Bouches-du-Rhône (Department, France)

Last modified: 2015-04-07 by ivan sache
Keywords: bouches-du-rhone |
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• Administrative data
• Flag of the General Council
• Municipal flags
  • Marseilles
  • Aix-en-Provence
  • Arles
  • Les Baux-de-Provence
  • Berre-l'Étang
  • Cassis
  • La Ciotat
  • Gémenos
  • Lançon-de-Provence
  • Le Puy-Sainte-Réparade
  • Saint-Mitre-les-Remparts
  • Saint-Victoret
  • Salon-de-Provence
  • Vitrolles
• Intermunicipal Authorities' flags
  • Marseille Provence Métropole
• Sports flags
  • Yacht clubs
  • AC Arles-Avignon (football club)
• Nacioun Gardians (Cultural association, Camargue)

See also:

• France
• France: Metropolitan departments
  • Clickable map of France (departments)

Administrative data

Code: 13
Region: Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Traditional provinces: Provence
Bordering departments: Gard, Var, Vaucluse

Area: 5,087 km²
Population (2006): 1,937,406 inhabitants

Préfecture: Marseilles
Sous-préfectures: Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Istres
Subdivisions: 4 arrondissements, 57 cantons, 119 communes.

The department is named after the mouth (bouches) of river Rhône (812 km, 522 of them in France), tributary of the Mediterranean Sea.

Flag of the General Council

The logo of the General Council of Bouches-du-Rhône is made of a yellow disk charged with a blue "13", the official number of the department, and placed on a blue square, in front of a ribbon horizontally divided light blue-white-red.
The specific style of the "13" is probably to give the impression of a "B", the first letter of the name.

Ivan Sache, Dominique Cureau & Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 25 September 2009

Marseille Provence Métropole

Flag of MPM - Photo by Ivan Sache, 25 April 2009

The Urban Community Marseille Provence Métropole (MPM), founded by Prefectoral Decree of 7 July 2000 (succeeding a Municipalities' Authority created on 16 December 1992), groups the 18 municipalities of Marseilles, Allauch, Carnoux-en- Provence, Carry-le-Rouet, Cassis, Ceyreste, Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, La Ciotat, Ensuès-la-Redonne, Gémenos, Gignac-la-Nerthe, Marignane, Le Rove, Plan de Cuques, Roquefort-la-Bedoule, Saint-Victoret, Sausset-les-Pins, Septème-les-Vallons (all together, 67,500 ha and more than 1 million inhabitants - 826,700 of them in the town of Marseilles proper).
The Community Council includes 157 delegates, elected by the Municipal Councils in proportion to the population of each municipality. Accordingly, Marseilles has 82 delegates (that is, the absolute majority in the Council), Marignane, 12 delegates, La Ciotat, 11 delegates, Allauch and Cassis, 5 delegates, Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, Plan-de-Cuques and Septèmes-les-Vallons, 4 delegates, and the other municipalities, 3 delegates each.

Among other duties, MPM manages public transportation (including school buses) on its territory, through proper lines (Transmétropole) and "delegation of public service" to local companies, such as RTM (Régie des Transports marseillais, operating buses, trams and the subway in Marseilles) and Frioul If Express, operating boats to the islands of the Bay of Marseilles. MPM also manages the 24 marina located on its territory.

The flag of MPM, white with the logo of the authority, is hoisted in several places, including the Vieux-Port of Marseilles and the other marinas managed by MPM, and on the Frioul If Express boats.
The logo of MPM, adopted on 24 January 2002, shows a blue "flag" (that does not exist in the real world) with MPM in white letters outlined in black, partially hiding an orange rectangle with a white "disk" in the middle (half concealed by the blue "flag"). These elements are flanked on right by the white writing (blue on the flag): "MARSEILLE / PROVENCE / METROPOLE / COMMUNAUTE URBAINE". "COMMUNAUTE URBAINE" is written in smaller letters to cover the same width as the three other words.

Ivan Sache, 19 September 2009