Tarn (department)

Template:Short description Template:Other uses Template:Infobox settlement Tarn (Template:IPA or Template:IPA; Template:IPA) is a department in the Occitania region in Southern France. Named after the river Tarn, it had a population of Template:Gaps as of 2019.<ref name=pop2019>Populations légales 2019: 81 Tarn, INSEE</ref> Its prefecture and largest city is Albi; it has a single subprefecture, Castres. In French, the inhabitants of Tarn are known as Template:Lang (masculine) and Template:Lang (feminine).<ref>Le nom des habitants du 81 - Tarn, habitants.fr</ref> Its INSEE and postcode number is 81.

History

Tarn is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, through application of the Law of 22 December 1789. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc, and comprised the dioceses of Albi and Castres (which found themselves merged in 1817).

File:Old houses by the Agout River in Castres.jpg

Castres is best known in French political history as the birthplace of Socialist leader Jean Jaurès.

The new department had five districts: Albi, Castres, Lavaur, Gaillac, Lacaune. The capitals (now prefectures) were, alternatively, Albi and Castres but, from 1790 to 1797, the capital was only Albi; in 1797, the capital was moved to Castres.<ref name=splaf>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1800, Albi became again the capital of the department and the arrondissements were created; the department had four arrondissements: Albi, Castres, Gaillac and Lavaur. In 1926, the arrondissements of Gaillac and Lavaur were eliminated.<ref name=splaf />

By the law of 28 Pluviôse Year 5, the departments of Hérault and of Tarn exchanged the canton of Anglès (which had been part of the diocese of Saint-Pons, but which has remained in Tarn) for that of Saint-Gervais-sur-Mare (which had been part of the diocese of Castres, but which today remains in Hérault).

Geography

File:Tarn topographic map-fr.svg

Topographic map of the Tarn department

Tarn is part of the Occitanie region and has an area of Template:Convert.<ref name="insee-geo" /> The department is surrounded by five departments, all belonging to the region Occitanie: Hérault to the southeast, Aude to the south, Aveyron to the north and east, Haute-Garonne to the southwest and west, as well as Tarn-et-Garonne to the northwest. It is one of two French departments surrounded entirely by other departments of the same region.

The slope of the department is from east to west, and its general character is mountainous or hilly. Tarn's three principal ranges lying to the south-east are: the Mountains of Lacaune, the Sidobre and the Montagne Noire, belonging to the Cévennes.

The stony and wind-blown slopes of the Mountains of Lacaune (Monts de Lacaune) are used for pasture. The highest point of the range and of the department is the Puech Montgrand, Template:Convert high; several other summits are not much short of this. The granite-strewn plateaux of the Sidobre, from Template:Convert high, separate the valley of the river Agout from that of its western tributary, the Thoré River. The Montagne Noire, on the southwestern border of the department, derives its name from the forests on its northern slope. Its highest point is the Pic de Nore at Template:Convert high.

The limestone and sandstone foot-hills are clothed with vines and fruit trees, and are broken by deep alluvial valleys of particular fertility. With the exception of a small portion of the Montagne Noire, which drains into the river Aude, the whole department belongs to the basin of the Garonne.

Demographics

Tarn has a population, in 2019, of 389,844, for a population density of Template:Pop density inhabitants/km².<ref name=pop2019/>

Population evolution

Population development since 1801: Template:Historical populations

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Albi, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 10 communes with more than 6,000 inhabitants:<ref name=pop2019/>

Commune	Population (2019)
Albi	48,902
Castres	42,079
Gaillac	15,265
Graulhet	12,844
Lavaur	10,879
Mazamet	9,996
Carmaux	9,782
Saint-Sulpice-la-Pointe	9,336
Saint-Juéry	6,694
Labruguière	6,506

Administration

Administrative divisions

There are 2 arrondissements, 23 cantons and 314 communes in Tarn.

Arrondissement	INSEE code	Capital	Population<ref name=pop2019/> (2019)	Area (km²)	Density (inhabitants/km²)	Communes
Albi	811	Albi	193,307	2,732	Template:Pop density	163
Castres	812	Castres	196,537	3,026	Template:Pop density	151

Politics

Departmental Council of Tarn

The Departmental Council of Tarn has 46 seats. In the 2015 departmental elections, the Socialist Party (PS) won 26 seats and The Republicans (LR) and Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) alliance won 18 seats; two miscellaneous right candidates complete the assembly composition. Christophe Ramond (PS) has been President of the Departmental Council since 2017.

Members of the National Assembly

In the 2017 legislative election, Tarn elected the following members of the National Assembly:

Constituency		MemberTemplate:Citation needed	Party
style="background-color: Template:Party color" \|	Tarn's 1st constituency	Philippe Folliot	Centrist Alliance
style="background-color: Template:Party color" \|	Tarn's 2nd constituency	Marie-Christine Verdier-Jouclas	La République En Marche!
style="background-color: Template:Party color" \|	Tarn's 3rd constituency	Jean Terlier	La République En Marche!