DROME, a department of south-east France, formed of parts of Dauphine and Provence, and bounded on the west by the Rhone, which separates it from Ardeche, north and north-east by Isere, east by Hautes-Alpes, south-east by Basses-Alpes and south by Vaucluse; area 2,533 sq.m. ; pop. (1931) 267,080. Drome is watered by tributaries of the Rhone, including the Isere in the north, the Drome in the centre and the Aygues in the south, flowing from spurs of the Alps westwards to the alluvial plains on the left bank of the Rhone. North of the Drome lie the Vercors and the Royans, a region of forest-clad north to south ridges. South of that river the mountain system is intersected everywhere by torrents. In the east of the department the mountains of the Devoluy reach 7,890 ft. North of the Isere a district of low hills stretches to the limits of the department in the Valloire, its most productive portion. The climate, except in the valleys bordering the Rhone, is cold, and winds blow incessantly. Snow lies on the mountain-tops during the greater part of the year.
The agriculture of the department is moderately prosperous. The main crops are wheat, grown chiefly on the banks of the Isere and Rhone, oats and potatoes. Large flocks of sheep feed on the pastures in the south ; cattle-raising is carried on principally in the north-east. Good wines, among which the famous Hermitage growth ranks first, are grown on the hills and plains near the Rhone and Drome. Fruit culture is much practised. Olives and figs are grown in the south ; the cultivation of mulberries and walnuts is more widely spread. The rearing of silkworms in Drome is very important. The Montelimar district is noted for its truffles. Mineral products include lignite, blende, galena, calamine, freestone, lime, cement, potter's clay and kaolin. Brick and tile works, potteries and porcelain manufactories exist in several lo calities. Industries comprise flour-milling, distilling, wood-sawing, turnery and dyeing. The chief textile industry is the preparation and weaving of silk, which is carried on in a number of towns. Woollen and cotton goods are also manufactured. Leather work ing and boot-making, carried on on a large scale at Romans, are important, also the manufacture of machinery, hats, confection ery and paper. Drome exports fruit, nuts, oil, cheese, wine, wool, live stock and its manufactured articles; the chief import is coal. It is served by the Paris-Lyon railway, and the Rhone and Isere furnish over ioo m. of navigable waterway. The canal de la Bourne, the only one in the department, is used for purposes of irrigation only. Drome is divided into the arrondissements of Valence, Die, Montelimar and Nyons, comprising 29 cantons and 378 communes. The capital is Valence, the seat of a bishopric of the province of Avignon. The department forms part of the academie (educational division) of Grenoble, where its court of appeal is also located, and of the region of the XIV. army corps (Lyons).
Besides Valence, the chief towns of the department are Die, Montelimar, Crest and Romans. Nyons is a small industrial town with a mediaeval bridge and remains of ramparts. Suze-la-Rousse is dominated by a fine château with fortifications of the r 2th and i4th centuries; in the interior the buildings are in the Renais sance style. At St. Donat there are remains of the palace of the kings of cisjuran Burgundy; though but little of the building is of an earlier date than the r 1 th century, it is the oldest example of civil architecture in France. The churches of Leoncel, St. Res titut and La Garde-Adhemar, all of Romanesque architecture, are also of antiquarian interest. St. Paul-Trois-Châteaux, an old Roman town, once the seat of a bishopric, has a Romanesque cathedral. At Grignan there are remains of the Renaissance château where Madame de Sevigne died. At Tain there is a sacrificial altar of A.D. 184.