| Isère | |
| Native Name: | |
| Coordinates: | 45.3333°N 35°W |
| Parts Style: | para |
| Leader Name: | Jean-Pierre Barbier[1] |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 7431 |
| Elevation M: | 846 |
| Elevation Min M: | 134 |
| Elevation Max M: | 4088 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Blank Info Sec1: | 38 |
| Utc Offset1: | +1 |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +2 |
| Footnotes: | French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2 |
Isère ([2] [3] in French izɛʁ/; Isera; Occitan (post 1500);: Isèra, in Occitan (post 1500); pronounced as /iˈsɛɾa/) is a landlocked department in the southeastern French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.[4] Its prefecture is Grenoble. It borders Rhône to the northwest, Ain to the north, Savoie to the east, Hautes-Alpes to the south, Drôme and Ardèche to the southwest and Loire to the west.
Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was established from the main part of the former province of Dauphiné.[5] Its area was reduced twice, in 1852 and again in 1967, on both occasions losing territory to the department of Rhône.
In 1852 in response to rapid urban development around the edge of Lyon, the (hitherto Isère) communes of Bron, Vaulx-en-Velin, Vénissieux and Villeurbanne were transferred to Rhône.[6] In 1967 the redrawing of local government borders led to the creation of the Urban Community of Lyon (more recently known simply as Greater Lyon or Grand Lyon). At that time intercommunal groupings of this nature were not permitted to straddle departmental frontiers, and accordingly 23 more Isère communes (along with six communes from Ain) found themselves transferred to Rhône. The affected Isère communes were Chaponnay, Chassieu, Communay, Corbas, Décines-Charpieu, Feyzin, Genas, Jonage, Jons, Marennes, Meyzieu, Mions, Pusignan, Saint-Bonnet-de-Mure, Saint-Laurent-de-Mure, Saint-Pierre-de-Chandieu, Saint-Priest, Saint-Symphorien-d'Ozon, Sérézin-du-Rhône, Simandres, Solaize, Ternay and Toussieu.
Most recently, on 1 April 1971, Colombier-Saugnieu was transferred to Rhône. Banners appeared in the commune's three little villages at the time proclaiming Dauphinois toujours ("Always Dauphinois").
Isère includes a part of the French Alps. The highest point in the department is the subpeak Pic Lory at 4088m (13,412feet), subsidiary to the 4102m (13,458feet) Barre des Écrins in the adjoining Hautes-Alpes department. The summit of La Meije at 3988m (13,084feet) is also well known. The Vercors Plateau aesthetically dominates the western part of the department.
The most populous commune is Grenoble, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 7 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:[4]
| Commune | Population (2019) | |
|---|---|---|
| Grenoble | 158,198 | |
| Saint-Martin-d'Hères | 37,935 | |
| Échirolles | 36,932 | |
| Vienne | 29,993 | |
| Bourgoin-Jallieu | 28,834 | |
| Fontaine | 23,211 | |
| Voiron | 20,372 |
Inhabitants of the department are called Isérois (masculine) and Iséroises (feminine).
Population development since 1801:
The President of the Departmental Council has been Jean-Pierre Barbier of The Republicans (LR) since 2015.
Following the 2021 departmental election, the Departmental Council of Isère (58 seats) was composed as follows:
| Group | Seats | |
|---|---|---|
| • | The Republicans and allies | 26 |
| Socialist Party and allies | 13 | |
| • | Union of Democrats and Independents and allies | 5 |
| French Communist Party and allies | 5 | |
| Europe Ecology – The Greens and allies | 4 | |
| • | 3 | |
| • | 2 | |
In the 2022 legislative election, Isère elected the following representatives to the National Assembly:
In 2024, all the Renaissance and Democratic Movement candidates lost their seats: to La France Insoumise in the 1st and 9th constituencies, and to RN-coalition parties in the 8th and 10th. The other representatives were all reelected.[8]
In the 2017 Senate election, Isère elected Didier Rambaud (La République En Marche!), Guillaume Gontard (miscellaneous left), Frédérique Puissat (The Republicans), Michel Savin (The Republicans) and André Vallini (Socialist Party) for the 2017–2023 term.
The Grande Chartreuse is the mother abbey of the Carthusian order. It is located 22km (14miles) north of Grenoble.
As early as the 13th century, residents of the north and central parts of Isère spoke a dialect of the Franco-Provençal language called Dauphinois, while those in the Southern parts spoke the Vivaro-Alpine dialect of Occitan. Both continued to be spoken in rural areas of Isère into the 20th century.
Isère features many ski resorts, including the Alpe d'Huez, Les Deux Alpes, the 1968 Winter Olympics resorts of Chamrousse, Villard de Lans, Autrans. Other popular resorts include Les 7 Laux, Méaudre, Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse, Alpe du Grand Serre and Gresse-en-Vercors. At the department level, Isère is the third-largest ski and winter destination in France, after Savoie and Haute-Savoie. It also hosts Coupe Icare, an annual festival of free flight, such as paragliding and hang-gliding, held at the world-renowned paragliding site at Lumbin.
Grenoble has a dozen museums, including its most famous, established in 1798, the Museum of Grenoble. The European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), an international research facility in Grenoble, is also open to visitors.