| Drôme | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Department — | |||
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| Location of Drôme in France | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | France | ||
| Region | Rhône-Alpes | ||
| Prefecture | Valence | ||
| Subprefectures | Die Nyons |
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| Government | |||
| • President of the General Council | Didier Guillaume (PS) | ||
| Area1 | |||
| • Total | 6,530 km2 (2,521.2 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| • Total | 473,427 | ||
| • Rank | 53rd | ||
| • Density | 72.5/km2 (187.8/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Department number | 26 | ||
| Arrondissements | 3 | ||
| Cantons | 36 | ||
| Communes | 369 | ||
| ^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | |||
Drôme (French pronunciation: [dʁom]; Droma in Occitan, Drôma in Arpitan), a department in southeastern France, takes its name from the Drôme River.
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St 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 of France(1547-1559).
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.
Drôme lies within the current[update] region of Rhône-Alpes (Rôno-Arpes) and is surrounded by the departments of Ardèche, Isère, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and Vaucluse.
The boundaries of the department have changed several times with the incorporation of the Comtat Venaissin in 1792 and the creation of the department of Vaucluse in 1793. Drôme surrounds an enclave of the department of Vaucluse, the Canton of Valréas (Enclave des Papes).
The President of the General Council is Didier Guillaume of the Socialist Party.
| Party | seats | |
|---|---|---|
| • | Socialist Party | 18 |
| Union for a Popular Movement | 7 | |
| • | Miscellaneous Left | 4 |
| Miscellaneous Right | 3 | |
| MoDem | 1 | |
| • | The Greens | 1 |
| • | Left Radical Party | 1 |
| • | French Communist Party | 1 |
The inhabitants of the department are called Drômois.
(1999 figures)
Sport activities in Drôme include skiing, cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing in winter; during the summer period, excursions, mountain biking in the mountainous area.