.
- ISBN 2-86621-043-3.
- ISBN 978-0-19-160825-4.
- ^ ISBN 0-540-05278-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8476-7534-0.
- ^ "Historique de l'Yonne". Le SPLAF.
- ^ "Évolution et structure de la population en 2016". INSEE.
- ISBN 0-19-860990-6
- ^ "Les résultats des recensements de la population". Insee. Retrieved 2015-09-22.
- ^ "Budget 2015: Le Conseil Départemental: Portail Internet du Conseil Départemental de l'Yonne". www.cg89.fr. Retrieved 2015-09-02.
- ^ Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français". Assemblée nationale.
External links
- (in French) Prefecture website
- (in French) Departmental Council website
- (in English) Yonne at Curlie
- (in French) Chamber of commerce