Oise

For other uses, see Oise (disambiguation).

Oise Oése (Picard)
Department of France
Prefecture building in Beauvais
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Oise in France
Coordinates: 49°23′N 02°25′E
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Prefecture	Beauvais
Subprefectures	Clermont Compiègne Senlis
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Nadège Lefebvre (LR)
Area 1
• Total	5,860 km2 (2,260 sq mi)
Population  (2023)
• Total	829,899
• Rank	26th
• Density	142/km2 (367/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-60
Department number	60
Arrondissements	4
Cantons	21
Communes	680
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Oise (/wɑːz/ WAHZ; French: [waz] ^ⓘ; Picard: Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called Oisiens (French: [wazjɛ̃]) or Isariens ([izaʁjɛ̃]), after the Latin name for the river, Isara. Its prefecture is Beauvais. Oise had a population of 829,899 in 2023.

History

Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the provinces of Île-de-France and Picardy.

After the coalition victory at Waterloo, the department was occupied by British troops between June 1815 and November 1818. In the late 19th century, two of the best known monuments in Oise, the Château de Pierrefonds and the Château de Chantilly, were rebuilt by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc and Honoré Daumet at the behest of Napoleon III and Prince Henri, Duke of Aumale, respectively. Upon the Duke of Aumale's death in 1897, the collections of the Château de Chantilly were bequeathed to the Institut de France, which opened the Musée Condé in the castle. In his will, the Duke stated: "I want all to have access who are drawn to collections, archives, a library, none of which I believe are mediocre."

Both the Armistice of 11 November 1918 and the Armistice of 22 June 1940 were signed in Oise.

Geography

Oise has been part of the region of Hauts-de-France since 1 January 2016. Until 31 December 2015 it was part of the now-former region of Picardy. Its southern border is situated 35 km north of Paris. It is surrounded by the departments of Somme, Aisne, Seine-et-Marne, Val-d'Oise, Eure and Seine-Maritime. It borders Île-de-France to the south with Seine-et-Marne and Val-d'Oise; and Normandy to the west with Eure and Seine-Maritime.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Beauvais, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are 10 communes with more than 12,000 inhabitants:

Commune	Population (2023)
Beauvais	55,550
Compiègne	40,761
Creil	36,301
Nogent-sur-Oise	21,907
Senlis	15,157
Crépy-en-Valois	14,351
Montataire	14,257
Méru	13,897
Noyon	12,971
Pont-Sainte-Maxence	12,361

Demographics

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 350,854 —     1821 375,817 +0.34% 1831 397,725 +0.57% 1841 398,868 +0.03% 1851 403,857 +0.12% 1861 401,417 −0.06% 1872 396,804 −0.11% 1881 404,555 +0.22% 1891 401,835 −0.07% 1901 407,808 +0.15% 1911 411,028 +0.08% 1921 387,760 −0.58% 1931 407,432 +0.50%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1936 402,569 −0.24% 1946 396,724 −0.15% 1954 435,308 +1.17% 1962 481,289 +1.26% 1968 540,988 +1.97% 1975 606,320 +1.64% 1982 661,781 +1.26% 1990 725,603 +1.16% 1999 766,441 +0.61% 2007 796,624 +0.48% 2012 810,300 +0.34% 2017 824,503 +0.35% 2023 829,899 +0.11%
Sources:

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council of Oise is Nadège Lefebvre of The Republicans (LR), first elected in 2017.

Presidential elections (2nd round) results since 1995

Election	Winning candidate	Party	%	2nd place candidate	Party	%
	2022	Marine Le Pen	RN	52.73	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	47.27
	2017	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	53.28	Marine Le Pen	FN	46.72
	2012	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	52.66	François Hollande	PS	47.34
	2007	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	58.28	Ségolène Royal	PS	41.72
	2002	Jacques Chirac	RPR	74.93	Jean-Marie Le Pen	FN	25.07

Representation in Paris

National Assembly

Constituency	Member	Party
	Oise's 1st	Claire Marais-Beuil	RN
	Oise's 2nd	Philippe Ballard	RN
	Oise's 3rd	Alexandre Sabatou	RN
	Oise's 4th	Véronique Ludmann	HOR
	Oise's 5th	Frédéric-Pierre Vos	RN
	Oise's 6th	Michel Guiniot	RN
	Oise's 7th	David Magnier	RN

Senate

Senator	Party	Since
	Édouard Courtial	LR	2017
	Alexandre Ouizille	PS	2023
	Olivier Paccaud	DVD	2017
	Sylvie Valente-Le Hir	DVD	2023

Tourism

The major tourist attraction of the department is the Parc Astérix theme park, which opened in 1989. Other sites of interest are Beauvais Cathedral, the Château de Pierrefonds, restored by Viollet-le-Duc, and the art collection of the Château de Chantilly within the Musée Condé, which is one of the largest nationally outside Paris.

• 
  The art gallery in the Château de Chantilly
• 
  Beauvais Cathedral
• 
  The stables at Chantilly
• 
  Rollercoaster at Parc Astérix
• 
  The Château de Compiègne seen from its park
• 
  Renault FT in the Glade of the Armistice
• 
  Château de Pierrefonds

Twinned areas

Oise is twinned with Bedfordshire in England. It is also twinned with the Indonesian regency of Karanganyar and the Chinese provinces of Shandong and Zhejiang.

One of the villages along the river Oise is Auvers-sur-Oise, famous for having been visited by several impressionist artists. This is where Vincent van Gogh spent his last 70 days and is his and his brother Theo's resting place.

See also

• Arrondissements of the Oise department
• Cantons of the Oise department
• Communes of the Oise department
• Monument aux morts (Oise)

External links

• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) Departmental Council website
• (in French) oise directory website
• (in English) Oise Tourist Board