Oise

Oise ( ; ; ) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called Oisiens () or Isariens (), after the Latin name for the river, Isara. Its prefecture is Beauvais. Oise had a population of 829,899 in 2023.

History Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the provinces of Île-de-France and Picardy.

After the coalition victory at Waterloo, the department was occupied by British troops between June 1815 and November 1818. In the late 19th century, two of the best known monuments in Oise, the Château de Pierrefonds and the Château de Chantilly, were rebuilt by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Honoré Daumet at the behest of Napoleon III and Prince Henri, Duke of Aumale, respectively. Upon the Duke of Aumale's death in 1897, the collections of the Château de Chantilly were bequeathed to the Institut de France, which opened the Musée Condé in the castle. In his will, the Duke stated: "I want all to have access who are drawn to collections, archives, a library, none of which I believe are mediocre." Château de Chantilly, destination.parc-oise-paysdefrance.fr. "Je veux qu'y aient accès tous ceux qu'attirent des collections, des archives, une bibliothèque dont je ne crois pas qu'elles soient médiocres".

Both the Armistice of 11 November 1918 and the Armistice of 22 June 1940 were signed in Oise.

Geography Oise has been part of the region of Hauts-de-France since 1 January 2016. Until 31 December 2015 it was part of the now-former region of Picardy. Its southern border is situated 35 km north of Paris. It is surrounded by the departments of Somme, Aisne, Seine-et-Marne, Val-d'Oise, Eure and Seine-Maritime. It borders Île-de-France to the south with Seine-et-Marne and Val-d'Oise; and Normandy to the west with Eure and Seine-Maritime.

Principal towns The most populous commune is Beauvais, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are 10 communes with more than 12,000 inhabitants:Populations de référence 2023: 60 Oise, INSEE.

Commune Population (2023) Beauvais 55,550 Compiègne 40,761 Creil 36,301 Nogent-sur-Oise 21,907 Senlis 15,157 Crépy-en-Valois 14,351 Montataire 14,257 Méru 13,897 Noyon 12,971 Pont-Sainte-Maxence 12,361

Demographics

Politics The president of the Departmental Council of Oise is Nadège Lefebvre of The Republicans (LR), first elected in 2017.

Presidential elections (2nd round) results since 1995 ElectionWinning candidateParty%2nd place candidateParty%2022Marine Le PenRN52.73Emmanuel MacronLREM47.27 2017 Emmanuel Macron LREM 53.28 Marine Le Pen FN 46.72 2012 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 52.66 François Hollande PS 47.34 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 58.28 Ségolène Royal PS 41.72 2002 Jacques Chirac RPR 74.93 Jean-Marie Le Pen FN 25.07

Representation in Paris National Assembly ConstituencyMemberPartyOise's 1stClaire Marais-BeuilRN Oise's 2nd Philippe Ballard RN Oise's 3rd Alexandre Sabatou RN Oise's 4th Véronique Ludmann HOR Oise's 5th Frédéric-Pierre Vos RN Oise's 6th Michel Guiniot RN Oise's 7th David Magnier RN

Senate SenatorPartySince Édouard Courtial LR 2017 Alexandre Ouizille PS 2023 Olivier Paccaud DVD 2017 Sylvie Valente-Le Hir DVD 2023

Tourism The major tourist attraction of the department is the Parc Astérix theme park, which opened in 1989. Other sites of interest are Beauvais Cathedral, the Château de Pierrefonds, restored by Viollet-le-Duc, and the art collection of the Château de Chantilly within the Musée Condé, which is one of the largest nationally outside Paris.

Twinned areas

Oise is twinned with Bedfordshire in England. It is also twinned with the Indonesian regency of Karanganyar and the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Zhejiang.

One of the villages along the river Oise is Auvers-sur-Oise, famous for having been visited by several impressionist artists. This is where Vincent van Gogh spent his last 70 days and is his and his brother Theo's resting place.

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