Tarn ( or ; ) is a department in the

Occitania Occitania ( oc, Occitània , , or ) is the historical region in Western and Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes still used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasse ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...

. Named after the river Tarn, it had a population of 389,844 as of 2019.Populations légales 2019: 81 Tarn
INSEE Its

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''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 international ...

and

largest city The United Nations uses three definitions for what constitutes a city, as not all cities in all jurisdictions are classified using the same criteria. Cities may be defined as the cities proper, the extent of their urban area, or their metropo ...

Albi Albi (; oc, Albi ) is a commune in southern France. It is the prefecture of the Tarn department, on the river Tarn, 85 km northeast of Toulouse. Its inhabitants are called ''Albigensians'' (french: Albigeois, Albigeoise(s), oc, albigé ...

; it has a single subprefecture, Castres. In

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, the inhabitants of Tarn are known as ''Tarnais'' (masculine) and ''Tarnaises'' (feminine). Its INSEE and postcode number is 81.

History

Tarn is one of the original 83 departments created during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

on 4 March 1790, through application of the Law of 22 December 1789. It was created from part of the former province of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

, and comprised the dioceses of

and Castres (which found themselves merged in 1817). Old houses by the Agout River in Castres

The new department had five

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

s: Albi, Castres, Lavaur, Gaillac, Lacaune. The

capitals Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

(now

prefectures A prefecture (from the Latin ''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 international ...

) were, alternatively,

and Castres but, from 1790 to 1797, the capital was only Albi; in 1797, the capital was moved to Castres. In 1800, Albi became again the capital of the department and the arrondissements were created; the department had four arrondissements: Albi, Castres, Gaillac and Lavaur. In 1926, the arrondissements of Gaillac and Lavaur were eliminated. By the law of 28

Pluviôse Pluviôse (; also ''Pluviose'') was the fifth month in the French Republican Calendar. The month was named after the Latin word ''pluviosus'', which means ''rainy''. Pluviôse was the second month of the winter quarter (''mois d'hiver''), star ...

Year 5 Year 5 is an educational year group in schools in many countries including England, Wales, Australia and New Zealand. It is usually the fifth year of compulsory education and incorporates students aged between nine and eleven however some childr ...

, the departments of

Saint-Gervais-sur-Mare Saint-Gervais-sur-Mare (Languedocien: ''Sant Gervais'') is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Hérault department The following is a list of the 342 commu ...

(which had been part of the diocese of Castres, but which today remains in Hérault).

Geography

Tarn is part of the Occitanie

and has an area of . The department is surrounded by 5 departments, all belonging to the

Occitanie:

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Aude Aude (; ) is a department in Southern France, located in the Occitanie region and named after the river Aude. The departmental council also calls it " Cathar Country" (French: ''Pays cathare'') after a group of religious dissidents active ...

to the south,

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitan ...

to the north and east,

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...

to the southwest and west, as well as Tarn-et-Garonne to the northwest. It is one of two French departments surrounded entirely by other departments of the same region. The slope of the department is from east to west, and its general character is mountainous or hilly. Tarn's three principal ranges lying to the south-east are: the Mountains of

Lacaune Lacaune (; , meaning ''the cave'') is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France. Its inhabitants are called the Lacaunais (los Cauneses in Occitan). Geography The river Gijou has its source in the commune. History In 1797, the fera ...

, the

Sidobre The Sidobre is a mountainous area located in the south of the Massif central, in central France. It consists of a plateau made of granite, 15.3 km long, 6.6 km wide and covered with forests. Its highest point is in the ''lieu-dit'' � ...

and the

Montagne Noire The Montagne Noire ( oc, Montanha Negra, known as the 'Black Mountain' in English) is a mountain range in central southern France. It is located at the southwestern end of the Massif Central at the juncture of the Tarn, Hérault and Aude departm ...

, belonging to the Cévennes. The stony and wind-blown slopes of the Mountains of

(''Monts de Lacaune'') are used for

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

. The highest point of the range and of the department is the ''Puech Montgrand'', high; several other summits are not much short of this. The granite-strewn plateaux of the

, from high, separate the valley of the river Agout from that of its western tributary, the

Thoré The Thoré () is a river in the Hérault and Tarn departments in southern France. Its source is in the northern part of Rieussec. It flows generally northwest. It is a left tributary of the Agout, into which it flows between Navès and Castr ...

River. The

, on the southwestern border of the department, derives its name from the forests on its northern slope. Its highest point is the Pic de Nore at high. The

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

and

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicat ...

foot-hills are clothed with

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themsel ...

s and fruit trees, and are broken by deep alluvial valleys of particular fertility. With the exception of a small portion of the Montagne Noire, which drains into the river

Aude Aude (; ) is a department in Southern France, located in the Occitanie region and named after the river Aude. The departmental council also calls it " Cathar Country" (French: ''Pays cathare'') after a group of religious dissidents active ...

, the whole department belongs to the basin of the

Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – ...

Demographics

Tarn has a population, in 2019, of 389,844, for a population density of inhabitants/km².

Population evolution

Population development since 1801:

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 10 communes with more than 6,000 inhabitants:

Administration

Administrative divisions

There are 2

arrondissements An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

, 23 cantons and 314 communes in Tarn.

Politics

Departmental Council of Tarn

The Departmental Council of Tarn has 46 seats. In the 2015 departmental elections, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of ...

(PS) won 26 seats and The Republicans (LR) and

Union of Democrats and Independents The Union of Democrats and Independents (french: Union des démocrates et indépendants, UDI) is a centre to centre-right political party in France and former electoral alliance founded on 18 September 2012 on the basis of the parliamentary grou ...

(UDI) alliance won 18 seats; two

miscellaneous right Miscellaneous right (', ''DVD'') in France refers to right-wing candidates who are not members of any large party. This can include members of small right-wing parties, dissidents expelled from their party for running against their party's can ...

candidates complete the assembly composition. Christophe Ramond (PS) has been President of the Departmental Council since 2017.

Members of the National Assembly

In the 2017 legislative election, Tarn elected the following members 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 r ...

Tourism

(Albi) - Palais de la Berbie vu de la rive droite du Tarn.jpg, Palais de la Berbie Albi (Albi) East views of the Ste Cécile Cathedral - Apse.jpg,

Albi Cathedral The Cathedral Basilica of Saint Cecilia ( French: ''Basilique Cathédrale Sainte-Cécile d'Albi''), also known as Albi Cathedral, is the seat of the Catholic Archbishop of Albi. First built in the aftermath of the Albigensian Crusade, the grim ex ...

Castres Theatre.jpg, Castres municipal theatre Rue Castelnau de Montmiral.jpg, Street in Castelnau-de-Montmiral Cordes-sur-Ciel, june 2016 - 3185.jpg, View of Cordes-sur-Ciel France Occitanie 81 Penne 04.jpg, Street in

Penne Penne () is an extruded type of pasta with cylinder-shaped pieces, their ends cut at an angle. ''Penne'' is the plural form of the Italian ''penna'' (meaning ''feather'' but ''pen'' as well), deriving from Latin ''penna'' (meaning " feather" o ...

References

External links

Departmental Council website

Prefecture website

Discover Tarn – Comité Départemental du Tourisme du Tarn

Photos of the Tarn
{{Authority control 1790 establishments in France Departments of Occitania (administrative region) States and territories established in 1790 Massif Central