Doubs

This article is about the French department. For the commune in this department, see Doubs, Doubs. For other uses, see Doubs (disambiguation).

Doubs (/duː/, doo; French: [du] ; Arpitan: Dubs) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Named after the river Doubs, it had a population of 543,974 in 2019. Its prefecture is Besançon and subprefectures are Montbéliard and Pontarlier.

Doubs Dubs (Arpitan)
Department
Prefecture building in Besançon
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Doubs in France
Coordinates: _type:adm2nd_scale:2000000 47°10′N 06°25′E
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Prefecture	Besançon
Subprefectures	Montbéliard Pontarlier
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Christine Bouquin (LR)
Area 1
• Total	5,232.6 km2 (2,020.3 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	547,096
• Rank	49th
• Density	100/km2 (270/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC 1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC 2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-25
Department number	25
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	19
Communes	571
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2

History

Main article: Franche-Comté

As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the northern two-thirds of Doubs spoke Franc-Comtois, a dialect of the langues d'oïl. Residents of the southern third of Doubs spoke a dialect of the Arpitan language. Both languages co-existed with French, the official language of law and commerce, and continued to be spoken frequently in rural areas into the 20th century. They are both still spoken today but not on a daily basis.

Doubs was important as a portal to Switzerland through the pass at Cluse de Pontarlier. Many famous people, including Mirabeau, Toussaint Louverture and Heinrich von Kleist, were imprisoned in the Château de Joux.

Doubs is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The prefecture (capital) is Besançon.

In 1793, the republic of Mandeure was annexed by France and incorporated into the department. This district was passed between various territories and departments in the ensuing administrative reorganisations and wars, but was restored to Doubs in 1816 when the former principality of Montbéliard was also added to the department.

However, the commune of Le Cerneux-Péquignot was annexed by the Canton of Neuchâtel under the terms of the 1814 Treaty of Paris, and since remained Swiss territory.

Between the defeat of France at the Battle of Waterloo and November 1818, Doubs was included in the area occupied by Austrian troops.

Victor Hugo, Gustave Courbet, Armand Peugeot, Auguste and Louis Lumière and Frank Darabont are among the famous people born in Doubs.

Geography

Doubs is part of the current region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and is surrounded by the French departments of Jura, Haute-Saône, and Territoire de Belfort, and the Swiss cantons of Vaud, Neuchâtel, and Jura.

The department is dominated by the Jura mountains, which rise east of Besançon.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Besançon, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

Commune	Population (2019)
Besançon	117,912
Montbéliard	25,806
Pontarlier	17,542
Audincourt	13,341
Valentigney	11,272

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Doubiens.

Population development since 1791:

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1791 219,642 —     1801 216,226 −0.16% 1806 226,040 0.89% 1821 242,663 0.47% 1831 265,535 0.90% 1841 286,236 0.75% 1851 296,679 0.36% 1861 296,280 −0.01% 1872 291,251 −0.16% 1881 310,827 0.73% 1891 303,081 −0.25% 1901 298,864 −0.14% 1911 299,935 0.04% 1921 285,022 −0.51%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 305,500 0.70% 1936 304,812 −0.05% 1946 298,255 −0.22% 1954 327,187 1.16% 1962 384,881 2.05% 1968 426,363 1.72% 1975 471,082 1.44% 1982 477,163 0.18% 1990 484,770 0.20% 1999 499,062 0.32% 2006 516,823 0.50% 2011 529,103 0.47% 2016 538,549 0.35% 2021 547,096 0.32%
source:

Politics

The President of the Departmental Council is Christine Bouquin (LR).

Party		seats
•	The Republicans	24
	Socialist Party	12
	Renaissance	2

National Assembly Representatives

Constituency		Member	Party
	Doubs's 1st constituency	Laurent Croizier	Democratic Movement
	Doubs's 2nd constituency	Dominique Voynet	The Ecologists
	Doubs's 3rd constituency	Matthieu Bloch	The Republicans
	Doubs's 4th constituency	Géraldine Grangier	National Rally
	Doubs's 5th constituency	Annie Genevard	The Republicans

Economy

The Doubs department is at the same time the greenest and the most industrialized in France.

It is the birthplace of the automotive manufacturer Peugeot.

Tourism

The castle of Joux and Besançon are important tourist destinations.

Notable people

• Paul-Claude Racamier (1924–1996), psychiatrist and psychoanalyst
• Arnaud Courlet de Vregille (1958-), French painter

Gallery

• 
  The citadel and the old town of Besançon in a meander of the Doubs
• 
  Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans
• 
  Montbéliard
• 
  Fort de Joux
• 
  Lods, one of the most beautiful villages of France

See also

• Arrondissements of the Doubs department
• Cantons of the Doubs department
• Communes of the Doubs department

Bibliography

• Hoffmann, Michael, Die französischen Konservativen in der katholischen Provinz Parteigenese und politische Kultur im Doubs (1900–1930) (Frankfurt am Main u.a., Peter Lang, 2008) (Moderne Geschichte und Politik, 22).

External links

• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) Departmental Council website Archived 20 June 2021 at the Wayback Machine