Aveyron (French: [avɛʁɔ̃] ⓘ; Occitan: Avairon [aβajˈɾu]) is a department in the regionofOccitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as Aveyronnais (masculine) or Aveyronnaises (feminine) in French.[3] The inhabitants of Aveyron's prefecture, Rodez, are called Ruthénois, based upon the first Celtic settlers in the area, the Ruteni. With an area of 8,735 square kilometres (3,373 sq mi) and a population of 279,595, Aveyron is a largely rural department with a population density of 32 people/km2 (83 people/sq mi).[4]
Aveyron
Avairon (Occitan)
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Flag 
Coat of arms | |
Location of Aveyron in France
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| Coordinates: 44°15′N 02°42′E / 44.250°N 2.700°E / 44.250; 2.700 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Occitania |
| Prefecture | Rodez |
| Subprefectures | Millau Villefranche-de-Rouergue |
| Government | |
| • President of the Departmental Council | Arnaud Viala[1] (UDI) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 8,735 km2 (3,373 sq mi) |
| Population
(2021)[2]
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| • Total | 279,649 |
| • Rank | 79th |
| • Density | 32/km2 (83/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Department number | 12 |
| Arrondissements | 3 |
| Cantons | 23 |
| Communes | 285 |
| ^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | |
Aveyron is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. The earliest known inhabitants of the region were the Rutenii tribe, though the area was inhabited prior to their tenure. The department has many prehistoric monuments, including over a thousand dolmens, the most of any department in France.
During the medieval and early modern periods, and until the 1790s, the territory included within Aveyron was a province known as Rouergue. In 1797, Victor of Aveyron (aferal child) was found wandering the woods in the area. The story of Victor is told in the film The Wild Child.
In 1817, a local prosecutor, Antoine Bernardin Fualdès, was assassinated. The sordid circumstances of his death, following which his body was found floating in the river Aveyron, led to the matter becoming publicised as a cause célèbre. Recent studies have indicated that he met his end at the initiative of a right-wing royalist organisation known as the Chevaliers de la Foi (Knights of Faith).[5]
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The Arms of Aveyron are those of the province of Rouergue and are blazoned as follows:
Blazon:
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Aveyron is the centre of a triangle formed by the cities of Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand, and Montpellier. The department approximately follows the outline of the former province of Rouergue. It is the 5th largest department in metropolitan France in terms of area (8,735 km2 (3,373 sq mi)). Its prefecture is Rodez.
The department comes under the jurisdiction of the Academy of Toulouse and the Montpellier Court of Appeal. The INSEE and Post Code is 12. Aveyron is located in the south of the Massif Central. The highest point in the department is the summit of the Signal de Mailhebiau at 1469m on the Plateau of Aubrac. The Aveyron department is divided into several natural regions such as the Grand Causses and Rougiers.
Aveyron department consists of an ancient high rocky plateau of great geological diversity. The Truyère, Lot, Aveyron, and Tarn rivers have carved a number of deep gorges. The department is surrounded by those of Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot, Hérault, Gard, Lozère and Cantal. The Lac de Villefranche-de-Panat is used as a reservoir to provide drinking water supplies for the region.
| Town | Sunshine (hours/yr) |
Rain (mm/yr) |
Snow (days/yr) |
Storm (days/yr) |
Fog (days/yr) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National average | 1,973 | 770 | 14 | 22 | 40 |
| Millau[7] | 2,146 | 732 | 25 | 25 | 59 |
| Paris | 1,661 | 637 | 12 | 18 | 10 |
| Nice | 2,724 | 767 | 1 | 29 | 1 |
| Strasbourg | 1,693 | 665 | 29 | 29 | 56 |
| Brest | 1,605 | 1,211 | 7 | 12 | 75 |
| Climate data for Millau | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 17.6 (63.7) |
21.8 (71.2) |
23.9 (75.0) |
27.0 (80.6) |
29.2 (84.6) |
35.1 (95.2) |
37.5 (99.5) |
38.0 (100.4) |
34.1 (93.4) |
28.9 (84.0) |
23.9 (75.0) |
19.1 (66.4) |
38.0 (100.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.1 (43.0) |
7.3 (45.1) |
10.8 (51.4) |
13.5 (56.3) |
17.7 (63.9) |
21.9 (71.4) |
25.5 (77.9) |
25.1 (77.2) |
20.7 (69.3) |
15.5 (59.9) |
9.7 (49.5) |
6.9 (44.4) |
15.1 (59.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 3.2 (37.8) |
3.9 (39.0) |
6.7 (44.1) |
9.1 (48.4) |
13.2 (55.8) |
16.9 (62.4) |
19.9 (67.8) |
19.6 (67.3) |
15.9 (60.6) |
11.9 (53.4) |
6.7 (44.1) |
4.0 (39.2) |
10.9 (51.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 0.2 (32.4) |
0.4 (32.7) |
2.6 (36.7) |
4.7 (40.5) |
8.6 (47.5) |
11.9 (53.4) |
14.3 (57.7) |
14.1 (57.4) |
11.1 (52.0) |
8.3 (46.9) |
3.6 (38.5) |
1.1 (34.0) |
6.7 (44.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −17.5 (0.5) |
−19.4 (−2.9) |
−12.9 (8.8) |
−5.5 (22.1) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
3.0 (37.4) |
6.0 (42.8) |
4.9 (40.8) |
1.6 (34.9) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
−10.3 (13.5) |
−13.0 (8.6) |
−19.4 (−2.9) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 55.4 (2.18) |
47.4 (1.87) |
42.5 (1.67) |
69.9 (2.75) |
73.4 (2.89) |
60.5 (2.38) |
39.7 (1.56) |
54.8 (2.16) |
77.7 (3.06) |
79.6 (3.13) |
69.1 (2.72) |
61.6 (2.43) |
731.6 (28.80) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 1 mm) | 8.7 | 7.7 | 7.9 | 9.4 | 8.8 | 6.7 | 4.2 | 5.5 | 6.8 | 8.8 | 9.3 | 8.8 | 92.6 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 100 | 115 | 173 | 183 | 218 | 262 | 296 | 261 | 208 | 132 | 100 | 98 | 2,146 |
| Source 1: Meteorological data for Millau – 715m altitude, from 1981 to 2010 January 2015 | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Record temperatures for Millau since 1951 January 2015 | |||||||||||||
In 2017, the department had 279,206 inhabitants. The evolution of the number of inhabitants is known through the population censuses conducted in the department since 1793.
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| Source: SPLAF[8] and INSEE[9] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The most populous commune is Rodez, the prefecture. Of the department's population, 25% live in the four largest communes: Rodez, Millau, Onet-le-Château, and Villefranche-de-Rouergue. As of 2019, there are 7 communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants:[10]
| Commune | Population (2019) |
|---|---|
| Rodez | 24,475 |
| Millau | 21,979 |
| Onet-le-Château | 11,665 |
| Villefranche-de-Rouergue | 11,602 |
| Saint-Affrique | 8,023 |
| Luc-la-Primaube | 6,005 |
| Decazeville | 5,323 |
As of 2020, 17.3% of available housing in the department were second homes.[11]
| Town | Municipal population | Percentage of second homes |
|---|---|---|
| Saint-Geniez-d'Olt-et-d'Aubrac | 2,211 | 30.3% |
| Espalion | 4,601 | 19.9% |
| Salles-la-Source | 2,265 | 18.5% |
| Sévérac-d'Aveyron | 4,069 | 18.4% |
| Saint-Affrique | 8,023 | 15.4% |
| Bozouls | 2,923 | 10.1% |
| Naucelle | 2,007 | 10.0% |
The Department Council of Aveyron has 46 seats. The President of the Departmental Council has been Jean-François Galliard of the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) from 2017 to 2021. The President has been Arnaud Viala since 2021.
| Party | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| • | The Republicans Union of Democrats and Independents |
30 |
| Socialist Party | 10 | |
| Radical Party of the Left | 5 | |
| Independent | 1 | |
Following the 2017 legislative election, Aveyron elected the following representatives to the National Assembly:
The regional sub-dialect spoken in Aveyron is a form of Languedoc Occitan called Rouergat. Faced with the risk of disappearance of the language several associations asked the State and political communities for an ambitious language policy.[14] In Rouergat, Aveyron is written:
Aveyron contains a part of the Cévennes National Park. Tourist attractions include the castle of Najac, a medieval ruin perched high on a hill, and other castles and monasteries such as Conques Abbey, Sylvanès Abbey, Bonneval Abbey and Loc-Dieu Abbey, located near Martiel in a region with many dolmens. The small city of Millau is the site of the world's tallest bridge, the Millau viaduct, opened by President Chirac in December 2004.
Activities include horseriding, fishing, swimming in the Lacs du Lévézou and hiking/camping. The inhabitants are also very good craftsmen, and Aveyron is full of various craft objects, handmade, that can be found locally. Examples include the couteau de Laguiole, the world famous Roquefort cheese, from the village of the same name and other local produce. Markets take place every Saturday on market places around the region.
Saint-Sernin-sur-Rance is the commune where the feral child Victor of Aveyron was found in the late 18th century.
Ten towns in Aveyron fall within the classification of a 1901 association Les Plus Beaux Villages de France:
