| Orne | |
|---|---|
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| Coat of arms of the Orne department | |
| Location | |
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| Administration | |
| Department number: | 61 |
| Region: | Basse-Normandie |
| Prefecture: | Alençon |
| Subprefectures: | Argentan Mortagne-au-Perche |
| Arrondissements: | 3 |
| Cantons: | 40 |
| Communes: | 505 |
| President of the General Council: | Gérard Burel |
| Statistics | |
| Population | Ranked 73rd |
| -1999 | 292,337 |
| Population density: | 48/km² |
| Land area¹: | 6103 km² |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km². | |
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Orne is a department in the northwest of France named after the Orne River.
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History
Orne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Normandy and Perche.
Geography
Orne is in the current region of Basse-Normandie and is surrounded by the departments of Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Sarthe, Mayenne, and Calvados; it is the only department of Basse Normandie and Haute Normandie to be landlocked.
Demographics
The inhabitants of the department are called Ornais.
Culture
Camembert, the village where Camembert cheese was first made, is located in Orne. The local dialect is known as Augeron
See also
- Cantons of the Orne department
- Communes of the Orne department
- Arrondissements of the Orne department
- Orne River
- St. Andre sur Orne
External links
- (French) Prefecture website
- (French) General council website
- (English) ornetourisme.com
