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  Department Tarnnumber=81
  Region Midi-Pyrénées
  Prefecture Albi
  Subprefectures Castres
  Population 343,402pop_date=1999pop_rank=65thdensity=60
  Area 5758area_scale=9
  Arrond 2cantons=46communes=324
  President Thierry Carcenac pres_party=
  Img Coa blason81PNG


Tarn is a Department of 5 758 km&2 in the Midi-Pyrénées Region in the south-west of France , named after the Tarn River .

It was formed in 1790 of the three dioceses of Albi , Castres and Lavaur , belonging to the province of Languedoc .

In 1906, the population was 330,533. In 1999, it stood at 343,402.

Tarn is bounded N. and E. by Aveyron , S.E. by Herault , S. by Aude , S.W. and W. by Haute-Garonne , N.W. by Tarn-et-Garonne . The slope of the department is from east to west, and its general character is mountainous or hilly.
TARN A mountain lake.
Tarn's three principal ranges lying to the south-east are: the Mountains of Lacaune , the Sidobre , and the Montagne Noire , belonging to the Cevennes. The stony and wind-blown slopes of the firstnamed are used for Pasture . The highest point of the range and of the department is the Pic De Montalet (about 4150 ft.); several other summits are not much short of this. The granite strewn plateaux of the Sidobre , from 1600 to 2000 ft high, separate the valley of the River Agout from that of its western tributary, the River Thoré . The Montagne Noire , on the southern border of the department, derives its name from the Forest s on its northern slope, and some of its peaks are from 3000 to 3500 ft high.

The Limestone and Sandstone foot-hills are clothed with Vine s and fruit trees, and are broken by deep alluvial valleys of particular fertility. With the exception of a small portion of the Montagne Noire , which drains into the River Aude , the whole department belongs to the basin of the Garonne . The eastern portion of the department has the climate of Auvergne , the severest in France , but that of the plain is Girondin.

Of particular note in the department are Albi (the capital), Castres , Gaillac , Lavaur , Mazamet and Cordes .

Other places of interest are:

''This includes information from the 1911 Encyclopdia Britannica.'' 1911 Encyclopdia Britannica


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