Var (department)

The Var is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Provence in southeastern France. It takes its name from the river Var, which used to flow along its eastern border, but the border was moved in 1860.
Its prefecture is the city of Toulon.
History.
Var is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Toulon as is capital. It was formed with part of the former province of Provence.
It was divided in nine districts: Toulon, Grasse, Hyères, Draguignan, Brignoles, Saint-Maximin, Fréjus, Saint-Paul-lès-Vence and Barjols.
The capital was moved, in 1793, from Toulon to Grasse and, in 1795, from Grasse to Brignoles. In 1797, the capital was moved again, to Draguignan.
In 1800, with the creation of the "arrondissements" in France, the nine districts were changed into four "arrondissements": Brignoles, Draguignan, Grasse and Toulon.
After the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), the department was occupied by the Austrian army from June 1815 to November 1818.
On 15 June 1860, the "arrondissement" of Grasse passed to the new department of Alpes-Maritimes. With this change, the Var river does not flow any longer through the department named after it.
On 10 September 1926, the "arrondissement" of Brignoles was eliminated but in 1974 Brignoles was made again an "arrondissement" and the capital was moved from Draguignan to Toulon. The Var is the only French department that has had four different capitals: Toulon, Grasse, Brignoles and Draguignan; now Toulon is the prefecture (capital) and Brignoles and Draguignan are subprefectures. Grasse is now a subprefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department.
During World War II, the department was occupied by the fascist Italy, from November 1942 to December 1943. In 1944, the German army occupied the territory of the Var department.
Geography.
Var is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It has an area of .
The department borders with 3 other departments, all in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region:
It also borders the Vaucluse department, to the nortwest, but only for a very short distance.
The highest point of the department is "Mont de Lachens" () with an altitude of high.; it is in the "commune" of Mons in the northeast of the department near the border with the Alpes-Maritimes department.
The "Îles d'Hyères" is a group of three islands off Hyères. The islands are named Porquerolles, Port-Cros, and Île du Levant. Together, they make up an area of . They can be reached by boat from either Hyères or Toulon.
Climate.
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Toulon is a "Mediterranean climate" and of the subtype "Csa".
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Toulon is . The month with the most precipitation on average is November with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of .
The average temperature for the year in Toulon is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .
Administration.
Var is managed by the "Departmental Council of Ardennes" in Toulon. The department is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.
Administrative divisions.
There are 3 "arrondissements" (districts), 23 "cantons" and 153 "communes" (municipalities) in Var.
The following is a list of the 23 cantons of the Var department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
Demographics.
The inhabitants of the Var department are known, in French, as "Varois" (women: "Varoises"),
Var had a population, in 2014, of 1,038,212, for a population density of inhabitants/km2. The "arrondissement" of Toulon, with 565,669 inhabitants, is the "arrondissement" with more inhabitants.
Evolution of the population in Var
The "communes" with more inhabitants in the department are: