DEPARTMENT

From Agepedia

DEPARTMENT ; the distribution of a thing into several parts; thus, in France, Le departement des tallies, des quartiers, &c.; that is, a distribution of the public taxes, or an allotment of quarters to the soldiery, &c. Jfonce it is used, secondly, to denote a distribution of employments, and especially the divisions of the ministry. Finally, it is applied to territorial divisions. In this sense, it has become important in modern statistics. At the time of the French revolution, when the former division of the kingdom into provinces was abolished> and succeeded by a division of it into departments, this division was determined partly by the number of inhabitants, partly by extent of territory, and partly by the amount of direct taxes. A decree for this purpose was adopted November 4th, 1789, by the constituent assembly; and the abbe Sieves drew up the plan, intended to extinguish the old spirit of hatred among the provinces. The whole kingdom was at iirst divided into 83 departments, which were subsequently increased, by the gradual extension of the empire, to 130, and were reduced by the peace of 1814 to 86. (See Prcfecturate, and France.) Each department is subdivided into cantons, and these again into communes. This division of territory has been adopted in the states of Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, Baden and others. The representatives in the French chambers are elected by the departments. The following list contains the names of all the departments, and the provinces to which they formerly belonged : Region du Nord. Ancient Provinces. Jepartments. Flanders......| Nord......... Artois....... PasdeCalais. . . . Picardy......j Somme........ iSeineInferieure.. . Eure......... Calvados....... Manche........ Orne.........( Seine......... IledeFrance. . . < Champagne. . . . < SeineetOise. . . . SeineetMarne. . . Oise.......... Aisne.........f Ardennes....... Manie........ Aube. ........ HauteMarne. . . . fMeuse........ Lorraine...... *Jose>!e] Meurthe. [ Vosges. Total Pop. Pop. sq. 1. 962,648 642,969 526,282 3,208 1 1,978 1,697 688,295 421,665 500,956 611,206 434,379 2,137 1,405 1,776 1,808 1,361 1,013,373 440,871 318,209 385,124 489,560 46,062 1,536 I 1,060 j 1,266 1,305 281,624 325,045 241,762 244,823 1,005 766 805 753 306,339 409,155 403,038 379,839 975 1,410 1,567 1 1,287 CliiefPlaces. Lille. Arras. Amiens. Rouen. Evreux. Caen. Saint L6. Alencon. Paris. Versailles. Melun. , Beauvais. Laon. Mezieres. ChalonssurMarne. Troyes. Chaumont BarleDuc. Metz. * Nancy. Epinal. Region du Centre. Jinaent Provinces. Orleannais..... Touraine. Berry.. . Departments. Loiret..... EureetLoir. . LoiretCher. . IndreetLoire Indre...... Cher...... Nivernais..... Bourbonnais.. . . Marche....... Limousin. .... Nievre..... Allien..... Creuse..... HauteVienne. Correze. . . . Auvergne. PuydeD6me. Cantal...... Total Pop. 304,228 277,782 230,666 290,160 237,628 248,589 271,777 285,302 252,932 276,a51 284,882 566,573 262,013 Pop. sq. I. 869 904 688 892 644 666 730 764 848 976 961 1,333 1,027 CMefPlact* Orleans. Chartres. Blois. Tours. Chateauroux. Bourges. Nevers. Moulins. Gueret. Limoges. Tulle. ClermontFerrand Aurillac. Maine. Region< Sarthe......... Anjou.......| MaineetLoire. . . (IlleetVilaine. . . . C6tesduNord.. . . Bretagne......< Finistere. Morbihan.......{ LoireInferieure. . .( Vienne........ Poitou,.......< Deux Sevres..... [Vendee........ Aunis.Saintonge ( Charente Inferieure. etAngoumois. J Charente.......de rOuest. 446,519 354,138 458,674 553,453 581,684 502,851 427,453 457,090 267,670 288,260 322,826 424,147 353,653 1,373 1,287 1,197 1,541 1,615 1,389 1,204 1,193 731 900 891 1,158 1,178Le Mans. Laval. Angers. Rennes. St. Brieuc. Quimper. Vannes. Nantes. Poitiers. Niort. BourbonVendee.La Rochelle. Angouleme. Region de VEst. Alsace. FrancheComte. Bourgogne (Burgundy) Lyonnais.J HautRhin. . . . I BasRhin.....f HauteSaone.. .< Doubs......\ Jura........ fYonne...... C6ted'Or. . . . Sa6neetLoire.. Ain........ Rh6ne...... Loire....... 408,741 535,467 327,641 254,314 310,282 342,116 370,943 515,776 341,628 416,575 369,298 2,043 2,231 1,178 956 1,146 870 799 1,153 1,260 2,833 1,442 Colmar. Strasburg. Vesoul. Besaneon. LonsleSaulnier Auxerre. Dijon. Macon. Bourg. Lyons. MontbrisoiL Languedoc. 'HauteLoire. Ardeche. . .A Lozere...... Gard....... Herault...... Tarn. ...... Aude....... HauteGaronne. Region du Sud. 285,673 328,419 138,778 347,550 339,560 327,655 265,991 407,016 1,175 1,368 510 1,198 1,041 1,170 828 1012Le Puy. Privas. Mende. Nimes. Montpellier. Alby. Carcassonne. Toulouse. ^ Ancient Provinces. Roussillon. . . . Comt6-deFoix. . GuienneetGascony....... Beam....... Dauphiny..... CointatVenaissin et Comtat d'Avignon..... Provence...... Corsica...... Departments. Pyren6esOrientales. Ariege........ Dordogne...... Gironde........ LotetGaronne . . Lot.......... Tarne*etGaronne.. Aveyron...... . Landes........ Gers......... HautesPyrenees. .| BassesPyrenees.. . flsere.........< Drome........[ HautesAlpes. . . .> Vaucluse....... (BassesAlpes. . . . < BouchesduRhone. [Var..........I Corse........ Total Pop. 151,372 247,932 464,074 538,151 336,886 280,515 241,586 350,014 265,309 307,601 222,059 412,469 525,984 285,791 125,329 233,048 153,063 326,302 311,095 185,079 Pop. sq. L 688 1,011 973 978 1,161 1,038 1,220 755 553 896 902 1,018 1,160 850 545 1,259 560 1,226 818 420 ChufPlaces. Perpignan. Foix. Perigueux. Bordeaux. Agen. Cahors. Montauban. Rhodez. MontdeMarsan. Auch. Tarbes. Pau. Grenoble. Valence. Gap. Avignon. Digne. Marseilles. Draguignan. Ajaccio.