Côte-d'Or

This article is about the French département. For the chocolate company, see Côte d'Or (chocolate). For other uses, see Côte d'Or.

Côte-d'Or
Department of France
Top down: prefecture building in Dijon, view of Semur-en-Auxois and Meursault Town Hall
Flag of Côte-d'Or
Flag
Coat of arms of Côte-d'Or
Coat of arms
Location of Côte-d'Or in France
Location of Côte-d'Or in France
Coordinates: 47°25′N 04°50′E / 47.417°N 4.833°E / 47.417; 4.833
CountryFrance
RegionBourgogne-Franche-Comté
PrefectureDijon
SubprefecturesBeaune
Montbard
Government
 • President of the Departmental CouncilFrançois Sauvadet[1] (UDI)
Area
1
 • Total
8,763 km2 (3,383 sq mi)
Highest elevation
723 m (2,372 ft)
Population
 (2021)[2]
 • Total
535,503
 • Rank50th
 • Density61/km2 (160/sq mi)
Demonymscôte-d'oriens, costaloriens
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number21
Arrondissements3
Cantons23
Communes698
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Côte-d'Or (French pronunciation: [kot dɔʁ] ⓘ) is a département in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of Northeastern France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124.[3] Its prefecture is Dijon and subprefectures are Beaune and Montbard.

History

Côte-d'Or is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was formed from part of the former province of Burgundy. It is arguably unique among the departments in having a name which is poetic, rather than geographic. Given by the representative of Dijon (fr:Charles-André-Rémy Arnoult), it is said to refer to the autumn gold of the flanks of the hills in the wine-growing area.[4][5]

Geography

The department is part of the current region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is surrounded by the departments of Yonne, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Jura, Aube, Haute-Saône, and Haute-Marne.

A chain of hills called the Plateau de Langres runs from north-east to south-west through the department to the north of Dijon and continues south-westwards as the Côte d'Or escarpment, from which the department takes its name. It is the south-east facing slope of this escarpment which is the site of the celebrated Burgundy vineyards. To the west of the Plateau de Langres, towards Champagne, lies the densely wooded district of Châtillonais. To the south-east of the plateau and escarpment, the department lies in the broad, flat-bottomed valley of the middle course of the Saône.[6]

Rivers include:

  • The Saône
  • The Seine rises in the southern end of the Plateau de Langres.
  • The Ouche rises on the dip slope of the escarpment and flows to the Saône via Dijon.
  • The Armançon rises on the dip slope of the escarpment and flows north-westward.
  • The Arroux rises on the dip slope of the escarpment at the southern end of the department.

Climate

The climate of the department is continental, with abundant rain on the west side of the central range.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Dijon, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:[3]

Commune Population (2019)
Dijon 158,002
Beaune 20,551
Chenôve 14,025
Talant 11,713
Chevigny-Saint-Sauveur 11,123

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Costaloriens.

Population development since 1791:

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1791342,986—    
1801340,500−0.07%
1806355,436+0.86%
1821358,148+0.05%
1831375,063+0.46%
1841393,316+0.48%
1851400,297+0.18%
1861384,140−0.41%
1872374,510−0.23%
1881382,819+0.24%
1891376,866−0.16%
1901361,626−0.41%
1911350,044−0.32%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1921321,088−0.86%
1931333,800+0.39%
1936334,386+0.04%
1946335,602+0.04%
1954356,839+0.77%
1962387,869+1.05%
1968421,192+1.38%
1975456,070+1.14%
1982473,548+0.54%
1990493,866+0.53%
1999506,755+0.29%
2006516,834+0.28%
2016533,213+0.31%
Sources:[7][8]

Politics

See also: Departmental Council of Côte-d'Or

The President of the Departmental Council is François Sauvadet of the Union of Democrats and Independents.

Party seats
Socialist Party 12
• Union for a Popular Movement 11
• Miscellaneous Right 8
Miscellaneous Left 6
Left Radical Party 3
• New Centre 2
• MoDem 1

Current National Assembly Representatives

Constituency Member[9] Party
Côte-d'Or's 1st constituency Didier Martin La République En Marche!
Côte-d'Or's 2nd constituency Rémi Delatte The Republicans
Côte-d'Or's 3rd constituency Fadila Khattabi La République En Marche!
Côte-d'Or's 4th constituency Yolaine de Courson Ecology Democracy Solidarity
Côte-d'Or's 5th constituency Didier Paris La République En Marche!

Economy

This is a premier wine-growing region of France. It produces what are arguably the world's finest, and definitely most expensive Pinot noir and Chardonnay wines from some of the most rigorously and painstakingly (thanks to the region's many monasteries) classified vineyards in the world. Wine from the Côte-d'Or was a favorite of the emperor Charlemagne. Other crops include cereal grains and potatoes. Sheep and cattle are also raised in the department. The region is famous for Dijon mustard.

There are coal mines and heavy industry, including steel, machinery, and earthenware. The industries most developed in Côte-d'Or are

  • agriculture and food (14% of employees)
  • metallurgy and metal manufacture (12% of employees)
  • chemicals, rubber and plastics (12% of employees)
  • pharmacy
  • electrical and electronic components and equipment
  • wood and paper industries.

The big works are generally in the conurbation of Dijon although the biggest (CEA Valduc) is at Salives in the Plateau de Langres. There is also the SEB metal works at Selongey below the plateau on the margin of the Saône plain and the Valourec metalworking group at Montbard in the west of the department on the River Brenne near its confluence with the Armançon. The Pharmaceutical industry has shown the greatest growth in recent years. However, since the Dijon employment statistics zone includes the urban and administrative centre of the Burgundy region, the service sector is proportionately bigger there in relation to the industrial, than in the other three zones of Côte-d'Or.

Tourism

Some of the major tourist attractions are the Gothic abbey church of Saint-Seine-l'Abbaye and the 11th-century Romanesque abbey church at Saulieu, as well the 12th-century Château de Bussy Rabutin at Bussy-le-Grand.[6] The Abbey of Cîteaux, headquarters of the Cistercian Order, lies to the east of Nuits-Saint-Georges in the south of the department.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 4 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2021" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
  3. ^ a b Populations légales 2019: 21 Côte-d'Or, INSEE
  4. ^ Le Bien Public (9 April 2014). "La Côte-d'or, une histoire qui dure depuis 224 ans" (in French). Retrieved 19 October 2022..
  5. ^ Billy, Pierre-Henri (2021). Dictionnaire des noms de lieux de la France (DNLF). Errance. ISBN 978-2-87772-769-3. OCLC 1309874211.
  6. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Côte-d'Or" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 248–249.
  7. ^ "Historique de la Côte-d'Or". Le SPLAF.
  8. ^ "Évolution et structure de la population en 2016". INSEE.
  9. ^ Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français". Assemblée nationale.