What You Need to Know About the Vendée Department
We are currently presenting to you a French department that is an integral part of the Pays de la Loire region. Formerly, this department occupied the territory of the Poitou province. It is indeed the Vendée department numbered 85.
This department indeed has a capital which is both its prefecture and is called La Roche-sur-Yon. Furthermore, the sub-prefectures of this department are called Fontenay-le-Comte and Les Sables-d’Olonne. This city is also a type of urban center and also the one with the largest population in the region.
When speaking of the department’s demographics, the Vendéens currently number 685,442 inhabitants and their density is 102 inhabitants per km2 due to the fact that the area of department 85 is 6,719.59 km2. Administratively, department 85 is divided into 3 arrondissements, 5 legislative constituencies, 17 cantons, 19 intercommunalities, and 257 communes.
What Are the Neighboring Departments of the Vendée Department?
From an administrative standpoint, since the region to which the Vendée department belongs is Pays-de-la-Loire. Thus, the department is located both in the Grand West and in the Grand Southwest of the country. Moreover, the department is also part of the great Bocage, also called the Armorican Massif, but also has territory belonging to the Plain and the Marsh which are part of the Aquitaine basin.
Therefore, its neighboring departments are: the Loire-Atlantique department which borders it to the south, the Maine-et-Loire department to the east-north, the Deux-Sèvres department which borders it to the east, and finally the Charente-Maritime department which limits it in a southern direction. And finally, there is also the fact that department 85 has a coastline that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean from its western part.
What Is the Climate Like in the Vendée Department?
The fact is that the Vendée department is located in a part facing the Atlantic in France. That is why the department’s climate is oceanic. This is defined by the fact that the duration of sunshine is high, about 2100 hours per year for La Roche-sur-Yon, which can even increase approaching Les Sables d’Olonne. This earned the Vendée coast its nickname “coast of light.” This is due to the fact that its sunshine somewhat resembles the sunshine of the Charente-Maritime or Gironde departments.
When speaking of temperature, it is known that there is a high temperature in La Roche-sur-Yon which can reach 38.7°C during summer periods. Consequently, the lowest temperatures could reach -15°C during periods of severe frost. This is further accentuated by the fact that there are many winds reaching speeds of 140 km/h and also by the fact that there is a lot of precipitation, about 64.8 mm on average during the month of July. Moreover, in terms of sunshine, there are 143 days of sunshine in the year which are days of low sunshine and 57 days of strong sunshine throughout the year.
Winter Period
Mainly on the Vendée coasts, the winter period is somewhat dry, which means that here, unlike inland areas, precipitation is rare. This is also accentuated by the fact that there are some storms in the region. On the other hand, as one moves further into the Vendée territory, the climate becomes increasingly harsh. This is felt by the fact that frosts are a bit more frequent in La Roche-sur-Yon. But on the other hand, we are facing one of the least snowy areas in France. When heading a little towards the northeast of Vendée, one sees a somewhat more mountainous relief, which means that the winter period here is a bit colder than in the rest of the 85 territory.
Summer Period
Indeed, it is known that near coastal areas, summer periods are less harsh, somewhat cool, but just as dry. Temperatures therefore hover around 30°C here. When moving a little more than 5 km away from the coast, it is known that temperatures rise a bit, especially in the southern part of the department, that is to say the Plain and Marsh. One feels a bit of influence from the Aquitaine climate. Regarding sunshine in general, in the western part of Vendée, the duration even exceeds 2100 hours of sunshine.
What are the most important cities in the Vendée department?
We offer you a list of the 10 cities in the Vendée department that are tourist cities and are the best cities to visit in the department:
- Les Sables-d’Olonne
- Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie
- Saint-Jean-de-Monts
- La Tranche-sur-Mer
- La Roche-sur-Yon
- Brem-sur-Mer
- Noirmoutier-en-l’Île
- Vouvant
- Saint-Hilaire-de-Riez
- La Faute-sur-Mer
- Nieul-sur-l’Autise
What are the largest municipalities in the Vendée department?
To establish this ranking, we referred to the area of the municipalities in the Vendée department, so here are the 10 largest municipalities of 85:
- Talmont-Saint-Hilaire
- Les Herbiers
- La Roche-sur-Yon
- Chantonnay
- Aizenay
- Le Poiré-sur-Vie
- Challans
- Saint-Jean-de-Monts
- Bournezeau
- La Garnache
