Vaucluse
Vaucluse
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From top down, left to right: prefecture building and Palais des Papes in Avignon, Gordes (considered one of the most beautiful villages of France), Sénanque Abbey, Sorgue River and Nesque River | |
Location of Vaucluse in France | |
| Coordinates: 44°00′N 05°10′E / 44.000°N 5.167°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur |
| Prefecture | Avignon |
| Subprefectures | Apt Carpentras |
| Government | |
| • President of the Departmental Council | Dominique Santoni (LR) |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,520 km2 (1,360 sq mi) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 568,702 |
| • Rank | 47th |
| • Density | 160/km2 (420/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Department number | 84 |
| Arrondissements | 3 |
| Cantons | 17 |
| Communes | 151 |
| ^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2 (0.39 sq mi) | |
Vaucluse (French: [voklyz]; Provençal: Vauclusa (Classical norm) or Vau-Cluso (Mistralian norm)) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019. The department's prefecture is Avignon.
It is named after a spring, the Fontaine de Vaucluse, one of the largest karst springs in the world. The name Vaucluse itself derives from the Latin Vallis Clausa ("closed valley") as the valley ends in a cliff face from which the spring emanates.