Ille-et-Vilaine (; ; ; 'Ille and Vilaine') is a department of France, located in the Brittany region in the northwest of the country. It is named after its two main rivers, the Ille and the Vilaine. Its prefecture is Rennes, with subprefectures in Fougères, Redon and Saint-Malo. It had a population of 1,120,666 in 2023.

History Ille-et-Vilaine is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the province of Brittany.

Geography Ille-et-Vilaine is a part of the current region of Brittany and it is bordered by the departments of Manche to the north-east, Mayenne to the east, Maine-et-Loire to the south-east, Loire-Atlantique to the south, Morbihan to the south-west, and Côtes-d'Armor to the west and north-west – France's shortest administrative department boundary at 20 yards (19 metres), although this was not the case with the department boundary. Also the English Channel (la Manche in French) borders the department to the north. It is in Upper Brittany.

The department is named after its two main rivers, the Ille and the Vilaine, whose confluence is in Rennes, the capital of the department and of the region. Other important rivers include: the Rance, that borders the department in the north-west and flows to the north, creating a deep fjord before reaching the English Channel on the western part of the coast (named Côte d'Émeraude) between the cities of Dinard and Saint-Malo); the Rance river is connected from the west of the department to the Ille river in the north-west suburbs of Rennes with a navigable channel (then the Ille river is channelized to join the Vilaine up to the center of the city of Rennes); and the Couesnon that borders the eastern part of the department and which reaches the eastern part of the coast of the English Channel, in the flat Bay of the Mont Saint-Michel.

The department is moderately elevated above the level of the sea, with many hills; however the central part has a dense network of many tributaries to the Ille or the Vilaine from all around the large basin of Rennes. The elevated hills bordering this basin are covered by several old forests now exploited by men for the production of wood. The basin itself is a rich agriculture area, as well as the north-west of the department near the Rance.

In the extreme south of the department the Vilaine goes through a slower decrease in elevation in a small corridor in the area of the city of Redon; in this area, the Vilaine is known for its frequent floods during its recent history, often because of too-intensive draining of agricultural areas around Rennes (some floods also affected some parts of Rennes up to the 1980s due to incorrect management of old equipment of the canal of Ille-et-Rance). To avoid these hazards within inhabited cities, some natural fields bordering the Vilaine in the south of the department are now left floodable, and works for regulating the level have been done including, small artificial lakes with derivation channels, replanting trees in the basin, better management of forests, and regulating the artificial drains made for agriculture.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Rennes, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are 6 communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:Populations de référence 2023: 35 Ille-et-Vilaine, INSEE

Commune Population (2023) Rennes 230,890 Saint-Malo 47,439 Fougères 20,307 Bruz 19,683 Vitré 19,365 Cesson-Sévigné 18,761

Demographics The population has grown steadily since the 1960s, reaching 1.1 million in 2023.

Population development since 1801:

Language Gallo is a historic minority language spoken in eastern Brittany. Gallo and Breton are both studied at the University of Rennes.

Breton Historically, the Breton language was little spoken in the eastern part of Brittany, and this was one of the first regions where the language disappeared such that Breton was not spoken for many centuries.

Today, Breton is again spoken due to schools teaching Breton, and due to a small immigration from Western Brittany to Eastern Brittany, where there are more cities with growing industries and external investment and therefore more work. A recent study L'état de la langue bretonne dans l'enseignement en Ille-et-Vilaine (State of the Breton language in education in Ille-et-Vilaine) from Ofis ar Brezhoneg shows that Breton speakers in this region represent 3.3% of the total number of Breton speakers. The Breton speakers aged 18–30 in this region represent 12.7% of the total number of Breton speakers of that age group. This is because there are relatively few elder speakers but many people are learning the language. The study says that about 1,800 people are learning it (this includes one Diwan school in Rennes, some bilingual public and catholic schools, and evening courses).

Politics Local politics The city of Rennes and its suburbs are the original base of the rapid Socialist growth in the department. The city has been governed by Socialist mayors since 1977, notably by Edmond Hervé between 1977 and 2008. Since then, the growth of middle-class suburbs have helped the Socialists, who have been rapidly gaining strength in those formerly right-leaning areas.

The right remains strong in a strongly Catholic (clerical) area from outside Redon to Vitré or Fougères. In addition, the right is strong in the wealthy coastal area of Saint-Malo and Dinard.

Departmental council The President of the Departmental Council of Ille-et-Vilaine has been the Socialist Jean-Luc Chenut since 2015, re-elected in 2021.

Party Seats•Socialist Party 12•Miscellaneous left 7•The Ecologists 7•Radical Party 2•Independent 2•French Communist Party 1•Breton Democratic Union 1Miscellaneous right 14The Republicans 4Union of Democrats and Independents 1MoDem 1Agir 1Renaissance 1

Presidential elections results (2nd round) since 1995 ElectionWinning candidateParty%2nd place candidateParty% 2022 Emmanuel Macron LREM 70.94 Marine Le Pen FN 29.06 2017 Emmanuel Macron LREM 77.67 Marine Le Pen FN 22.33 2012 François Hollande PS 55.71 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 44.29 2007 Ségolène Royal PS 52.39 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 47.61 2002 Jacques Chirac RPR 89.82 Jean-Marie Le Pen FN 10.18 1995 Jacques Chirac RPR 51.19 Lionel Jospin PS 48.81

Representation in Paris In the National Assembly

ConstituencyMemberParty Ille-et-Vilaine's 1st Marie Mesmeur LFI Ille-et-Vilaine's 2nd Tristan Lahais G·s Ille-et-Vilaine's 3rd Claudia Rouaux PS Ille-et-Vilaine's 4th Mathilde Hignet LFI Ille-et-Vilaine's 5th Christine Cloarec RE Ille-et-Vilaine's 6th Thierry Benoit HOR Ille-et-Vilaine's 7th Jean-Luc Bourgeaux LR Ille-et-Vilaine's 8th Mickaël Bouloux PS

In the Senate

SenatorPartySince Dominique de Legge LR 2008 Anne-Sophie Patru UDI 2024 Sylvie Robert PS 2014 Daniel Salmon LE 2020

Tourism

See also Cantons of the Ille-et-Vilaine department Communes of the Ille-et-Vilaine department Arrondissements of the Ille-et-Vilaine department Saint-Sauveur Abbey Church of Redon

References

External links

Prefecture website Departmental Council website Cultural Heritage