Bouches-du-Rhône

Bouches-du-Rhône (, lit. "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in the south of France named after the mouth of the Rhône River. It is the department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region with more people living in it.
History.
Bouches-du-Rhône is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was made with part of the old province of Provence and was divided in six districts: Tarascon, Apt, Aix, Marseille, Salon and Arles, with Aix as is capital.
In 1800, with the creation of the "arrondissements" in France, the six districts were changed into three "arrondissements": Marseille, Aix and Tarascon. The prefecture was moved from Aix to Marseille.
After the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), the department was occupied by the Austrian army from June 1815 to November 1818.
In 1817, the subprefecture of Tarascon was moved to Arles. The "arrondissement" of Istres was created in 1981.
Geography.
The Bouches-du-Rhône department is part of the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It has an area of .
The department is surrounded by 3 departments in 2 regions:
The Mediterranean Sea is to the south and there is of coast.
The highest mountain in Bouches-du-Rhône is Bertagne () in the Sainte-Baume Mountains. Bertagne is in the east of the department near the border with the Var department. It is high.
The Rhone River is the western border of the department, and Durance River is its northern border. South of Arles, the Rhone divides into the Grand Rhone (Large Rhone) and the Petit Rhone (Small Rhone). The area between the Grand Rhone and the Petit Rhone is a large wetland called the Camargue.
The Frioul Archipelago is a group of 4 islands in the Mediterranean Sea almost from Marseille.
Climate.
The type of climate around Marseille is called the Mediterranean climate, with a subtype called Csa. The area around Marseille, at an altitude of about , has dry summers.
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Marseille is . October has the highest average precipitation with and July the lowest with .
The average temperature in Marseille is . July is warmest, with an average temperature of . January is coolest, with an average temperature of .
Administration.
Bouches-du-Rhône is managed by a departmental council in Marseille. The department is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.
Administrative divisions.
Bouches-du-Rhône has 4 "arrondissements" (districts), 29 "cantons", and 135 "communes" (municipalities).
Recently the French government decided to reorganise all the nation's cantons. This change went into effect in March 2015. These are the 29 reorganised cantons of the Bouches-du-Rhône department:
Demographics.
People who live in the Bouches-du-Rhône department are known, in French, as "Buccorhodaniens" (men) or "Buccorhodaniennes" (women).
In 2014, Bouches-du-Rhône had 2,006,069 people living there, or people/km2. In the same year, the Marseille "arrondissement" had the highest population of the four "arrondissements": 1,058,615.
Population growth in Bouches-du-Rhône
These are the 10 "communes" with the highest population: