What You Need to Know About the Yvelines Department
We would like to introduce you to a French department that is an integral part of the Île-de-France region; it is a very old department dating back to after 1968 and it is also one of the departments that once made up the territory of Seine-et-Oise, which was a former French department and was also the 8th largest department in terms of area.
According to the postal service and INSEE, it is the 78th department of the country and it is governed by a departmental councilor. Administratively, the capital of the department, that is to say its prefecture, is called Versailles and its sub-prefectures are called Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Rambouillet, and Mantes-la-Jolie.
In terms of demographics, the inhabitants of Yvelines currently number 1,448,207 and with the territory’s area being 2,284.4 km2, this gives a population density of 634 inhabitants per km2. Administratively, the Yvelines department is divided into 4 arrondissements, 12 legislative constituencies, 21 cantons, 10 intercommunalities, and 259 communes.
Which Departments Border the Yvelines Department?
Since the 78 department is an integral part of the Île-de-France region, it is therefore located right in the center of the Paris basin, that is to say to the west and in the southwestern section of the Capital. Based on the exact distance, the capital is about 50 km from this said department.
Thus, the neighboring departments of Yvelines are the Val-d’Oise department which borders it to the north, the Seine department which borders it to the east, the Essonne department which borders it to the southeast, the Eure-et-Loir department which borders it to the southwest. Finally, there is also the Eure department.
What Is the Climate Like in the Yvelines Department?
The climate of Yvelines is classified as a temperate climate. That is to say, the type of climate is strongly influenced by the ocean on the west side and on the east side, the climate is oceanic. This means that in reality, the climate is not necessarily very temperate nor very humid, but about 673 mm of rain are recorded throughout the year.
There will also be strong winds coming from the west that could influence the weather in Yvelines. This will undoubtedly generate a noticeable contamination coming from half of the territory. Moreover, there will be the fact that thunderstorms are increasingly frequent in summer and would be very violent.
Regarding temperature, the Yvelines department experiences a temperature range of about 10°C throughout the year. Additionally, the average maximum temperature is 14.2°C and the minimum temperature throughout the year is 6.3°C. The coldest month in the department is January and during this period the temperature is 3°C. Also, the hottest month is July and during this period there is an average temperature of 28°C.
On the other hand, very cold temperatures could be experienced during the year and could even reach -8°C. Conversely, extremely high temperatures can reach 40°C in the shade during the months around July.
As for precipitation, the annual average is 673 mm per year and there is really no seasonal difference because the rains are more or less constant, although in the rainy months there is about 63.1 mm of rain per month, and in the less rainy months, there is about 49.4 mm of rain per month. Moving towards the northern part of the department, the average rainfall is between 550 and 660 mm per year.
What are the most important cities in the Yvelines department?
To make this ranking of the most important cities in the 78 department, namely Yvelines, we referred to their area:
- Versailles
- Sartrouville
- Mantes-la-Jolie
- Saint-Germain-en-Laye
- Poissy
- Conflans-Sainte-Honorine
- Montigny-le-Bretonneux
- Les Mureaux
- Trappes
- Houilles
What are the largest communes in the Yvelines department?
To establish this ranking, we referred to the area of the communes in the Yvelines department, so here are the 10 largest communes in 78.
- Saint-Germain-en-Laye
- Sonchamp
- Rambouillet
- Saint-Léger-en-Yvelines
- Prunay-en-Yvelines
- Versailles
- Ablis
- Gazeran
- La Boissière-École
- Poigny-la-Forêt
