Yvelines

Yvelines
Details
Information
Number	78
Region	Île-de-France
Prefecture	Versailles
Subprefectures	Mantes-la-Jolie Rambouillet Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Population  - Total (1999)  - Density	Ranked 8th 1,354,304 593 /km²
Area	2,284 km²
Arrondissements	4
Cantons	39
Communes	262
President of the general council	Franck Borotra
Location

Yvelines is a French département in the région of Île-de-France.

History

Yvelines was created from the western part of the no longer existing département of Seine-et-Oise on January 1, 1968 in accordance with a law passed on January 10, 1964 and a décret d'application (a decree specifying how a law should be enforced) from February 26, 1965.

It gained the communes of Châteaufort and Toussus-le-Noble from the adjacent département of Essonne in 1969.

Geography

Yvelines is bordered by the départements of Val-d'Oise on the north, Hauts-de-Seine on the east, Essonne on the southeast, Eure-et-Loir on the southwest, and Eure on the west.

The eastern part of the département, as well as its northern part along the Seine, are part of the Paris metropolitan area, but the rest of the départment is rural, much of it covered by the Rambouillet Forest.

Besides Versailles (the prefecture) and the subprefectures, important cities include Saint-Germain-En-Laye , Conflans-Sainte-Honorine , Poissy, Les Mureaux , Houilles , Plaisir, Sartrouville, and Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines.

Two parcs naturels régionaux can be found in Yvelines: the parc de la Haute Vallée de Chevreuse and part of the parc du Vexin Français.

See also Map of Yvelines.

Demographics

A person from Yvelines is called Yvelinois in French.

Tourism

Palaces and Châteaux

• Palace of Versailles
• Château of Breteuil
• Château of Dampierre
• Château of Maisons-Lafitte
• Château of Rambouillet
• Château of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
• Château of Thoiry
• Château of Vaux-sur-Seine

Museums

• Museum of National Antiques (Saint-Germain-en-Laye)
• Museum of River and Canal Craft (Conflans-Sainte-Honorine )
• Horse-drawn Coach Museum (Versailles)
• Toy Museum (Poissy)
• Sheep Museum (Rambouillet)
• Cloth Museum of Jouy (Jouy-en-Josas )
• National Barn Museum of Port-Royal (Magny-les-Hameaux )

Artist's and Writer's Houses

• André Derain's house (Chambourcy )
• Elsa Triolet-Aragon 's house (Saint-Arnoult-en-Yvelines )
• Émile Zola's house (Médan )
• Maurice Ravel's house/museum (Montfort-l'Amaury)
• Ivan Tourguéniev House (Bougival )
• Château of Monte-Cristo (Port-Marly )

Parks and Gardens

• Chèvreloup Arboretum (Rocquencourt)
• Marly Estate (Marly-le-Roi )
• Vaux sur Seine Castle Garden (Vaux sur Seine )
• The King's Vegetable Garden (Versailles)

Politics of Yvelines

Senators from Yvelines

• About Nicolas (Centrist Union )
• Bellanger Jacques (Socialist Party)
• Braye Dominique (UMP)
• Gournac Alain (UMP)
• Larcher Gérard (UMP)

External links

• Préfecture of Yvelines (in French)
• Conseil Général of Yvelines (in French)