| Oise | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Coat of arms of the Oise department | |
| Location | |
 |
|
| Administration | |
| Department number: | 60 |
| Region: | Picardie |
| Prefecture: | Beauvais |
| Subprefectures: | Clermont Compiègne Senlis |
| Arrondissements: | 4 |
| Cantons: | 41 |
| Communes: | 693 |
| President of the General Council: | Yves Rome |
| Statistics | |
| Population | Ranked 25th |
| -Jan.1, 2005 estimate -March 8, 1999 census |
785,967 766,441 |
| Population density: | 134/km² |
| Land area¹: | 5,860 km² |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km². | |
 |
|
Oise is a department in the north of France named after the Oise River.
Contents |
History
Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Île-de-France.
Geography
Oise is part of the current region of Picardie and is situated 35 km north of Paris. It is surrounded by the departments of Somme, Aisne, Seine-et-Marne, Val-d'Oise, Eure, and Seine-Maritime.
Population
Natives of the department are called Isariens or Oisiens.
Tourism
The major tourist attraction of the department is the Parc Astérix, which opened in 1989. Another very interesting site is Beauvais Cathedral. Also to be seen is the Chateau de Pierrefonds, restored by Viollet-le-Duc.
See also
- Cantons of the Oise department
- Communes of the Oise department
- Arrondissements of the Oise department
External links
- (French) Prefecture website
- (French) General Council website
- (English) Oise Tourism Guide
- (English) Oise Tourist Board
