BOUCHES-DU-RHNE

dpartement, Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur rgion, southeastern France, at the bouches (mouths) of the Rhne River. It was formed in 1790 from the southwestern part of Provence. The dpartement is bounded on the north by the Durance River, and its southern boundary fronts the Mediterranean coast for 120 miles (193 km), from the Rhne delta to the rocky shore beyond La Ciotat. The marshy delta triangle below Arles, called the Camargue (q.v.), is devoted to rice growing and horse herding. East of the Rhne's main channel is the flat, irrigated, boulder-strewn tract of the Crau, stretching as far north as the Alpilles, a westward prong of the Alps. The Crau's vegetable and fodder plantings are sheltered from the mistral, a strong seasonal wind that blows from the north, by belts of cypress. Elsewhere, the traditional Mediterranean trilogy prevails: wheat, wine, and olives. The eastern part of the dpartement consists of lowland basins set amid scarped limestone hills. They include the tang de Berre, a shallow coastal lagoon, connected to the sea by a narrow channel and to Marseille by the Rove Tunnel through Mount Nerthe, formerly used for barges. Economic enterprises include rice milling at Arles, shipbuilding at La Ciotat, and ceramic manufacture at Aubagne. Bauxite, named for the feudal Alpilles town of Les Baux-de-Provence, was first discovered (1821) and exploited in the Bouches-du-Rhne. The great port city of Marseille dominates the dpartement's commercial and industrial life. The oil port of Lavra was established after World War II on the tang de Berre to service the Marseille shore refineries, and petrochemical industries followed. Brine evaporation has long been a coastal activity. The construction of the industrial complex at Fos-sur-Mer (steel and petrochemicals) introduced heavy industry to France's Mediterranean littoral. The ancient Roman cities of Aix-en-Provence and Arles are tourist centres. The paintings of Paul Czanne and Vincent van Gogh have made known the sun-baked, terraced landscape of the region, which is traversed by the Roman Via Aurelia, a route to the Riviera and Italy, now followed by modern highways. Marseille, capital of the dpartement and of the Provence-Alpes-Cte d'Azur economic planning rgion, is also the seat of an arrondissement, as are Aix-en-Provence, Arles, and Istres. Area 1,964 square miles (5,087 square km). Pop. (1990) 1,759,512; (1994 est.) 1,793,876.