Rhône (French pronunciation: [ʁon]; Arpitan: Rôno) is a department of east-central France, in the central-southeastern Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Named after the river Rhône, its prefectureisLyon. Its sole subprefectureisVillefranche-sur-Saône. In 2019, it had a population of 1,875,747.[2]
Rhône
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Prefecture building of the Rhône department in the 3rd arrondissement of Lyon
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Flag 
Coat of arms | |
Location of Rhône in France
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| Coordinates: 45°50′N 04°40′E / 45.833°N 4.667°E / 45.833; 4.667 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes |
| Prefecture | Lyon |
| Subprefectures | Villefranche-sur-Saône |
| Government | |
| • President of the Departmental Council | Christophe Guilloteau[1] (LR) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2,715 km2 (1,048 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 55th |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Department number | 69D |
| Arrondissements | 2 |
| Cantons | 13 |
| Communes | 208 |
| ^1 French Land Register data, which excludes estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km². | |
The department was created on August 12, 1793, when the former Rhône-et-Loire was split into two departments: Rhône and Loire.
Originally, the eastern border of Rhône was the city of Lyon itself, so that the communes immediately east of Lyon belonged to neighboring departments. With the growth of Lyon and the extension of its urban area into communes such as Villeurbanne, the limits of the department were judged impractical as they left the suburbs of Lyon outside of Rhône. Thus, Rhône was enlarged several times to incorporate into it the suburbs of Lyon from neighboring department:
With these enlargements, the area of the department increased from 2,791 km2 to 3,249 km2 (16.4% larger). At the 1999 French census, the original department of Rhône would have had only 1,071,288 inhabitants, which means that the population in the territories added in the last two centuries was 507,581 inhabitants in 1999.
In 2015 the Metropolis of Lyon was separated from the department of Rhône.[4] Rhône lost 16% of its territory, and 75% of its population.[5] Lyon, although no longer part of the department, remains its administrative center.
Rivers include the Rhône and the Saône (which joins the Rhône in Lyon). The neighboring departments are Ain, Isère, Loire and Saône-et-Loire.
Population development since 1801 (with Lyon Metropolis) :
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Before the Metropolis of Lyon was separated from the department, over 75% of its population lived within the Greater Lyon, which included all of the largest cities of the Rhône department, apart from Villefranche-sur-Saône.
The most populous commune of the new department of Rhône is Villefranche-sur-Saône. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:[2]
| Commune | Population (2021) |
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| Villefranche-sur-Saône | 35,913 |
| Belleville-en-Beaujolais | 13,542 |
| Genas | 13,483 |
| Brignais | 12,388 |
| Tarare | 10,428 |
The President of the Departmental CouncilisChristophe Guilloteau, a member of the Republicans (LR).
This list includes representatives from Lyon Metropolis created in 2015 as a separate department.
