Vaucluse

Vaucluse (French:; Provençal: Vauclusa(Classical norm) or Vau-Cluso(Mistralian norm)) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 572,056 as of 2023. The department's prefecture is Avignon.

It is named after a spring, the Fontaine de Vaucluse, one of the largest karst springs in the world. The name Vaucluse itself derives from the Latin Vallis Clausa ("closed valley") as the valley ends in a cliff face from which the spring emanates.