Côte-d'Or

Côte-d'Or is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. In 2019, it had a population of 534,124. Its prefecture is Dijon, which is also the regional prefecture; its subprefectures are Beaune and Montbard.

History

Côte-d'Or is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was formed from part of the former province of Burgundy. It is arguably unique among the departments in having a name which is poetic, rather than geographic. Given by the representative of Dijon, it is said to refer to the autumn gold of the flanks of the hills in the wine-growing area.

Geography

The department is part of the current region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It is surrounded by the departments of Yonne, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Jura, Aube, Haute-Saône, and Haute-Marne.
A chain of hills called the Plateau de Langres runs from north-east to south-west through the department to the north of Dijon and continues south-westwards as the Côte d'Or escarpment, from which the department takes its name. It is the south-east facing slope of this escarpment which is the site of the celebrated Burgundy vineyards. To the west of the Plateau de Langres, towards Champagne, lies the densely wooded district of Châtillonais. To the south-east of the plateau and escarpment, the department lies in the broad, flat-bottomed valley of the middle course of the Saône.
Rivers include:

The Saône
The Seine rises in the southern end of the Plateau de Langres.
The Ouche rises on the dip slope of the escarpment and flows to the Saône via Dijon.
The Armançon rises on the dip slope of the escarpment and flows north-westward.
The Arroux rises on the dip slope of the escarpment at the southern end of the department.
Climate

The climate of the department is continental, with abundant rain on the west side of the central range.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Dijon, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

Commune	Population
Dijon	158,002
Beaune	20,551
Chenôve	14,025
Talant	11,713
Chevigny-Saint-Sauveur	11,123

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Costaloriens.
Population development since 1791:

Politics

The President of the Departmental Council is François Sauvadet of the Union of Democrats and Independents.

Current National Assembly Representatives

Economy

This is a premier wine-growing region of France. It produces what are arguably the world's finest, and definitely most expensive Pinot noir and Chardonnay wines from some of the most rigorously and painstakingly classified vineyards in the world. Wine from the Côte-d'Or was a favorite of the emperor Charlemagne. Other crops include cereal grains and potatoes. Sheep and cattle are also raised in the department. The region is famous for Dijon mustard.
There are coal mines and heavy industry, including steel, machinery, and earthenware.
The industries most developed in Côte-d'Or are

agriculture and food
metallurgy and metal manufacture
chemicals, rubber and plastics
pharmacy
electrical and electronic components and equipment
wood and paper industries.

The big works are generally in the conurbation of Dijon although the biggest is at Salives in the Plateau de Langres. There is also the SEB metal works at Selongey below the plateau on the margin of the Saône plain and the Valourec metalworking group at Montbard in the west of the department on the River Brenne near its confluence with the Armançon. The Pharmaceutical industry has shown the greatest growth in recent years. However, since the Dijon employment statistics zone includes the urban and administrative centre of the Burgundy region, the service sector is proportionately bigger there in relation to the industrial, than in the other three zones of Côte-d'Or.

Reference
Transport

Air

Côte-d'Or is served by Dole–Jura Airport which is located south east of Dijon. However, the airport only provides flights to limited European destinations. Residents in Côte-d'Or would normally use Lyon-Saint Exupéry Airport, Geneva Airport and EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg which provide more domestic and international destinations.

Tourism

Some of the major tourist attractions are the Gothic abbey church of Saint-Seine-l'Abbaye and the 11th-century Romanesque abbey church at Saulieu, as well the 12th-century Château de Bussy Rabutin at Bussy-le-Grand. The Abbey of Cîteaux, headquarters of the Cistercian Order, lies to the east of Nuits-Saint-Georges in the south of the department.