Drôme

Drôme is a département in southeastern France named after the Drôme River.

History

Drôme was one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from the former province of Dauphiné.

Geography

Drôme is part of the current region of Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the départements of Ardèche, Isère, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and Vaucluse.

The boundaries of the département have changed several times with the incorporation of the Comtat Venaissin in 1792 and the creation of the département of Vaucluse in 1793. There is an enclave of the département of Vaucluse, the canton of Valréas (Enclave des Papes), which is surrounded by Drôme.

Economy

Drôme has one of the fastest growing industrial sectors in France. It is very diversified, including plastics, large machinery, packaging, food processing, and high tech.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the département are called Drômois.

Main cities

(1999 figures)

Valence: 66,568
Romans-sur-Isère: 33,665
Montélimar: 32,896
Nyons: 6,731

Tourism

Winter sports—skiing, cross-country skiing, and snow-shoeing—are all available in Drôme.

External links

Prefecture website (in French)
Conseil Général website (in French)
http://wikitravel.org/fr/article/drome (in French)
http://www.drometourisme.com/ (in French)
http://www.vallee-drome.com/ (in French)