Savoie

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Savoie

Coat of arms of the Savoie department
Location

Administration
Department number:	73
Region:	Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture:	Chambéry
Subprefectures:	Albertville Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne
Arrondissements:	3
Cantons:	37
Communes:	305
President of the General Council:	Jean-Pierre Vial UMP
Statistics
Population	Ranked 61st
-1999	373,258
Population density:	62/km²
Land area¹:	6028 km²

¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km².

This article is about the French department. For the historical region of Savoy, see that article. For other uses, see Savoy (disambiguation).

Savoie (Arpitan : Savouè d’Avâl) is a French department located in the Rhône-Alpes (Rôno-Arpes) region in the French Alps.

It is one of the two departments of the region of Savoy that was annexed by France on March 24, 1860, the other being Haute-Savoie. For history before 1860, details of the annexation and reasons for the current separatist movement in the departments, see Savoy.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Economy
- 3.1 Agriculture
4 Demographics
- 4.1 Religion
5 Tourism
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] History

It is widely accepted that Savoie takes its name from the Latin Sapaudia or Sabaudia, meaning land covered in fir trees.

Savoie was long part of the states of Savoy, though it was occupied many times by France starting in the 16th century. It was integrated into the Mont-Blanc department from 1792 to 1815 (and partially into the Léman department from 1798 to 1814), later being annexed by France in 1860. The former Duchy of Savoy became the two departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie.

Moûtiers, capital of the former province of Tarentaise Valley (French: Vallée de la Tarentaise) ceased to be the county seat after a law passed on September 10, 1926.

Savoie, along with Albertville, hosted the 1992 Winter Olympics, with ski events at Tarentaise and Beaufortain.

[edit] Geography

Relief map of Savoy.

Savoie is part of the Rhône-Alpes région. It borders the departments of Haute-Savoie, Ain, Isère and Hautes-Alpes in addition to Italy.

Much of Savoie is covered by mountains:

The department is crossed by the Isère river, which has its source in the Iseran pass. Its two main lakes are Lake Bourget (the largest and deepest lake entirely in France) and Lake Aiguebelette, one of the least polluted in France due to a 1976 law forbidding any use of motorboats on the lake.

[edit] Economy

According to the Chambéry chamber of commerce, close to 50% of the department's wealth comes from tourism. Each year, Savoie hosts over 30 million visitor-nights of tourists. Savoie also profits from its natural resources with particular strengths in ore processing and hydroelectric power.

Savoie had an exceptionally high export/import ratio of 214% in 2005. Its exports rose to €1.768 billion €825 million in imports. Its leading exports were steel, aluminum, and electric and electronic components.

[edit] Agriculture

Savoie is famous for its cows, which produce numerous cheeses:

Beaufort
Savoie Gruyère
Reblochon
Tamié
Tome des Bauges
Tomme de Savoie

Numerous wines are also grown in Savoie. The most famous are made of Gamay, Pinot Noir and Mondeuse grapes. Fruit production is the third largest component of agriculture in Savoie.

[edit] Demographics

Residents of Savoie are known as Savoyards though they can also be called Savoisiens (the historical name) or Savoyens.

Main cities:

Chambéry: pop. 55 786 (113 457 agglomeration, of which 10 912 are in La Motte-Servolex)
Aix-les-Bains: pop. 25 732(40 278 agglomeration)
Albertville: pop. 17 340 (31 162 agglomeration)
Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne: pop. 8 902 (9 846 agglomeration)

The average population density is not a good indication of actual population density, as valleys tend to be quite densely populated, whereas the mountains tend to be near-completely uninhabited.

[edit] Religion

The Catholic Church in Savoie is divided into three dioceses: Chambéry, Maurienne et Tarentaise. Together, they form an archdiocese, in which the bishop of Chambéry is the archbishop.

[edit] Tourism

Low elevation: The Savoie frontcountry.

Mid elevation: Mariet plateau in the Bauges Massif.

High elevation: the village of Sainte-Foy-Tarentaise.

Tourism, which is quite important to Savoie, began to develop towards the end of the 19th century, mostly summer oriented. The increase in the popularity of skiing in the 20th century made Savoie home to the largest number of ski hills in France, including many famous ones: