Jura (department)

For other places with the same name, see Jura (disambiguation).

Not to be confused with the Swiss Republic and Canton of Jura.

Jura
Department of France
From top down, left to right: Lac de Vouglans, Baume-les-Messieurs, Poligny, Lac de Bonlieu, Lac de l'Abbaye, Les Planches-près-Arbois, Chancia
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Jura in France
Coordinates: 46°40′31″N 5°33′16″E
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Prefecture	Lons-le-Saunier
Subprefectures	Dole Saint-Claude
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Gérôme Fassenet (LR)
Area 1
• Total	4,999 km2 (1,930 sq mi)
Highest elevation	1,200 m (3,900 ft)
Lowest elevation	200 m (700 ft)
Population  (2021)
• Total	258,555
• Rank	83rd
• Density	52/km2 (130/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	39
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	17
Communes	494
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Jura (/ˈ(d)ʒʊərə/ JOOR-ə, ZHOOR-ə, French: [ʒyʁa] ) is a department in the eastern French region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The department takes its name from the Jura Mountains. Its prefecture is Lons-le-Saunier; subprefectures are Dole and Saint-Claude. In 2019, Jura had a population of 259,199. Its INSEE code is 39. It has a short portion of the border of Switzerland.

History

Historically, Jura belonged to the Free County of Burgundy, known in French as the Franche-Comté. Dole was the capital until the region was conquered by Louis XIV and the capital was moved to Besançon. Dole is now a sous-préfecture, or sub-prefecture, of Jura.

As early as the 13th century, inhabitants of the southern two-thirds of Jura spoke a dialect of Arpitan language. It continued to be spoken in rural areas into the 20th century.

Jura is one of the original 83 départements of France, it being created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was established from part of the former province of Franche-Comté. The prefecture is Lons-le-Saunier.

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 288,151 —     1806 300,050 +0.81% 1821 301,768 +0.04% 1831 312,504 +0.35% 1841 316,884 +0.14% 1851 313,299 −0.11% 1861 298,053 −0.50% 1872 287,634 −0.32% 1881 285,263 −0.09% 1891 273,028 −0.44% 1901 261,288 −0.44% 1911 252,713 −0.33% 1921 229,062 −0.98%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 229,109 +0.00% 1936 220,797 −0.74% 1946 216,386 −0.20% 1954 220,202 +0.22% 1962 225,682 +0.31% 1968 233,547 +0.57% 1975 238,856 +0.32% 1982 242,925 +0.24% 1990 248,759 +0.30% 1999 250,857 +0.09% 2006 257,399 +0.37% 2011 261,294 +0.30% 2016 260,517 −0.06%
Sources:

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Dole; the prefecture Lons-le-Saunier is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are five communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants:

Commune	Population (2019)
Dole	23,711
Lons-le-Saunier	17,189
Saint-Claude	8,985
Champagnole	8,014
Hauts de Bienne	5,275

Geography

Jura is one of eight départements of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region and is surrounded by the French départements of Doubs, Haute-Saône, Côte-d'Or, Saône-et-Loire, and Ain, as well as the Swiss canton of Vaud on the east.

The Jura mountains are wooded and rolling, not craggy and rocky like the Alps.

Many lakes can be found throughout the Jura, the largest natural lake being Lac de Chalain, measuring 3 km long and 1 km wide. Lac de Vouglans was formed after the building of a hydro-electric dam. It is one of the largest man-made lakes in France.

• Lac de l'Abbaye
• Lac d'Antre
• Lac de Bonlieu
• Lac de Chalain
• Lac de Chambly
• Lacs de Clairvaux
• Lac de Coiselet
• Lac de Conflans
• Lac d'Etival
• Lac du Fioget
• Lac d'Ilay
• Lac de Lamoura
• Lacs du Maclu
• Lac de Narlay
• Lac d'Onoz
• Lac des Rousses
• Lac du Val
• Lac du Vernois
• Lac de Viremont
• Lac de Vouglans

Politics

Departmental politics

The President of the Departmental Council has been Clément Pernot (miscellaneous right) since 2015.

Party		Seats
•	Union for a Popular Movement	15
	Socialist Party	8
	Miscellaneous left	6
	French Communist Party	3
•	Miscellaneous right	2

Members of the National Assembly

In the 2024 legislative election, Jura elected the following representatives to the National Assembly:

Constituency		Member	Party
	Jura's 1st constituency	Danielle Brulebois	La République En Marche!
	Jura's 2nd constituency	Marie-Christine Dalloz	The Republicans
	Jura's 3rd constituency	Justine Gruet	The Republicans

Climate

The climate of the Jura varies greatly by elevation. The lower valleys are temperate and pleasant, but the high mountain valleys have bitterly cold winters.

Economy

Jura is a wine-growing region. The Jura wines are very distinctive and unusual wines, such as vin jaune, which is made by a similar process to sherry, developing under a flor of yeast. This is made from the local Savagnin grape variety. Other grape varieties include Poulsard, Trousseau, and Chardonnay.

The département contains no industrial cities: the few towns function as administrative and commercial centres serving Jura's rural economy. In the absence of large-scale industrial enterprises, small artisanal businesses play an important role. The Jura CFA (Centre for apprenticeship and training) recently recorded 752 current apprenticeships in trades such as building, baking, butchery, hair dressing, car repairing, sales and other non-factory based occupations.

Tourism

The Jura mountains provide ample opportunities for hiking, skiing, as well as other winter sports.

• 
  Dole
• 
  Baume Abbey
• 
  Poligny
• 
  Château-Chalon
• 
  Lac de Vouglans
• 
  Baume-les-Messieurs

See also

• Cantons of the Jura department
• Communes of the Jura department
• Arrondissements of the Jura department

External links

• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) Departmental Council website
• (in French) Tourism website
• (in English) Tourism information