Vienne (département)

Vienne
Department
Prefecture building of the Vienne department, in Poitiers
Coat of arms
Location of Vienne in France
Coordinates: 46°30′N 00°30′E / 46.500°N 0.500°E / 46.500; 0.500Coordinates: 46°30′N 00°30′E / 46.500°N 0.500°E / 46.500; 0.500
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Prefecture	Poitiers
Subprefectures	Châtellerault Montmorillon
Government
• President of the General Council	Claude Bertaud
Area
• Total	6,990 km2 (2,700 sq mi)
Population (2013)
• Total	431,248
• Rank	56th
• Density	62/km2 (160/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Department number	86
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	19
Communes	274
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Vienne (French pronunciation: ​[vjɛn]) is a department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne.

Established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution, Vienne is one of the original 83 departments. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou, Touraine, and Berry, the latter being a part of the Duchy of Aquitaine until the 15th century.

The original Acadians, who settled in and around what is now Nova Scotia, left Vienne for North America after 1604. Kennedy (2014) argues that the emigrants carried to Canada their customs and social structure. They were frontier peoples, who dispersed their settlements based on kinship. They optimized use of farmland and emphasized trading for a profit. They were hierarchical and politically active.

Édith Cresson, France's first woman Prime Minister from 1991-1992, was a deputy (MP) for the department.

It has three arrondissements : Poitiers, the prefecture, and the subprefectures Châtellerault and Montmorillon.

The capital Poitiers is the see of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Poitiers, which pastorally serves the department.

The most famous tourist sites include the Futuroscope theme park, Poitiers (city of Art and History), the Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe, a UNESCO world heritage site, the animal parks of Monkey's Valley in Romagne & the Crocodile Planet in Civaux.