Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/865

 AREA AND POPULATION

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�to the extent of one-half every three years (one Councillor for each canton). These conseils deliberate upon all economical affairs of the department, the repartition of the direct taxes amon» the arrondissemcnts, the roads, normal schools, and undertakings for the relief of the poor. Their decisions are con- trolled by the Prefect, and may be annulled hy the President of the Republic,

Area and Population. I. Progress and Present Condition,

The area of France has changed but little since the treaties of 1815, In 1860, after the Italian War, it was increased by the annexation of Savoie and Nice from Italy ; and by the treaty of May 10, 1871, France lost the entire department of the Bas-Rhin, two arrondissenients, with a fraction of a third, of the Haut-Rhin, and the greater portion of the department of Mo- selle, making altogether an area of 5,590 square miles and 1,600,000 inhabitants, part of whom emigrated into France during the next few years.

The following table gives the area, in English square miles, and the legal population (including those present and absent) of the 87 departments of France according to the census returns of April, 1891 and March 29, 1896 :—

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Area :

Population

Population per |

Departments

Engl. sq.

square mile, I

miles

April, 1891

April, 1896

1896 j

Ain

2,239

356,907

351,569

156-9

Aisne.

2,839

545,493

541,613

190

4

Allier.

2,822

424,382

424,378

150

4

Alpes (Basses-)

2,685

124,285

118,142

44

Alpes (Hautes-)

2,158

115,522

113,229

52

5

Alpes- Mari times.

1,482

258,571

265,155

178

9

Ardeche

2,136

371,269

363,501

170

1

Ardennes

2,020

324,923

318,865

157

8

Ariege.

1,890

227,491

219,641

116

2

Aube

2,317

255,548

251,435

108

5

Aude

2,438

317,372

310,513

127

3

Aveyron

3,376

400,467

389,464

115

4

Belfort (territ. de).

235

83,670

88,047

387

4

Bouches-du-Rhone

1,971

630,622

673,820

341

8

Calvados

2,132

428,945

417,176

195

6 '

Cantal.

2,217

239,601

234,382

105

6

Charente

2,294

360,259

356,236

155

o •J

Charente-Inferieure

2,635

456,202

453,455

172

1

Cher ,

2,780

359,276

347,725

125

1

Correze ,

2,265

328,151

322,393

142

3

Corse

3,377

288,596

290,168

85

9

Cote-d'Or

3,383

376,866

368,168

108

8

C6tes-du-Nord

2,659

618,652

616,074

231

7

Creuse.

2,150

284,660

279,366

129

9

Dordogne

3,546

478,471

464,822

131

1

Doubs ,

2,018

303,081

302,046

149

G

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