La Roche-sur-Yon

La Roche-sur-Yon

Square Napoléon

Coat of arms
La Roche-sur-Yon

Coordinates: 46°40′14″N 1°25′34″W / 46.6705°N 1.426°W / 46.6705; -1.426Coordinates: 46°40′14″N 1°25′34″W / 46.6705°N 1.426°W / 46.6705; -1.426
Country France
Region Pays de la Loire
Department Vendée
Arrondissement La Roche-sur-Yon
Canton La Roche-sur-Yon-1 and La Roche-sur-Yon-2
Intercommunality La Roche-sur-Yon Agglomération
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2012) Pierre Regnault
Area1 87.52 km2 (33.79 sq mi)
Population (2010)2 52,664
 • Density 600/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code 85191 / 85000
Elevation 32–94 m (105–308 ft)
(avg. 74 m or 243 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

La Roche-sur-Yon (pronounced: [la ʁɔʃ syʁ jɔ̃]) is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is the capital of the department. Its inhabitants are called Yonnais.

History

The town expanded significantly after Napoleon I had chosen the site as the new préfecture of the Vendée on 25 May 1804, replacing Fontenay-le-Comte (then under its revolutionary name of Fontenay-le-Peuple). At the time, most of La Roche had been eradicated in the Vendée Revolt (1793–96); the renamed Napoléonville was laid out and a fresh population of soldiers and civil servants was brought in. Napoléonville was designed to accommodate 15,000 people.[1]

The town was called successively:

Geography

The river Yon flows southward through the commune and crosses the town.

Climate

Climate data for La Roche-sur-Yon (1981–2010 averages)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 15.9
(60.6)		 20.2
(68.4)		 24.1
(75.4)		 28.1
(82.6)		 30.7
(87.3)		 36.9
(98.4)		 36.6
(97.9)		 38.7
(101.7)		 33.7
(92.7)		 29.9
(85.8)		 21.1
(70)		 18.7
(65.7)		 38.7
(101.7)
Average high °C (°F) 8.5
(47.3)		 9.5
(49.1)		 12.5
(54.5)		 14.9
(58.8)		 18.8
(65.8)		 22.4
(72.3)		 24.5
(76.1)		 24.6
(76.3)		 21.8
(71.2)		 17.3
(63.1)		 12.0
(53.6)		 8.9
(48)		 16.3
(61.3)
Average low °C (°F) 2.6
(36.7)		 2.2
(36)		 4.0
(39.2)		 5.5
(41.9)		 9.1
(48.4)		 11.8
(53.2)		 13.7
(56.7)		 13.4
(56.1)		 11.1
(52)		 9.0
(48.2)		 5.2
(41.4)		 2.9
(37.2)		 7.5
(45.5)
Record low °C (°F) −14.9
(5.2)		 −15.4
(4.3)		 −10.3
(13.5)		 −4.1
(24.6)		 −0.3
(31.5)		 2.8
(37)		 7.2
(45)		 5.1
(41.2)		 2.5
(36.5)		 −4.5
(23.9)		 −7.1
(19.2)		 −9.5
(14.9)		 −15.4
(4.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 103.5
(4.075)		 66.0
(2.598)		 70.5
(2.776)		 67.9
(2.673)		 64.5
(2.539)		 44.5
(1.752)		 51.3
(2.02)		 46.1
(1.815)		 73.0
(2.874)		 107.6
(4.236)		 103.5
(4.075)		 102.5
(4.035)		 900.9
(35.469)
Average precipitation days 12.5 10.1 10.8 11.1 9.1 7.6 7.1 7.2 7.8 12.4 13.4 12.5 121.6
Mean monthly sunshine hours 72.4 102.8 145.4 171.1 198.8 230.6 232.3 229.7 194.2 124.1 81.2 69.4 1,852
Source: Meteo France[2][3]

Administration

The Communauté d'agglomération "La Roche-sur-Yon Agglomération" contains 15 communes:

La Roche-sur-Yon is the chief town of the Arrondissement of La Roche-sur-Yon, which covers 11 cantons, 92 communes, and has a population of 230,386 (1999 census).

La-Roche-sur-Yon is chief town of two cantons, Canton of La Roche-sur-Yon-1 and Canton of La Roche-sur-Yon-2.

Main sights

Transport

The Gare de La Roche-sur-Yon railway station offers connections to Nantes, Paris, Les Sables-d'Olonne, Bordeaux and several regional destinations. The A87 motorway connects La Roche-sur-Yon with Les Sables-d'Olonne and Angers, the A83 with Nantes and Niort.

Sports

In 2014 La Roche-sur-yon hosted the 2014 French championship of table tennis [4]

La Roche-sur-Yon's Vendéspace hosted one of the first round ties of the 2014 Davis Cup tennis tournament over the weekend of 31 January - 2 February 2014. France hosted Australia as both teams competed for a place in the World Group quarterfinals.

In 2015 La Roche-sur-Yon, will host the 2015 FIRS Men's Roller Hockey World Cup, the first time that a World Cup of roller hockey is held in France.

In June 2015 La Roche-sur-Yon's Vendéspace will host the qualification tournament for the World Championships in Savate Combat [5]

Twin towns

La Roche-sur-Yon is twinned with:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Graham Robb, The Discovery of France, Picador, London (2007), pp257-8
  2. ↑ "Données climatiques de la station de La Roche-sur-Yon" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Climat Pays de la Loire" (in French). Meteo France. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  4. ↑ http://www.tennis2table.com/Championnat-de-France/les-championnats-de-france-2014-de-tennis-de-table.html
  5. ↑ http://vendespace.vendee.fr/Agenda/Sports/TOURNOI-QUALIFICATIF-DE-SAVATE-BOXE-FRANCAISE/vendredi-05-juin-2015-samedi-06-juin-2015

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to La Roche-sur-Yon.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 24, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.