Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French

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 ...

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pre ...

. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Populations légales 2019: 84 Vaucluse
INSEE The department's prefecture is

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label= Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the prefecture of the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located on the left bank of the river Rhône, the commune had ...

. It is named after a spring, the Fontaine de Vaucluse, one of the largest

karst spring A karst spring or karstic spring is a spring (outflow of groundwater) that is part of a karst hydrological system. Description Because of their often conical or inverted bowl shape, karst springs are also known in German-speaking lands as a ''To ...

s in the world. The name Vaucluse itself derives from the Latin ("closed valley") as the valley ends in a cliff face from which the spring emanates.

History

Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and ...

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

and Basses-Alpes, later renamed Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The then rural department was, like the nearby city of

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

, a hotbed of the

French Resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Geography

Vaucluse is bordered by the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

to the west and the Durance to the south. Mountains occupy a significant proportion of the eastern half of the department, with Mont Ventoux (1,912 m), also known as "the Giant of Provence", dominating the landscape. Other important mountain ranges include the

Dentelles de Montmirail The Dentelles de Montmirail are a small chain of mountains in Provence in France, in the ''département'' of Vaucluse, located just to the south of the village of Vaison-la-Romaine. They are foothills of the highest peak in Provence, Mont Ven ...

, the

Monts de Vaucluse The Vaucluse Mountains (French: ''Monts de Vaucluse'') are a mountain range of the French Prealps The French Prealps (french: Préalpes) are a group of subalpine mountain ranges of medium elevation located immediately west of the French Alps ...

and the Luberon. Fruit and vegetables are cultivated in great quantities in the lower-lying parts of the department, on one of the most fertile plains in Southern France. The Vaucluse department has a rather large

exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

within the

department, the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

Valréas Valréas (; oc, Vauriàs) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. History The area around the town of Valréas is known as ''L'Enclave des Papes''. It is an enclave of Vauclu ...

( Enclave des Papes). Vaucluse is also known for its karst, including the

Fontaine de Vaucluse after which "Vauclusian Risings" are named.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Politics

Departmental Council

Following the 2021 departmental election, Dominique Santoni of The Republicans was elected

President of the Departmental Council In France, the President of the Departmental Council ( French: ''Président du Conseil départemental'') is the locally elected head of the departmental council, the assembly governing a department in France. The position is elected by the depar ...

. She succeeded Maurice Chabert, who had held the office since 2015. The Departmental Council of Vaucluse has 34 seats. The Left Front (FG) currently has 2 seats, 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) has 7,

Europe Ecology – The Greens Europe Ecology – The Greens (french: Europe Écologie Les Verts , EELV ) is a centre-left to left-wing green political party in France. The party is a member of the European Green Party. The party was formed on 13 November 2010 from the ...

(EELV) has 3, the

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 ...

(DVD) has 2, The Republicans (LR) have 10, the National Rally has 6 and a local party, the Ligue du Sud (LS), has 4.

Members of the National Assembly

During the 2017 legislative election, Vaucluse elected the following representatives to 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 ...

:List of members for Vaucluse
(in French), on www.nosdeputes.fr. *On 21 July 2017, Brune Poirson resigned from office to join the Second Philippe government as Secretary of State to the Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition. She was replaced in the National Assembly by Adrien Morenas. **

Jacques Bompard Ancient and noble French family names, Jacques, Jacq, or James are believed to originate from the Middle Ages in the historic northwest Brittany region in France, and have since spread around the world over the centuries. To date, there are ove ...

resigned in August 2017 to become

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

of Orange. He was replaced by

Marie-France Lorho Marie-France Lorho (born 15 December 1964) is a French politician serving as the member of the National Assembly (France), National Assembly for the Vaucluse's 4th constituency, 4th constituency of Vaucluse since 2017. A member of the League of ...

Tourism

File:Saint-benezet in southeastern France.jpg, Pont Saint-Bénezet in

File:Brantes Vue d'ensemble 5.JPG,

Brantes Brantes (; oc, Brantas) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. See also *Communes of the Vaucluse department *Baronnies The Baronnies, in French Les Baronnies, is a historic ...

File:TrBogen Orange.jpg, Triumphal Arch of Orange File:DentelleMontmirail.jpg,

References

External links

*
Website of the Departmental Council

Prefecture website
{{Authority control States and territories established in 1793 1793 establishments in France Departments of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur