Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the 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 ...

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 86 Vienne
INSEE

History

Established on March 4, 1790, 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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, Vienne is one of the original 83 departments. It was created from parts of the former

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Poitou Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main historical cities are Poitiers (historical c ...

Touraine Touraine (; ) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, :Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vien ...

, and Berry, the latter being a part of the

Duchy of Aquitaine The Duchy of Aquitaine ( oc, Ducat d'Aquitània, ; french: Duché d'Aquitaine, ) was a historical fiefdom in western, central, and southern areas of present-day France to the south of the river Loire, although its extent, as well as its name, fluc ...

until the 15th century. The original Acadians, who settled in and around what is now

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, left Vienne for North America after 1604. Kennedy (2014) argues that the emigrants carried to Canada their customs and social structure. They were frontier peoples, who dispersed their settlements based on kinship. They optimized use of farmland and emphasized trading for a profit. They were hierarchical and politically active.Gregory M.W. Kennedy. ''Something of a Peasant Paradise? Comparing Rural Societies in Acadie and the Loudunais, 1604-1755'' (MQUP, 2014)

Geography

The department of Vienne has an area of . Part of the region

, it borders Maine-et-Loire to the northwest, Indre-et-Loire to the north, Indre to the east, Haute-Vienne to the southeast, Charente to the south and

Deux-Sèvres Deux-Sèvres () is a French department. ''Deux-Sèvres'' literally means "two Sèvres": the Sèvre Nantaise and the Sèvre Niortaise are two rivers which have their sources in the department. It had a population of 374,878 in 2019.

to the west. It is crossed by the river Vienne, a tributary of the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Poitiers, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 7,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Politics

Édith Cresson Édith Cresson (; née Campion; born 27 January 1934) is a French politician from the Socialist Party. She served as Prime Minister of France from 1991 to 1992, the first woman to do so. She was the only woman to be prime minister until 2022, whe ...

, France's first woman Prime Minister from 1991-1992, was a deputy (MP) for the department. The president of the Departmental Council is Alain Pichon, elected in 2020. Vienne has three arrondissements: Poitiers, the prefecture, and the subprefectures Châtellerault and Montmorillon.

Current National Assembly Representatives

Religion

The capital, Poitiers, is the see of the

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Poitiers The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Poitiers (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Pictaviensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Poitiers'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church in France. The archepiscopal see is in the city of Poitiers. The ...

, which pastorally serves the department.

Tourism and sights

The most famous tourist sites include the

Futuroscope Futuroscope, or Parc du Futuroscope (), formerly known as Planète Futuroscope, is a French theme park based upon multimedia, cinematographic futuroscope and audio-visual techniques. It has several 3D cinemas and a few 4D cinemas along with ...

theme park, Poitiers (city of Art and History), the Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, a UNESCO world heritage site, the animal parks o
Monkey's Valley in Romagne
and th
Crocodile Planet in Civaux

Economy

Goat cheese making is an important industry of Vienne.

International relations

Vienne has a

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...

relationship with:

Notable people

* Benoît-François Bernier (1720–1799), New France army officer, served as financial commissary of wars

Gallery

File:Poitiers, Église Notre-Dame la Grande-PM 31852.jpg, Notre-Dame of Poitiers File:Saint-Martin-l'Ars 86 Abbaye la Réau Vue SW 2012.jpg, Saint-Martin-l'Ars File:Romagne Saint-Laurent 2010.jpg, Romagne File:Blanzay 86 Église 2012.jpg,

Blanzay Blanzay () is a commune in the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France. See also *Communes of the Vienne department The following is a list of the 266 communes of the Vienne department of France ...

File:Civray Tympan 2012.jpg, Tympan of the church of Civray

References

External links

Departmental Council website

Prefecture website

Vienne Tourism Agency
{{Authority control 1790 establishments in France Departments of Nouvelle-Aquitaine States and territories established in 1790