Aveyron is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was created with most of the territory of the old province of Rouergue; in fact, the present flag of the department was the flag of Rouergue.
The first known historical inhabitants of the region were the Rutenii tribe but, before them, the area was inhabited by people that built many prehistoricruins including over 1,000 dolmens - more than any other department in France.
The territory is crossed, among others, by the rivers Lot and Tarn, both tributaries of the Garonne river. The Aveyron river, which gives its name to the department, is a tributary of the Tarn river.
The main rivers of Aveyron are the Lot in the north, the Aveyron in the centre and the Tarn in the south, all tributaries of the Garonne. They flow from east to west, following the general slope of the department, and divide it into four zones.
Climate
The climate of the Aveyron is subtropical with dry-summer, Csb (Mediterranean Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.
The average temperature for the year in Millau is 10.9 °C (51.6 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 19.9 °C (67.8 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 3.2 °C (37.8 °F).
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Millau is 731.5 mm (28.8 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is September with 78.7 mm (3.1 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of 40.6 mm (1.6 in).[7]
Administration
Aveyron is part of the region of Occitanie. The department is managed by the Departamental Council of the Aveyron in Rodez.
The following is a list of the 23 cantons of the Aveyron department (with their INSEE codes), in France, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:[10]
The inhabitants of Aveyron are known, in French, as Aveyronnais (women: Aveyronnaises).[11]
Aveyron has a population, in 2014, of 278,644,[3] for a population density of 31.9 inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Rodez, with 143,841 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Millau and Villefranche-de-Rouergue, have respectively 70,995 and 63,808 inhabitants.[8]
The city with more people living in it is the capital, Rodez (24,088). The subprefectures of Millau and Villefranche-de-Rouergue have, respectively, 22,064 and 11,822 inhabitants.[8]
Evolution of the population in Aude
The 10 most important cities in the department are:
