Isère

History

Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was established from the main part of the former province of Dauphiné. Its area was reduced twice, in 1852 and again in 1967, on both occasions losing territory to the department of Rhône.

In 1852 in response to rapid urban development around the edge of Lyon, the (hitherto Isère) communes of Bron, Vaulx-en-Velin, Vénissieux and Villeurbanne were transferred to Rhône. In 1967 the redrawing of local government borders led to the creation of the Urban Community of Lyon (more recently known simply as Greater Lyon or Grand Lyon). At that time intercommunal groupings of this nature were not permitted to straddle departmental frontiers, and accordingly 23 more Isère communes (along with six communes from Ain) found themselves transferred to Rhône. The affected Isère communes were Chaponnay, Chassieu, Communay, Corbas, Décines-Charpieu, Feyzin, Genas, Jonage, Jons, Marennes, Meyzieu, Mions, Pusignan, Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure, Saint-Laurent-de-Mure, Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, Saint-Priest, Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon, Sérézin-du-Rhône, Simandres, Solaize, Ternay and Toussieu.

Most recently, on 1 April 1971, Colombier-Saugnieu was transferred to Rhône. Banners appeared in the commune's three little villages at the time proclaiming Dauphinois toujours ("Always Dauphinois").

Geography

Isère includes a part of the French Alps. The highest point in the department is the subpeak Pic Lory at 4,088 m, subsidiary to the 4,102 m Barre des Écrins in the adjoining Hautes-Alpes department. The summit of La Meije at 3,988 m is also well known. The Vercors Plateau aesthetically dominates the western part of the department.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Grenoble, the prefecture. As of 2023, there were 7 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Inhabitants of the department are called Isérois (masculine) and Iséroises (feminine).

Population development since 1801:{{historical populations|cols=2|align=none|percentages=pagr|footnote=source:|graph-pos=bottom

Politics

Departmental politics

The President of the Departmental Council has been Jean-Pierre Barbier of The Republicans (LR) since 2015.

Following the 2021 departmental election, the Departmental Council of Isère (58 seats) was composed as follows:

Representation in Paris

National Assembly

In the 2024 legislative election, Isère elected the following representatives to the National Assembly:

In 2024, all the Renaissance and Democratic Movement candidates lost their seats: to La France Insoumise in the 1st and 9th constituencies, and to RN-coalition parties in the 8th and 10th. The other representatives were all reelected.

Senate

In the 2017 Senate election, Isère elected Didier Rambaud (La République En Marche!), Guillaume Gontard (miscellaneous left), Frédérique Puissat (The Republicans), Michel Savin (The Republicans) and André Vallini (Socialist Party) for the 2017–2023 term.

Transport

The department is served by Alpes–Isère Airport which provides flights to some European destinations. However, other airports such as Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport and Geneva Airport are also used by air travellers from the department as both airports provide more domestic and international destinations.

Culture

The Grande Chartreuse is the mother abbey of the Carthusian order. It is located 22 km north of Grenoble.

As early as the 13th century, residents of the north and central parts of Isère spoke a dialect of the Franco-Provençal language called Dauphinois, while those in the Southern parts spoke the Vivaro-Alpine dialect of Occitan. Both continued to be spoken in rural areas of Isère into the 20th century.

Tourism

Isère features many ski resorts, including the Alpe d'Huez, Les Deux Alpes, the 1968 Winter Olympics resorts of Chamrousse, Villard de Lans, Autrans. Other popular resorts include Les 7 Laux, Méaudre, Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, Alpe du Grand Serre and Gresse-en-Vercors. At the department level, Isère is the third-largest ski and winter destination in France, after Savoie and Haute-Savoie. It also hosts Coupe Icare, an annual festival of free flight, such as paragliding and hang-gliding, held at the world-renowned paragliding site at Lumbin.

Grenoble has a dozen museums, including its most famous, established in 1798, the Museum of Grenoble. The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), an international research facility in Grenoble, is also open to visitors.

File:Fontaine trois ordres - Grenoble.JPG|Grenoble File:Les Oeufs d'Huez.jpg|Ski lift at Alpe d'Huez File:Vercors 001.jpg|The Grand Veymont File:Dent de Crolles.jpg|The Dent de Crolles File:Lac du Curtillard et montagne de l'Arpette (août 2020).JPG|Le Haut-Bréda File:Tour Du Queyras 03.jpg|Queyras Valley File:Lac de Monteynard 3.jpg|Lac de Monteynard-Avignonet File:La Ruchère en Chartreuse.JPG|Saint-Christophe-sur-Guiers File:Dinnertime, rue Fernand-Point + Stela!.jpg|Roman stela nicknamed "the pyramid", Vienne File:Marguerite et le temple.jpg|Temple of Augustus and Livia, Vienne

References

References

1. (4 May 2022). "Répertoire national des élus: les conseillers départementaux".
2. {{Cite American Heritage Dictionary. Isère
3. {{Cite Merriam-Webster. Isère
4. [https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/6011060/dep38.pdf Populations légales 2019: 38 Isère], INSEE
5. (1912). "The Americana: a universal reference library, comprising the arts and sciences, literature, history, biography, geography, commerce, etc., of the world". Scientific American compiling department.
6. (1865). "Revue du Lyonnais". L. Boitel.
7. [https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/jo/id/JORFTEXT000000880759 Loi n°67-1205 du 29 décembre 1967 modifiant les limites des départements de l'Ain, de l'Isère et du Rhône], ''[[Journal officiel de la République française]]'' n° 0303, 30 December 1967, p. 12980.
8. (December 2025). "Recensement de la population: populations de référence en vigueur à compter du 2026 (38 Isère)".
9. "Historique de l'Isère".
10. "Évolution et structure de la population en 2016". INSEE.
11. Nationale, Assemblée. "Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français".
12. Desmas, Margot. (2024-07-07). "Résultats définitifs des législatives 2024 en Isère : Olivier Véran battu à Grenoble, découvrez le député élu dans votre circonscription". France 3.