Ardèche

Ardèche () is a département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. It is named after the Ardèche river.
History.
The department of Ardèche was created on 4 March 1790 with seven districts: Annonay, Aubenas, L'Argentière, Privas, Tournon, Vernoux and Villeneuve-de-Berg. The capital was Privas alternating with Annonay, Aubenas, Le Bourg(-Saint-Andéol) and Tournon. In August of that year, the number of districts was reduced to three: Mézenc, Aubenas and Tanargue. In September, Privas became the only capital of the department.
In 1800, with the creation of the "arrondissements" in France, the three districts were changed into three "arrondissements": Privas, L'Argentière and Tournon.
On 18 March 1988, Tournon changed its name to Tournon-sur-Rhône.
Geography.
The Ardèche is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It has an area of .
The department is surrounded by 7 departments in 3 regions:
The highest point in the department is "Mont Mézenc" (). It is high.; it is in the northwest of the department, on the border with the Haute-Loire department. The lowest point, above sea level, is where the Ardèche river flows into the Rhône (in the south east of the department).
The main rivers in Ardèche are: 
The Allier river forms the border of the Lozère department and the Ardèche for about .
Climate.
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Privas is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype Cfb. The southern part of the department has a Mediterranean climate of the subtype Csb.
Administration.
Ardèche is managed by the "Departmental Council of Ardèche" in Privas. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Administrative divisions.
There are 3 "arrondissements" (districts), 17 "cantons" and 339 "communes" (municipalities) in Ardèche.
The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Ardèche department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
Demographics.
The inhabitants of Ardèche are known, in French, as "Ardéchois" (women: "Ardéchoises").
Ardèche had a population, in 2014, of 322,381, for a population density of inhabitants/km2. The "arrondissement" of Tournon-sur-Rhône, with 135,786 inhabitants, is the "arrondissement" with more inhabitants.
Evolution of the population in Allier
The "communes" in the department with more than 7,000 inhabitants are: