Dreux

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For the saint of this name, see Saint Drogo.

Administration
Commune of Dreux Saint-Pierre Church in Dreux
Location
Longitude	01° 21' 59" E
Latitude	48° 44' 14" N
Country	France
Region	Centre
Department	Eure-et-Loir (sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement	Dreux
Canton	Chief town of 3 cantons
Intercommunality	Communauté d'agglomération du Drouais
Mayor	Gérard Hamel (2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude	75 m–139 m
Land area¹	24.27 km²
Population² (1999)	31,849
- Density (1999)	1,312.3/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	28134/ 28100
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Dreux is a town and commune in northwest France, in the Eure-et-Loir département.

1 Politics
2 History
3 Miscellaneous
- 3.1 Births
- 3.2 Twin towns
4 External links

[edit] Politics

Dreux came to national attention in 1983 when the then-small National Front made its first electoral breakthrough, winning control of the city council and deputy mayorship. This came at a time of rising unemployment and popular resentment directed at the visible and impoverished community of immigrants, many of whom were Muslims. The Socialist mayor at the time, Françoise Gaspard, later wrote a book about her experience and the times, A Small City in France.

[edit] History

In the Middle Ages, Dreux was the centre of the County of Dreux. The first large battle of the French Wars of Religion occurred at Dreux, on December 19, 1562, resulting in a near-run victory for the Catholic-Royal forces.