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by The Kingdom of Santones. . 25 reads.

Departments of Saintonge

The department (Santonian: département) is the first-level administrative subdivision of the Kingdom of Saintonge.

Link
Departments of Saintonge

History


Prior to the Santonian Revolution, Saintonge was divided into provinces of varying sizes, most of which were headed by a powerful Duke, who used their provinces' resources to wage wars and battles. With the weak central government under the monarch, the different provinces were under vastly different laws and tax regimes, as the provincial nobles sought to extract resources and control their domains. At the time of the revolution, there were about 41 provinces.

The Santonian Revolution brought about a desire for more centralisation, partly to equalise the tax burdens throughout the country and to make government accessible to the common people. Thus, the proposal for the abolition of the provinces and the creation of new administrative subdivisions was considered in 1791.

There were many proposals, including simply dividing large provinces such as Bavière, Champagne, Griffonné, and the Pouilles; but some small provinces (Bordulac, Forez) were too small to constitute self-sufficient entities. Thus the plan proposed by Jacques-Benjamin Freycinet, deputy of the Comminges, and Bishop Marie-François-Gaspard Luché of Castelnaudary was approved.

Freycinet-Luché Plan
The Freycinet-Luché plan divided the country into mostly evenly-sized departments. The departmental capitals were to be accessible from all the parishes of the department within a two day's ride, so that public services are brought closer to the people. It also ensures that the government's policies and laws were evenly disseminated and applied throughout the country, and taxes equitably collected. The new departmental borders also tried to respect the economic centres and transportation links of the country.

Many of the new departments followed old provincial boundaries: the province of Domnonée was simply divided into three departments: Authie, Côtes-du-Nord, and Sée. However, some provincial borders were straightened out: the convoluted borders of Aurignais and Landelles were straightened out. One particular province, though, was slated for total elimination: Perche, whose Duke masterminded the Gunpowder Plot of 1789, was divided and the parts parcelled to four departments.

The departments were mostly named after their main rivers or physiogeographical features. This was because the descendant provinces of the Griffonné, Tyrosse, and Germandie quarrelled over who gets to retain the name of the old province. Freycinet and Luché, to end the debates, forbade using the names of the old provinces and instead gave them the names they have today.

Reorganisation of the Saintes area
The last major changes in departmental borders occurred in 1903, when expansion of the city of Saintes necessited its reorganisation. Thirty-nine adjacent suburban communes in the département of the Saine were amalgamated with Saintes city proper to form the current shape of the City of Saintes. This huge city of Saintes was seen to dominate its department, and so the département of the Saine was dissolved and parts parcelled to adjacent ones. The enlarged city of Saintes was given the powers of both a department and a commune/parish. The intendancies of Saint-Océan and the remnant of the intendancy of Sancoins were merged with the intendancies of Avranches and Brissarthe (formerly of the department of the Boëme) to form the new department of the Cenise. The department of the Lisle lost some of its communes to the city of Saintes and was compensated with the area around Nogent-sur-Lisle (formerly from the department of the Sambre). The department of the Sambre then gained Sainte-Menehould from the department of the Saine-et-Loine. The Saine-et-Loine, in turn, gained the remainder of the intendancies of Royan and Lanthenay. These changes are largely responsible for the convoluted shape and the odd size of the Saine-et-Loine.

Link
Old provinces of Saintonge, with current
departmental borders.

Functions

The departments fulfilled the function as envisioned by Freycinet and Luché. The departmental capitals all became the seats of basic government institutions (including courts), making public services accessible to the people; while the entire country could be governed properly and effectively - eliminating lawless areas that stifled progress and development. Most government ministries and institutions have offices in each department, usually in the capital (chef-lieu).

Each department is further divided into intendancies (intendances). Large government offices (such as those concerned with education, health, and justice) also have sub-offices in each intendancy to ensure efficient and uniform delivery of services.

Government


Superintendent and Intendants
Each department has a superintendent (superintendant), a career civil servant appointed by the central government to represent the central government and oversee the activities of the government in each department. The superintendant also supervises the departmental local government. The superintendent is based in the capital of the department.

The superintendent is assisted by two or more intendants. The superintendent is responsible for the intendancy covering the departmental capital; while his/her intendants are assigned, one to each intendancy (which is how intendancies got their name). The intendants have the same function as the superintendent, except his/her function relating to the departmental local government.

The departments and intendancies are composed of parishes (paroisses), the lowest level of local government in Saintonge. Each parish is part of an intendancy and a department; no parish may be a member of more than one intendancy or more than one department.

Departmental Local Government
Each department has a 99-member General Council (conseil général), elected by proportional representation by the inhabitants of the department. The departments have a parliamentary system of government. The General Council elects an executive, headed by the president (président), which oversees day-to-day functioning of the departmental government and exercises powers delegated to the departments by the central government.

Departments


Saintonge is divided into 89 departments and one department-level city (Saintes). The City of Saintes has the functions of both a department and a parish; its City Council serves as the equivalent of a General Council; and its mayor the equivalent of the president of a department. The City of Saintes also has a government-appointed superintendent.

Each department is assigned an "official geographical code" by the Institut royal de la statistique et des études économiques (IRSEE, Royal Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies). Departments are assigned numbers from 11 to 99, 10 is assigned to the City of Saintes, the numbers 1-9 are "reserved". These numbers came to be used in other things such as licence plates, postal codes, road numbers and designations, or even codes for court cases and police files. Sometimes these codes are used as shorthand for the department names.

List of Departments

Code

Department

Capital

Population (2020)

Area

Density

10

Saintes

Saintes

9,001,273

530.25

16,975.53

11

Basses-Alpes

Novale

1,832,247

5,296.16

345.96

12

Hautes-Alpes

Verceil

1,017,896

9,280.36

109.68

13

Basses-Andes

Tyrfleur

829,276

10,332.88

80.26

14

Hautes-Andes

Dax

1,094,913

10,414.06

105.14

15

Arc

Sainte-Jeanne-d'Arc

471,171

13,158.26

35.81

16

Arconce

Largentières

1,163,086

10,648.87

109.22

17

Argens

Malines

1,285,940

6,003.63

214.19

18

Aubrac

Sauveterre-de-Comminges

525,150

8,497.07

61.8

19

Aulne

Saint-Nazaire

1,178,932

4,947.36

238.3

20

Aure

Beaujeu

835,535

7,112.26

117.48

21

Authie

Vantes

1,194,854

4,837.15

247.02

22

Avaloirs

Langon

745,507

6,978.83

106.82

23

Baltée

Vitrolles

1,281,566

5,101.79

251.2

24

Besbre

Niort

2,283,052

5,366.94

425.39

25

Basse-Bléone

Barenton

1,218,648

16,235.63

75.06

26

Haute-Bléone

Frutinges

496,966

16,104.71

30.86

27

Boëme

Redon

842,241

4,818.37

174.8

28

Borgne

Meux

878,643

6,040.59

145.46

29

Bouche-du-Rhâne

Nyon

3,384,769

5,840.06

579.58

30

Bourbre

Louviers

1,046,064

6,926.47

151.02

31

Breuse

Carpriquet

1,513,242

14,188.77

106.65

32

Basses-Brômes

Brive

2,778,168

10,814.07

256.9

33

Hautes-Brômes

Péronne

1,229,111

9,958.51

123.42

34

Capoterre

Beaucaire

1,227,348

4,291.47

286

35

Cenise

Saint-Océan

3,933,261

2,527.15

1,556.4

36

Chalaronne

Langres

1,423,914

10,076.16

141.32

37

Chartreuse

Gresible

1,637,511

10,161.16

161.15

38

Côle

Beaune

3,155,009

9,165.72

344.22

39

Coole

Malençon

1,188,110

7,762.39

153.06

40

Haute-Coole

Lusignan

976,245

8,780.69

111.18

41

Corb

Plaisance

2,274,372

7,672.38

296.44

42

Côtes-du-Nord

Douvres

1,100,397

6,137.38

179.29

43

Doire

Loudun

2,765,252

9,558.55

289.3

44

Dronne

Craon

1,263,643

7,160.81

176.47

45

Dropt

Sens

3,069,677

8,404.76

365.23

46

Durance

Valence

968,746

6,379.52

151.85

47

Dyle

Trèves

489,954

11,792.05

41.55

48

Epte

Corbeil

899,428

4,366.21

206

49

Haine

Coire

2,089,164

5,703.93

366.27

50

Huisne

Meximieux

430,983

7,233.71

59.58

51

Ill

Bronn

725,317

10,150.28

71.46

52

Inde

Creusenac

1,073,262

6,767.42

158.59

53

Lac

Chalais

676,882

3,610.2

187.49

54

Lauter

Ratisbonne

927,321

7,481

123.96

55

Leir

Joinville

998,661

6,743.28

148.1

56

Lignon

Tiffauges

1,106,585

7,002.37

158.03

57

Limagne

Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges

519,322

5,977.24

86.88

58

Lisle

Torcy-le-Grand

3,801,095

4,509.03

843

59

Loine

Jourdain

1,292,321

7,328.22

176.35

60

Haute-Loine

Castelnaudary

738,209

8,989.18

82.12

61

Loing

Blaye

1,262,522

7,919.77

159.41

62

Luberon

Jussac

969,225

8,263.6

117.29

63

Lys

Tarascon

629,774

5,013.35

125.62

64

Margerides

Louvain

714,583

9,560.65

74.74

65

Monce-et-Briance

Coni

1,722,487

7,397.82

232.84

66

Nébrodes

Modane

1,513,310

10,441.89

144.93

67

Ource

Bellac

889,330

5,572.66

159.59

68

Puy-d'Or

Provins

2,721,003

7,825.65

347.7

69

Queyras

Soleure

865,878

5,426.13

159.58

70

Rance

Béthanie

1,399,742

3,742.55

374.01

71

Ravennes

Thouars

972,532

7,628.29

127.49

72

Haut-Rhâne

Brigue

299,027

12,576.68

23.78

73

Rhue

Beauséjour

1,099,298

7,103.28

154.76

74

Roer

Givet

693,566

4,755.32

145.85

75

Haute-Saine

Avesnes-sur-Helpe

555,229

10,039.68

55.3

76

Saine-et-Loine

Surgères

7,323,030

5,626.27

1,301.58

77

Sambre

Trappes

1,799,964

7,368.39

244.28

78

Sâne

Brisach

471,649

8,902.93

52.98

79

Sarine

Bâle

3,389,689

5,530.72

612.88

80

Saulx

Beauregard

1,000,416

4,278.69

233.81

81

Scyotte

Aubeterre

2,710,107

5,897.66

459.52

82

Sebre

Avéry

575,943

5,416.55

106.33

83

Sée

Cantorbéry

870,226

7,338.81

118.58

84

Semois

Aix-en-Aunis

2,566,570

2,971.83

863.63

85

Seudre

Aurigny

2,214,076

4,845.36

456.95

86

Simbruins

Côme

4,280,090

10,716.91

399.38

87

Suippe

Pérouse

1,060,334

8,422.07

125.9

88

Sûre

Trémoigne

482,258

6,974.55

69.15

89

Tage

Mirande

1,375,915

7,143.05

192.62

90

Tamise

Feurs

1,044,790

7,606.53

137.35

91

Taur

Lavaur

516,540

8,163.82

63.27

92

Tech

Courtilon

1,008,476

5,570.98

181.02

93

Tessin

Vicence

1,262,471

8,010.05

157.61

94

Trieux

Embrun

1,303,265

7,229.03

180.28

95

Vauperté

Cadenbach

424,358

12,226.3

34.71

96

Vercors

Rhêmes

735,713

6,455.85

113.96

97

Vesle

Saint-Gaudens

518,880

8,896.32

58.33

98

Vôges

Bréhaut

498,705

15,108.15

33.01

99

Yerres

Bompaire

884,457

7,485.75

118.15

Total Saintonge

133,505,667

686,619.20

194.44

Trivia
The most populated department (aside from Saintes) is Saine-et-Loine (7,323,030), and the least-populated is Haut-Rhâne (299,027).
The largest department by area is Basse-Bléone (16,235.63 km2) and the smallest (aside from Saintes) is Cenise (2,527.15 km2).
The most densely populated department (aside from Saintes) is Cenise (1,556.4 people per km2), while the most sparsely populated department is Haut-Rhâne (23.78 people per km2).

The Kingdom of Santones

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