Isère

Isère (US: /iːˈzɛər/ ee-ZAIR,[1][2] French: [izɛʁ] (listen); Francoprovençal: Isera; Occitan: Isèra) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in eastern France named after the river Isère.

This article is about the French department. For the river, see Isère (river).

Isère

Isera  (Arpitan)
Isèra  (Occitan)
Department
Prefecture building of the Isère department, in Grenoble
Flag
Coat of arms
Location of Isère in France
Coordinates: 45°20′N 05°30′E
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
PrefectureGrenoble
SubprefecturesLa Tour-du-Pin
Vienne
Government
 • President of the Departmental CouncilJean-Pierre Barbier
Area
 • Total7,431 km2 (2,869 sq mi)
Elevation
846 m (2,776 ft)
Highest elevation
4,088 m (13,412 ft)
Lowest elevation
134 m (440 ft)
Population
 (2016)
 • Total1,252,912
 • Rank16th
 • Density170/km2 (440/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number38
Arrondissements3
Cantons29
Communes512
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

History

Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the main part of the former province of Dauphiné.[3] Its area has been reduced twice, in 1852 and again in 1967, on both occasions losing territory to the department of Rhône.

In 1852 in response to rapid urban development around the edge of Lyon, the (hitherto Isère) communes of Bron, Vaulx-en-Velin, Vénissieux and Villeurbanne were transferred to Rhône.[4] In 1967 the redrawing of local government borders led to the creation of the Urban Community of Lyon (more recently known simply as Greater Lyon / Grand Lyon). At that time intercommunal groupings of this nature were not permitted to straddle departmental frontiers, and accordingly 23 more Isère communes (along with 6 communes from Ain) found themselves transferred to Rhône. The affected Isère communes were Chaponnay, Chassieu, Communay, Corbas, Décines-Charpieu, Feyzin, Genas, Jonage, Jons, Marennes, Meyzieu, Mions, Pusignan, Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure, Saint-Laurent-de-Mure, Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, Saint-Priest, Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon, Sérézin-du-Rhône, Simandres, Solaize, Ternay and Toussieu.

Most recently, on 1 April 1971, Colombier-Saugnieu was lost to Rhône. Banners appeared in the commune's three little villages at the time proclaiming "Dauphinois toujours" (Always Dauphinois)

Isère was also the name of the French ship which delivered the 214 boxes holding the Statue of Liberty.

Geography

Isère is part of the current region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the departments of Rhône, Ain, Savoie, Hautes-Alpes, Drôme, Ardèche, and Loire.

Isère includes a part of the French Alps. The highest point in the department is the Sub-Peak "Pic Lory" at 4,088 metres, subsidiary to the 4102 metres Barre des Écrins in the adjoining Hautes-Alpes department. The summit of La Meije at 3,988 metres is also well known. The Vercors Plateau aesthetically dominates the western area of the department.

Demographics

Inhabitants of the department are called Isérois.

Population development since 1801:

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1801435,888—    
1806471,660+1.59%
1831550,258+0.62%
1841588,660+0.68%
1851603,497+0.25%
1861577,748−0.44%
1872575,784−0.03%
1881580,271+0.09%
1891572,145−0.14%
1901568,693−0.06%
1911555,911−0.23%
1921525,522−0.56%
1931584,017+1.06%
1936572,742−0.39%
1946574,019+0.02%
1954626,116+1.09%
1962729,789+1.93%
1968768,490+0.86%
1975860,339+1.63%
1982936,771+1.22%
19901,016,228+1.02%
19991,094,006+0.82%
20061,169,491+0.96%
20111,215,212+0.77%
20161,252,912+0.61%
source:[5]

Politics

The President of the General Council is Jean-Pierre Barbier of The Republicans.

Partyseats
• Socialist Party24
Union for a Popular Movement14
Miscellaneous Right7
• French Communist Party6
• Miscellaneous Left4
• The Greens3

Current National Assembly representatives
ConstituencyMember[6]Party
Isère's 1st constituency Olivier Véran La République En Marche!
Isère's 2nd constituency Jean-Charles Colas-Roy La République En Marche!
Isère's 3rd constituency Émilie Chalas La République En Marche!
Isère's 4th constituency Marie-Noëlle Battistel Socialist Party
Isère's 5th constituency Catherine Kamowski La République En Marche!
Isère's 6th constituency Cendra Motin La République En Marche!
Isère's 7th constituency Monique Limon La République En Marche!
Isère's 8th constituency Caroline Abadie La République En Marche!
Isère's 9th constituency Élodie Jacquier-Laforge MoDem
Isère's 10th constituency Marjolaine Meynier-Millefert La République En Marche!

Culture

The Grande Chartreuse is the mother abbey of the Carthusian order. It is located 14 miles north of Grenoble.

As early as the 13th century, residents of the north and central parts of Isère spoke a dialect of the Franco-Provençal language called Dauphinois, while those in the Southern parts spoke the Vivaro-Alpine dialect of Occitan. Both continued to be spoken in rural areas of Isère into the 20th century.

Tourism

Isère features many ski resorts, including the Alpe d'Huez, Les Deux Alpes, the 1968 Winter Olympics resorts of Chamrousse, Villard de Lans, Autrans. Other popular resorts include Les 7 Laux, Le Collet d'Allevard, Méaudre, Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, Alpe du Grand Serre, Gresse-en-Vercors.

Grenoble has a dozen museums, including the most famous created in Grenoble in 1798, the Museum of Grenoble.

It is the third largest ski and winter destination of France, after Savoie and Haute-Savoie, and before Hautes-Alpes. It also hosts Coupe Icare, an annual festival of free flight, such as paragliding and hang-gliding, held at the world-renowned paragliding site at Lumbin.

See also

References
  1. "Isère". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  2. "Isère". Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  3. Frederick Converse Beach; George Edwin Rines (1912). The Americana: a universal reference library, comprising the arts and sciences, literature, history, biography, geography, commerce, etc., of the world. Scientific American compiling department. p. 741.
  4. Revue du Lyonnais (in French). L. Boitel. 1865. p. 197.
  5. Site sur la Population et les Limites Administratives de la France
  6. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/
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