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Aveyron

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Aveyron

Coat of arms of the Aveyron department
Location

Administration
Department number:	12
Region:	Midi-Pyrénées
Prefecture:	Rodez
Subprefectures:	Millau Villefranche-de-Rouergue
Arrondissements:	3
Cantons:	46
Communes:	304
President of the General Council:	Jean Puech
Statistics
Population	Ranked 78th
-1999	263,808
Population density:	30/km²
Land area¹:	8735 km²

¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km².

Aveyron (Occitan: Avairon) is a department in southern France named after the Aveyron River.

1 History
2 Geography
3 Demographics
4 Tourism
5 See also
6 External links

History

Aveyron is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. The first known historical inhabitants of the region were the Rutenii tribe, but the area was inhabited previously to this, boasting many prehistoric ruins.

Geography

The department is part of the current Midi-Pyrénées region. It is surrounded by the départements of Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot, Hérault, Gard, Lozère, and Cantal. Three main plateau compose the department: Aubrac, Lévézou and Larzac. The highest point in the department is the summit of Mailhebuau at 1469 m (Plateau of Aubrac).

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Aveyronnais, inhabitants of Rodez are called Ruthénois, based on the first Roman settlers, the rutenii.

Tourism

Aveyron contains a part of the Cévennes National Park. Two well known tourist attractions are the castle of Najac, a medieval ruin perched high on a hill, and the abbey of Loc-Dieu, located near Martiel in a region with many dolmens. The small city of Millau is the site of the world's tallest bridge, the Millau viaduct, opened by President Chirac in December 2004. Activities include horseriding, fishing, swimming in the Lacs du Lévézou and hiking/camping. The inhabitants are also very good craftsmen, and Aveyron is full of various craft objects, handmade, that can be found locally. Examples include the couteau de Laguiole, the world famous Roquefort cheese, from the village of the same name and other local produce. Markets take place every Saturday on market places around the region.