SAVOIE

dpartement, Rhne-Alpes region, southeastern France, in the northern Alps on the Italian frontier. It has an area of 2,330 sq mi (6,036 sq km) and was formerly the southern part of the duchy of Savoy that was reunited with France in 1860. The Rhne River and its tributary, the Guiers, form a natural boundary in the west to the western section of the dpartement occupied by the wooded Les Bauges and La Grande Chartreuse ranges in the Pre-Alps. They rise on either side of the valley of Lac (lake) du Bourget and Chambry, the capital. The eastern two-thirds of Savoie is covered with forested mountains culminating in some of the highest peaks in Europe, capped by perpetual snow. The Isre River, making wide zigzags westward from its source in the high Alps, follows the Tarentaise Valley through Bourg-Saint-Maurice and Albertville, while its tributary, the Arc, flows westward in a sweeping concave bend through the trough of the Maurienne Valley. The area almost encompassed by the two rivers contains the Massif (mountains) de la Vanoise, which has 34 sq mi (88 sq km) of glaciers, and the Mont (range) Pourri, with numerous mountains of over 12,000 ft (3,700 m). Pointe de la Grande Casse, the highest peak in the Vanoise National Park, rises to 12,638 ft (3,852 m). Chambry commands an important international highway running southeast along the Arc through Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and Modane over the Col (pass) du Mont Cenis, 6,834 ft (2,083 m), to Turin, Italy. A railway follows the same route to Modane and passes through the Frjus tunnel to Italy. Alpine peaks follow the whole length of the border with Italy, reaching 12,293 ft (3,747 m) at the Grande Sassire. The chain dips slightly in the northeast, in which the motor road from Chambry to Italy through Albertville and Bourg-Saint-Maurice crosses the Little Saint Bernard Pass (Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard) at 7,178 ft (2,188 m). Farther north, the Aiguille (peak) des Glaciers, 12,579 ft (3,834 m), in the Mont Blanc Massif, is the dividing point between the Savoie, Haute-Savoie, and Italy. A spectacular motor road follows the high Alps parallel to the frontier from Mont Cenis to Bourg-Saint-Maurice. The climate is extreme in the high valleys, becoming milder in the Lower Isre Valley and in the Chambry region. Cattle are raised in the high valleys; cereals, forage crops, fruit trees, and vines grow in lower areas. Thermal springs are exploited in such health resorts as Aix-les-Bains. Hydroelectric power has been widely developed, feeding aluminum, specialized steel, paper, cement, and electro-mechanical works. Tourism and winter sports at Courchevel, Pralognan-la-Vanoise, Val d'Isre, and many other new resorts make a considerable contribution to the economy. The dpartement has three arrondissements, Chambry, Albertville, and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, and is in the educational division of Grenoble. Pop. (1982) 323,675.