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Information about Aude

Aude
Coat of arms of the Aude department
Location
Administration
Department number:11
Region: Languedoc-Roussillon
Prefecture:Carcassonne
Subprefectures:Limoux
Narbonne
Arrondissements:3
Cantons:35
Communes:438
President of the General Council:Marcel Rainaud
Statistics
PopulationRanked 71st
 -1999309,770
Population density:50/km
Land area:6139 km
French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km.
Aude (Occitan: Aude) is a department in south-central France named after the Aude River. The local council also calls the department "Cathar Country".

Aude is also a frequent feminine French given name in Francophone countries, deriving initially from Aude or Oda, a wife of Bertrand, Duke of Aquitaine and mother of Saint Hubertus's brother Eudo.

History

The Roman road Via Domitia crossed Aude in classical times.

Aude was the center of the Cathars, a 10th-century dualistic and Gnostic Christian sect.

The present department is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.

Geography

Aude is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Pyrenees mountains.

It is part of the current region of Languedoc-Roussillon. It is surrounded by the departments of Pyrénées-Orientales, Ariège, Haute-Garonne, Tarn, and Hérault, with the Golfe du Lion on the east.

Climate

Aude is under the influence of a Mediterranean climate.

The autumn is characterized by violent and short storms. The summer is often hot and dry, which is favorable to the culture of the vine and the olive-trees. Yet, the department is more contrasted : In the North, the Montagne Noire and, in the south, the Pays de Sault, have a climate of mountain,with temperatures sometimes very low in winter. In the West, the climate is under Aquitaine influence, with more important precipitations while in the East the climate is purely Mediterranean. In the Centre, in the Limouxin, Carcassonnais and of Razès areas, the climate is known as intermediary, with important exposures to the winds. The winds are often present in Aude. It is one of the windiest French department, with 300 to 350 days of wind per year. This phenomenon is mostly due to the reliefs north and south which create a kind of corridor.

In the North-West, blows the Cers, called Tramontane in Provence, which is a ground wind. It is a dry, pretty violent wind and cold in winter. At the opposite, blows the Autan, locally called the Marin, which is hot and wet and comes from the sea in south-east.

These regular winds made it possible to install park of wind mills like in the area of Avignonet-Lauragais.

Tourism

Carcassonne has been restored to much of its medieval glory. Narbonne attracts many tourists to its Roman ruins. Other towns and villages worth visiting include Limoux, Quillan, Lezignan - Corbières, Lagrasse, Sigean and Leucate. Limoux lies in the upper Aude valley, 24 km south of Carcassonne. It is particularly noted for its local wine, Blanquette, a sparkling white wine which is said to have been the forerunner of Champagne. Limoux hosts an extensive and varied market each Friday. Quillan lies 27 km further south in the upper Aude valley and is at the head of the branch railway from Carcassonne. Lezignan-Corbières lies on the main road between Carcassonne and Narbonne. It is called the capital of the Corbières and has an excellent Wednesday morning market. Lagrasse is listed as one of the most attractive villages in France. It stands on the River Orbieu and has an 8th century abbey, two very attractive bridges and an unchanged and very compact and delightful medieval stone village centre. Sigean, 18 km south of Narbonne, lies between the A9 Autoroute and the coast and has an African Reserve. Leucate is an attractive hilltop village, about 30 km south of Narbonne, which has spread down to the coast where Leucate Plage is a popular beach resort.

The Corbières Hills form the central part of the department. This is an area of dissected plateaux and escarpments which form an effective barrier to direct road communication. It is a very attractive and sometimes wild area of steep hills, hidden valleys, woodland and vines, and contains some of the most memorable Cathar sites including Quéribus, Peyrepertuse and Villerouge-Termenès.

Wine production is extensive across Aude, and local chateaux and domaines provide free tastings as well as sales of wine and other local produce. With the decline of some local wine production, local government policy is now to attract more tourists to the area, and to assist with this the Corbières area is now labelled on maps and road signs as Cathar country.

See also

External links

Departments of France
Ain • Aisne • Allier • Alpes-de-Haute-Provence • Hautes-Alpes • Alpes-Maritimes • Ardche • Ardennes • Arige • Aube • Aude • Aveyron • Bouches-du-Rhne • Calvados • Cantal • Charente • Charente-Maritime • Cher • Corrze • Corse-du-Sud • Haute-Corse • Cte-d'Or • Ctes-d'Armor • Creuse • Dordogne • Doubs • Drme • Eure • Eure-et-Loir • Finistre • Gard • Haute-Garonne • Gers • Gironde • Hrault • Ille-et-Vilaine • Indre • Indre-et-Loire • Isre • Jura • Landes • Loir-et-Cher • Loire • Haute-Loire • Loire-Atlantique • Loiret • Lot • Lot-et-Garonne • Lozre • Maine-et-Loire • Manche • Marne • Haute-Marne • Mayenne • Meurthe-et-Moselle • Meuse • Morbihan • Moselle • Nivre • Nord • Oise • Orne • Pas-de-Calais • Puy-de-Dme • Pyrnes-Atlantiques • Hautes-Pyrnes • Pyrnes-Orientales • Bas-Rhin • Haut-Rhin • Rhne • Haute-Sane • Sane-et-Loire • Sarthe • Savoie • Haute-Savoie • Paris • Seine-Maritime • Seine-et-Marne • Yvelines • Deux-Svres • Somme • Tarn • Tarn-et-Garonne • Var • Vaucluse • Vende • Vienne • Haute-Vienne • Vosges • Yonne • Territoire de Belfort • Essonne • Hauts-de-Seine • Seine-Saint-Denis • Val-de-Marne • Val-d'Oise • Overseas departments and territories: Guadeloupe • Martinique • French Guiana • Runion
Administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.

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Administrative divisions of France

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Administrative divisions of France

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Région Languedoc-Roussillon

(Region flag) (Region logo)

Location

Administration
Capital Montpellier
Regional President Georges Frêche
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A prefecture (French: préfecture) in France can refer to :
  • the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a département is located ;
  • the Chef-lieu de région

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Subprefectures (French: sous-préfectures) are the administrative towns of arrondissements in France that do not contain the prefecture for its department. Subprefecture is also the name given to the building which houses the administarive headquarters for the
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Commune of
Limoux

Carnival of Limoux

Location
Longitude 02° 13' 09" E
Latitude 43° 03' 28" N

Administration
Country  France
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Commune of
Narbonne

Location



Coordinates
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Administrative divisions of France

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The 3 arrondissements of the Aude department are:
  1. Arrondissement of Carcassonne, (prefecture of the Aude department: Carcassonne) with 18 cantons and 207 communes. The population of the arrondissement was 137,221 in 1990, and was 141,890 in 1999, an increase of 3.4%.

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Administrative divisions of France

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The following is a list of the 35 cantons of the Aude department, in France, sorted by arrondissement:

Arrondissement of Carcassonne (18 cantons)

  • Alzonne
  • Belpech
  • Capendu
  • Carcassonne 1st Canton
  • Carcassonne 2nd Canton-Nord

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Administrative divisions of France

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The following is a list of the 438 communes of the Aude département in France.

  • (CAC) Communauté d'agglomération du Carcassonnais, created in 2002.
  • (CAN) Communauté d'agglomération de la Narbonnaise, created in 2003.

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In France, the President of the General Council (French: Président du conseil général) is the locally-elected head of the General Council, the assembly governing a
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only, excluding overseas departments and territories, as well as former French colonies and protectorates. Algeria and its départements, although they were an integral part of metropolitan France until 1962, are not included in the figures.
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Rank Department Population (2006) Size (km²) Density (pop./km²)
2 Paris 2,164,000 105 20,605
4 Rhône 1,646,000 3,249 507
6 Seine-Saint-Denis 1,459,000 236 6,182
8 Yvelines 1,395,000 2,284 611
10 Val-de-Marne 1,279,000 245 5,220
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Distances shorter than 109 m
  • 1,400,000 km — Diameter of Sun
  • 1,500,000 km — Expected orbit from Earth of the James Webb Space Telescope

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estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea.[1] Estuaries are often associated with high rates of biological productivity. An estuary is where the river meets the sea.
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Occitan}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Officially recognised in Catalonia, Spain, as Occitan.
Regulated by: Conselh de la Lenga Occitana
Language codes
ISO 639-1: oc
ISO 639-2: oci
ISO 639-3: oci

Occitan
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Administrative divisions of France

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Motto
Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité
"Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"
Anthem
"La Marseillaise"


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Origin Pyrenees
Mouth Mediterranean Sea
Basin countries France
Length 224 km

Avg. discharge 49 m³/s
Basin area 5,340 km² The Aude River (Latin Atax) is a river of southwestern France.
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[Note : The Roman numerals after the names indicate which duke of that name they were and are not necessarily the same as their ordinals for their other titles.

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Saint Hubertus or Hubert (born c. 656 to 658, probably in Toulouse; died May 30, 727 or 728 in Tervuren near Brussels, Belgium), called the "Apostle of the Ardennes" was the first Bishop of Liège.
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Roman roads were essential for the growth of the Roman empire, by enabling the Romans to move armies. A proverb says that "all roads lead to Rome." At its peak, the Roman road system spanned 52,819 miles (85,004 km) and contained about 372 links.
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Via Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul, which is in modern day France. It was constructed in 118 BC by the proconsul, Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus, and was built around the same time the first Roman colony in Gaul, Colonia Narbo Martius (Narbonne) was founded.
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Catharism was a name given to a religious sect with gnostic elements that appeared in the Languedoc region of France in the 11th Century and flourished in the 12th and 13th Centuries.
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For other uses, see Dualism (disambiguation).


Dualism is the view that two fundamental concepts exist, such as good and evil, light and dark, or male and female. Often, they oppose each other.
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