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Côte-d'Or

Côte-d'Or is a department in the eastern part of France.

History

Côte-d'Or is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was formed from part of the former province of Burgundy.

Geography

The department is part of the current region of Bourgogne. It is surrounded by the departments of Yonne, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Jura, Aube, and Haute-Marne.

A chain of hills called the Plateau de Langres runs from north-east to south-west through the department to the north of Dijon and continues south-westwards as the Côte d'Or escarpment, which is named from the department's name. It is the south-east facing slope of the escarpment which is the site of the celebrated Burgundy vineyards. To the west of the Plateau de Langres, towards Champagne, lies the densely wooded district of Châtillonais. To the south-east of the plateau and escarpment, the department lies in the broad, flat-bottomed valley of the middle course of the Saône.

Rivers include:

The Saône
The Seine rises in the southern end of the Plateau de Langres.
The Ouche rises on the dip slope of the escarpment and flows to the Saône via Dijon.
The Armançon rises on the dip slope of the escarpment and flows north-westward.
The Arroux rises on the dip slope of the escarpment at the southern end of the department.

Climate

The climate of the department is temperate, with abundant rain on the west side of the central range.

Economy

This is a premier wine-growing region of France. Other crops include cereal grains and potatoes. Sheep and cattle are also raised in the department. The region is famous for its Dijon mustard.

There are coal mines and heavy industry, including steel, machinery, and earthenware. The industries most developed in Côte-d’Or are

agriculture and food (14% of employees)
metallurgy and metal manufacture (12% of employees)
chemicals, rubber and plastics (12% of employees)
pharmacy
electrical and electronic components and equipment
wood and paper industries.

The big works are generally in the conurbation of Dijon although biggest (CEA Valduc) is at Salives in the Plateau de Langres. There is also the SEB metal works at Selongey below the plateau on the margin of the Saône plain and the Valourec metalworking group at Montbard in the west of the départment on the River Brenne near its junction with the Armançon. The Pharmaceutical industry has shown the greatest growth in recent years. However, since the Dijon employment statistics zone includes the urban and administrative centre of the Burgundy region, the service sector is proportionately bigger there in relation to the industrial, than in the other three zones of Côte-d'Or.

Reference Industrie en Bourgogne website

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Côte-d'Oriens.

Tourism

Some of the major tourist attractions are the Gothic abbey church of Saint-Seine-l'Abbaye and the Romanesque abbey church at Saulieu, as well the Château de Bussy Rabutin at Bussy-le-Grand. The Abbey of Cîteaux, headquarters of the Cistercian Order, lies to the east of Nuits-Saint-Georges in the south of the department.