Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè'' or ''Savouè-d'Avâl''; English: ''Savoy'' ) is a department in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

, Southeastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Located in the French Alps, its

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

. In 2019, Savoie had a population of 436,434.Populations légales 2019: 73 Savoie
INSEE Together with Haute-Savoie, it is one of the two departments of the historical region of

Savoy Savoy (; )  is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

; the Duchy of Savoy was annexed by France in 1860, following the signature of the Treaty of Turin. The area is known for its numerous ski resorts and contribution to French cuisine, with culinary specialities such as fondue savoyarde, tartiflette, génépi, as well as various sorts of saucisson.

History

It is widely accepted that Savoie takes its name from the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

''Sapaudia'' or ''Sabaudia'', meaning land covered in fir trees. Savoie was long part of the states of

; though beginning in the 16th century, it was occupied by

several times. It was integrated into the

Mont-Blanc Mont Blanc (, ) is a mountain in the Alps, rising above sea level, located right at the France-Italy border, Franco-Italian border. It is the highest mountain in Europe outside the Caucasus Mountains, the List of European ultra-prominent peaks ...

department from 1792 to 1815 (and partially into the Léman department from 1798 to 1814). The province was 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 a subprefecture following a law that took effect on 10 September 1926. Savoie hosted the 1992 Winter Olympics, based in Albertville with ski events at Tarentaise and Beaufortain. The coat of arms for Savoie was used as a pattern for the flames in the official emblem of the games. The other main alpine valley is the Maurienne, connected to the Tarentaise valley by two passes, the col de la Madeleine and the highest pass in Europe, the col de l'Iseran. The Maurienne valley was through the col du Mont Cenis, the major commercial route between France and Italy. It is one of the longest intra-alpine valleys in the Alps.

Geography

Savoie is part of the

established on 1 January 2016. It was previously part of Rhône-Alpes. It borders the departments of Haute-Savoie, Ain,

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

and Hautes-Alpes in addition to the Aosta Valley and the

Metropolitan City of Turin The Metropolitan City of Turin (; Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ''sità metropolitan-a 'd Turin'') is a Metropolitan cities of Italy, metropolitan city in the Piedmont region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Turin. It replaced the prov ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Much of Savoie is covered by mountains: * Mont Blanc Massif * Belledonne Massif * Lauzière massif * Aiguilles d'Arves Massif * Massif des Cerces * Aravis Range * Mont Cenis Massif *

Bauges The Bauges Mountains (, ) are a mountain range in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Eastern France, stretching from the city of Annecy, Haute-Savoie to the city of Chambéry, Savoie, which is part of the French Prealps. Major peaks The Bauges have fourt ...

Massif * Chartreuse Massif * Vanoise Massif * Beaufortain Massif The department is crossed by the Isère river, which has its source in the Iseran pass. Its two main lakes are Lac du Bourget (the largest and deepest lake entirely in France) and Lac d'Aiguebelette, one of the least polluted in France due to a 1976 law forbidding any use of motorboats on the lake. File:Relief Savoie.GIF, Relief map of

File:Paysage de l'avant-pays savoyard.jpg, Low elevation: the Savoie frontcountry File:Plateau du mariet - arith - 1.JPG, Mid elevation: Mariet plateau in the Bauges Massif File:Aime_(vue_g%C3%A9n%C3%A9rale).JPG, High elevation: the village of Aime

Climate

Most of the department features an alpine climate or a subalpine climate. At lower altitudes and in the valleys, the climate is humid continental (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: Dfb) or even oceanic in the frontcounrty and lake Bourget area (

: Cfb), using the isotherm.

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 and €825 million in imports. Its leading exports were

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

, and electric and electronic components.

Agriculture

Savoie is famous for its cows, which produce numerous

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

s, some of them are: * Beaufort * Savoie gruyère * Reblochon * Abbaye de Tamié * Tome des Bauges * Tomme de Savoie Numerous wine grapes are also grown in Savoie. The most famous wines are made of Gamay, Pinot noir and

Mondeuse Mondeuse noire () is a red French wine grape variety that is grown primarily in the Savoy wine, Savoy region of eastern France. The grape can also be found in Argentina (wine), Argentina, Australia (wine), Australia, California (wine), Califor ...

grapes. Fruit production is the third largest component of agriculture in Savoie. Apples and pears are also produced in the region and are well known for their qualities.

Demographics

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

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 8 communes with more than 7,000 inhabitants: The "average" (see

arithmetic mean In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ), arithmetic average, or just the ''mean'' or ''average'' is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The collection is often a set of results fr ...

) population density is not a good indicator: the valleys tend to be much more densely populated, whereas the mountains tend to be near-completely uninhabited.

Religion

The

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

in Savoie is divided into three

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

s: Chambéry, Maurienne, and Tarentaise. Together, they form an archdiocese, in which the bishop of Chambéry is the

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

Politics

Departmental Council of Savoie

The Departmental Council of Savoie has 38 seats. 30 councillors are part of the J'aime la Savoie ("I love Savoie") right-wing group; 8 councillors are part of the Savoie pour Tous ("Savoie for All") left-wing group. Hervé Gaymard ( The Republicans) has been President of the Departmental Council since 2008. Thierry Repentin ( Socialist Party) has been Opposition Leader since 1998.

Members of the National Assembly

Savoie elected the following

members Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

during the 2017 legislative election:

Senators

Savoie is represented by two Senators in

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Jean-Pierre Vial and Martine Berthet have served since 1995 and 2017 respectively. Both are members of The Republicans (LR).

Tourism

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 Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...

in the 20th century made Savoie home to the largest number of ski hills in France, including many famous ones: *

Val-d'Isère Val-d'Isère (, literally ''Valley of Isère (river), Isère'') is a Communes of France, commune of the Tarentaise Valley, in the Savoie Departments of France, department (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region) in southeastern France. It ...

* Tignes * Les Arcs * La Plagne * Courchevel * Méribel * Valmorel * Les Menuires * Val Thorens * Les Saisies * Savoie Grand Revard * Bramans * Bessans * Valloire

Hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and Physical therapy, physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and ...

, practised in the region since antiquity, is also quite developed. There are four locations that are still active: * Aix-les-Bains * Challes-les-Eaux * Brides-les-Bains * La Léchère File:Château des Ducs de Savoie - Chambéry.JPG,

File:Palais de Savoie -Aix-les-Bains.JPG, Casino of Aix-les-Bains File:Hautecombe.jpg, Hautecombe Abbey on the Lac du Bourget File:Bonneval-sur-Arc vu depuis la route du col de l'Iseran (été 2019).JPG, Bonneval-sur-Arc in the Maurienne valley File:Refuge des Aiguilles d'Arves, Savoie.jpg, Refuge of the Aiguilles d'Arves File:Service d'hiver en gare de Chambéry (2016).JPG, Trains in Savoie

References

External links

Departmental Council website

Prefecture websiteRegional Tourism AgencyGallery Photos and pictures of SavoiePhotos of Savoie mountains
{{Authority control Allobroges Members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization 1860 establishments in France Departments of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes States and territories established in 1860

History

Geography

Climate

Economy

Agriculture

Demographics

Principal towns

Religion

Politics

Departmental Council of Savoie

Members of the National Assembly

Senators

Tourism

See also

History

Language

Places

Wine

References

External links