Vaucluse
—  Department  —
Coat of arms
Location of Vaucluse in France
Coordinates: 44°00′N 05°10′E / 44°N 5.167°E / 44; 5.167Coordinates: 44°00′N 05°10′E / 44°N 5.167°E / 44; 5.167
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Prefecture	Avignon
Subprefectures	Apt Carpentras
Government
• President of the General Council	Claude Haut
Area1
• Total	3,567 km2 (1,377 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Total	538,541
• Rank	48th
• Density	150/km2 (390/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Department number	84
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	24
Communes	151
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

The Vaucluse (French pronunciation: [vokˈlyz]; Occitan: Vauclusa in classical norm or Vau-Cluso in Mistralian norm) is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.

History[link]

Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes (later renamed Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). The then rural department was, like the nearby city of Lyon, a hotbed of the French Resistance in World War II.

Geography[link]

Vaucluse is bordered by the Rhône to the west and the River Durance to the south. Mountains occupy a significant proportion of the eastern half of the department, with Mont Ventoux (1,912 m), also known as "the Giant of Provence", dominating the landscape. Other important mountain ranges include the Dentelles de Montmirail, the Monts de Vaucluse, and the Luberon. Fruit and vegetables are cultivated in great quantities in the lower-lying parts of the department, on one of the most fertile plains in southern France. The Vaucluse département has a rather large exclave within the Drôme department, the canton of Valréas (Enclave des Papes).

Important urban centres include Avignon, Orange, Carpentras, Cavaillon, and Apt.

Demographics[link]

• Urban population: 416,301 (83%)
• Rural population: 83,384 (17%)

See also[link]

• Canton of Valréas/(Enclave des Papes)
• Cantons of the Vaucluse department
• Communes of the Vaucluse department
• Arrondissements of the Vaucluse department

External links[link]

• Vaucluse at the Open Directory Project
• Official Vaucluse tourism website
• (French) Website of the General Council
• (French) Prefecture website