Haute-Saône

• Name — Haute-Saône • Type — Department of France • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — France • Subdivision Type1 — Region • Subdivision Name1 — Bourgogne-Franche-Comté • Seat Type — Prefecture • Seat — Vesoul • Parts Type — Subprefecture • Parts Style — para • P1 — Lure • Leader Party — DVG • Leader Title — President of the Departmental Council • Leader Name — Yves Krattinger • Unit Pref — Metric • Area Total Km2 — 5360 • Population Rank — 85th • Population Density Km2 — auto • Custom Label Sec1 — Department number • Custom Data Sec1 — 70 • Custom Label Sec2 — Arrondissements • Custom Data Sec2 — 2 • Custom Label1 Sec2 — Cantons • Custom Data1 Sec2 — 17 • Custom Label2 Sec2 — Communes • Custom Data2 Sec2 — 536 • Time Zone1 — CET • Utc Offset1 — +1 • Time Zone1 Dst — CEST • Utc Offset1 Dst — +2 • Footnotes — area French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km 2

The department was created in the early years of the French Revolution through the application of a law dated 22 December 1789, from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The frontiers of the new department corresponded approximately to those of the old Bailiwick of Amont. The department was also marked by the Franco-Prussian War with the battles of Héricourt, and Villersexel but also the proximity of the Siege of Belfort. The department welcomed Alsatians fleeing the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine. • Illustration — Battle of the Lisaine • Illustration — Battle of Villersexel • Illustration — View of the destruction of Bourg de Villersexel • Illustration — German artillery in front of the ruins of castle of Villersexel The department has an important mining and industrial past (coal, salt, iron, lead-silver-copper mines, bituminous shale, stationery, spinning, weaving, forges, foundries, tileries, mechanical factories). • Illustration — Arthur de Buyer Coal Mine (1.010 m) the deepest coal mine in France between 1900 and 1910 • Illustration — Gouhenans Saltworks is one of the most important saltworks in France in the 19th century • Illustration — Interior view of the Varigney factory (Dampierre-lès-Conflans), the iron industry was developed until the middle of the 20th century • Illustration — Creveney bituminous shale distillation plant, a rare operation in France between the two world wars

• Illustration — Haute-Saône Map Haute-Saône is part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region, and is divided into 2 arrondissements and 17 cantons. The cantons are: • Dampierre-sur-Salon • Gray • Héricourt-1 • Héricourt-2 • Jussey • Lure-1 • Lure-2 • Luxeuil-les-Bains • Marnay • Mélisey • Port-sur-Saône • Rioz • Saint-Loup-sur-Semouse • Scey-sur-Saône-et-Saint-Albin • Vesoul-1 • Vesoul-2 • Villersexel

Neighbouring departments are Côte-d'Or to the west, Haute-Marne to the north-west, Vosges to the north, Territoire de Belfort to the east, Doubs to the south and east and Jura to south. The commune of Champlitte is the largest commune in this department, with an area of 128 km2. The department can be presented as a transitional territory positioned between several of the more depressed departments of eastern France and the so-called Blue Banana zone characterised, in recent decades by relatively powerful economic growth. • Illustration — The country of Lure and the Vosges in the east of the department • Illustration — Landscape in the southeast • Illustration — Ray-sur-Saône in the west of the department

The department is overwhelmingly rural, despite the area having been at the forefront of industrialisation in the eighteenth century. The industrial tradition remains, but industrial businesses tend to be on a small scale. In 2006 employment by economic sector was reported as follows: • * Agriculture 4,919 employees • * Construction 4,504 employees • * Industrial sector 18,747 employees • * Service sector 44,865 employees

In common with many rural departments in France, Haute-Saône has experienced a savage reduction in population, from nearly 350,000 in the middle of the nineteenth century to barely 200,000 on the eve of the Second World War, as people migrated to newly industrialising population centres, often outside Metropolitan France. During the second half of the twentieth century the mass mobility conferred by the surge in automobile ownership permitted some recovery of the population figure to approximately 234,000 in 2004.

The rural nature of the department is highlighted by the absence of large towns and cities. Even the department's capital, Vesoul, still has a population below 20,000. As of 2023, there are 5 communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants: • Commune — Population (2023) • Vesoul — 15,078 • Héricourt — 10,621 • Lure — 7,877 • Luxeuil-les-Bains — 6,663 • Gray — 5,365

The president of the Departmental Council is Yves Krattinger, first elected in 2001.

• Constituency — Member — Party • Haute-Saône's 1st constituency — Antoine Villedieu — National Rally • Haute-Saône's 2nd constituency — Emeric Salmon — National Rally

• Illustration — Notre-Dame du Haut by Le Corbusier (UNESCO) • Illustration — Château d'Oricourt • Illustration — Pesmes • Illustration — La Planche des Belles Filles (Tour de France) • Illustration — Landscape of Plateau des Mille Étangs