What You Need to Know About the Jura Department
In the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, there is department 39 called Jura. This name was given in honor of the Jura mountains located in its center. The most important city, prefecture, and at the same time the administrative center of the Jura department is called Lons-le-Saunier. However, its sub-prefectures are called Saint-Claude and Dole.
Geographically, the territory of Jura consists of plains and wooded valleys, unlike the Alps which are rather rocky and mountainous. In Jura, there is a lot of inland water, among which is Lake Chalain, which is the largest natural lake in France. Then, there is Lake Vouglans, an artificial lake created after the installation of a hydroelectric dam.
This department 39 has as its main city, prefecture, and administrative center: Lons-le-Saunier. Its sub-prefectures number 2 and are: Dole and Saint-Claude. In total, the area of the Jura department is 4,999 km2 and its population currently counts 259,199 inhabitants, which means the population density per km2 is 52. The Jura department is divided into 3 arrondissements, 17 cantons, and 494 communes.
Which Departments Border the Jura Department?
Among the 8 departments included in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, there is the Jura department which is bordered by 6 neighboring departments. First, there is the department of Ain, the department of Saône-et-Loire, the department of Côte-d’Or, the department of Haute-Saône, and finally, the department of Doubs. Department 39 also shares a border with Switzerland through the canton of Vaud.
What is the Climate Like in the Jura Department?
Indeed, it is the department furthest from the coasts in France. As a result, its climate is semi-continental. This type of climate is somewhat harsh, unlike what we are used to seeing in Western Europe. Moreover, there is a mountain range dominating the eastern part of the department, which causes a temperature divergence. Thus, Jura is divided into several climatic zones:
In the Revermont regions, summer periods are rather warm, winters are mild, and snow is frequent. In contrast, the autumn period is characterized by significant sunshine.
In the highlands and the moderately high mountains, the winter period is more intense and arrives before winter in the plains. Snowfall is frequent in this region. Once on the other plateaus, the climate becomes increasingly mountainous. This type of climate is characterized by humid summers, frequent thunderstorms, and very long winters. Thus, snow cover occurs from late October to early May.
During the first two months of the year, there are areas heavily affected by strong icy winds. These areas are: Saint-Pierre, the Rousses region, and Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux. During this time of year, temperatures reach extremely cold levels.
For example, in the mountainous massifs of department 39, extremely low temperatures reach -41 °C. This causes lakes to freeze and snow to last for several months.
What Are the Most Important Cities in the Jura Department?
We have ranked these cities in the Jura department by population density per km2, so here are the most populated cities in department 39:
- Dole
- Lons-le-Saunier
- Saint-Claude
- Champagnole
- Morez
- Poligny
- Tavaux
- Rousses
- Arbois
- Montmorot
What are the most important municipalities in the Jura department?
For this ranking, we have chosen the 10 largest municipalities in the Jura department.
- Saint-Claude
- Poligny
- Arbois
- Chissey-sur-Loue
- Les Rousses
- Longchaumois
- Mignovillard
- Morbier
- Dole
- Saint-Aubin
For this ranking, we have chosen the municipalities with the highest population densities. So, here are the 10 most populated municipalities in the Jura department.
- Dole
- Saint-Claude
- Hauts de Bienne
- Tavaux
- Montmorot
- Lons-le-Saunier
- Champagnole
- Poligny
- Arbois
- Salins-les-Bains
