Burgundy

Burgundy

Bourgogne
Burgundy Bourgogne
Region of France
	Flag Coat of arms
	Coordinates: 47°00′N 4°30′E / 47.000°N 4.500°E
Country	France
Dissolved	2016-01-01
Prefecture	Dijon
Departments	4 Côte-d'Or; Saône-et-Loire; Yonne; Nièvre;
Government
• President	François Patriat (PS)
Area
• Total	31,582 km2 (12,194 sq mi)
Population (2008-01-01)
• Total	1,631,000
• Density	52/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-D
GDP (2012)	Ranked 16th
Total	€42.7 billion (US$55.0 bn)
Per capita	€25,996 (US$33,436)
NUTS Region	FR2
Website	cr-bourgogne.fr

Burgundy (French: Bourgogne) is a former administrative region of France. It is now part of the administrative region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. It was also a historic region in eastern France. The French adjective and name of the inhabitants of the region is Bourguignon.

With over 31,500 square kilometres (12,200 sq mi), it is one of the largest region of France. It covers about 6% of the territory of the country.

The four departments in the region were Côte-d'Or, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire and Yonne. Its capital was Dijon.

History

Burgundy was named for the Germanic Burgundian tribe who moved there from an island in the Baltic Sea. They moved when the Roman Empire fell apart to set up a kingdom with its own laws. This included part of what is now Switzerland.

During the Middle Ages, Burgundy was ruled by dukes. In the 15th century it was very powerful. The dukes ruled lands as far north as the Netherlands. After Duke Charles the Bold died when he wanted to conquer the city of Nancy in 1477, France took southern Burgundy. It was a province until 1790. The House of Habsburg got the northern part, which later became the Southern Netherlands.

Geography

The Burgundy region is one of the largest regions of Metropolitan France. It has an area of 31,582 km² (12,194 sq mi).^[2] It bordered with five other regions: Champagne-Ardenne to the north, Franche-Comté to the east, Rhône-Alpes to the southeast, Auvergne to the southwest, Centre-Val de Loire to the west and Île-de-France to the north.

Most of the territory of Burgundy is occupied by a plateau of low hills (the Burgundy Hills) surrounded by valleys of the main rivers. The valley of the Yonne river and its tributaries is to the north of the region. To the southeast is the valley of the Saône river.

In the centre of the plateau (and of the region), there is a group of low mountains: the Morvan. The highest point in Burgundy, the Haut-Folin (46°59′46″N 4°02′13″E / 46.99611°N 4.03694°E / 46.99611; 4.03694 (Haut-Folin)), is in these mountains, in the Saône-et-Loire department. It is 901 m (2,956 ft) high.^[3]

The main rivers of the region are Yonne, Armançon, Loire, Seine and Saône.

The climate of Burgundy is an oceanic climate with temperate summers, "Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

Departments

The Burgundy region is formed by four departments:

Département	Préfecture	ISO 3166-2	Population (2012)^[4]	Area (km²)	Density (Inh./km²)
Côte-d'Or	Dijon	FR-21	527,403	8,763	60.2
Nièvre	Nevers	FR-58	216,786	6,817	31.8
Saône-et-Loire	Mâcon	FR-71	555,039	8,575	64.7
Yonne	Auxerre	FR-89	341,902	7,427	46.0

Demographics

The Burgundy region has a population, in 2012, of 1,641,130, for a population density of 52.0 inhabitants/km².

Seat of the regional council of Burgundy in Dijon.

The ten main cities in the region are:

City	Population (2012)^[4]	Départment
Dijon	152,071	Côte-d'Or
Chalon-sur-Saône	44,564	Saône-et-Loire
Nevers	35,327	Nièvre
Auxerre	35,096	Yonne
Mâcon	32,917	Saône-et-Loire
Sens	25,106	Yonne
Le Creusot	22,574	Saône-et-Loire
Beaune	21,806	Côte-d'Or
Montceau-les-Mines	18,956	Saône-et-Loire
Autun	14,124	Saône-et-Loire

Economy

The region is known for its wines, both red and white. Many well-known wines, such as Macon and Beaujolais, were first made here. A few wines are also the 'Arbois'-type. Arbois wines are between red and white and almost yellow in colour.