RHONE, a department of south-eastern France, formed in 1793 from the eastern portion of the department of RhOne-et Loire, and comprising the old districts of Beaujolais, Lyonnais, Franc-Lyonnais, Forez and a small portion of Dauphine. Pop. (1931), 1,046,028. Area, 1,104 sq.m. Rhone is bounded north by the department of Saone-et-Loire, east by Ain and Isere and south and west by Loire. The SaOne and the Rhone form its natural boundary to the east. The department belongs almost entirely to the basin of the Rhone, to which it sends its waters by the SaOne and its tributary the Azergues, and by the Gier. The mountains which cover the surface of the department con stitute the watershed between the Rhone and the Loire, and from north to south form four successive groups—the Beaujolais mts., the highest peak of which is 3,32o ft.; the Tarare group; the Lyonnais mts. (nearly 3,00o ft.); and Mt. Pilat, the highest peak of which belongs to the department of Loire.
Good agricultural land is found in the valleys of the SaOne and RhOne, but for the most part the soil is stony and only moderately fertile. Wheat, oats, rye and potatoes are widely grown, with colza on the banks of the Saone, but they are less important than the vine, the hills of the Beaujolais on the right bank of the SaOne producing excellent wines. Mines of copper
pyrites and coal and quarries of marble (at Bully) are worked. The production of silk fabrics, the chief branch of manufacture of artificial silk goods, of chemicals and machinery, together with most of the other industries of the department, are concentrated in Lyons (q.v.) and its vicinity. Tarare is a centre for the manu facture of velvet, muslin and embroidery. Oullins has large rail way workshops belonging to the P.L.M railway, and there are important glass works at Lyons And at Givors. Cotton-spinning and weaving are carried on in several localities.
The department is served by the P.L.M. railway. The Rhone and the Saone and in the extreme south the canal of Givors are its navigable waterways. Lyons, the capital, is the seat of an archbishop and of a court of appeal and centre of an educational division (academie). The department is in the 14th military region. There are two arrondissements (Lyons and Villefranche) subdivided into 33 cantons and 269 communes. The principal places besides Lyons are Givors, Tarare and Villefranche (qq.v.).