Tarn is one of the original 83 departments created during theFrench Revolution on 4 March 1790, through application of the Law of 22 December 1789. It was created from part of theformer province ofLanguedoc, and comprised the dioceses ofAlbi and Castres (which found themselves merged in 1817).
Castres is best known in French political history as the birthplace of Socialist leaderJean Jaurès.
The new department had fivedistricts: Albi, Castres, Lavaur, Gaillac, Lacaune. Thecapitals (nowprefectures) were, alternatively,Albi andCastres but, from 1790 to 1797, the capital was only Albi; in 1797, the capital was moved to Castres.[6] In 1800, Albi became again the capital of the department and the arrondissements were created; the department had four arrondissements: Albi, Castres, Gaillac and Lavaur. In 1926, the arrondissements of Gaillac and Lavaur were eliminated.[6]
By the law of 28PluviôseYear 5, the departments ofHérault and of Tarn exchanged the canton ofAnglès (which had been part of the diocese ofSaint-Pons, but which has remained in Tarn) for that ofSaint-Gervais-sur-Mare (which had been part of the diocese of Castres, but which today remains in Hérault).
Tarn is part of theOccitanieregion and has an area of 5,757.9 km2 (2,223 sq mi).[2] The department is surrounded by five departments, all belonging to theregionOccitanie:Hérault to the southeast,Aude to the south,Aveyron to the north and east,Haute-Garonne to the southwest and west, as well asTarn-et-Garonne to the northwest. It is one of two French departments surrounded entirely by other departments of the same region.
The slope of the department is from east to west, and its general character is mountainous or hilly. Tarn's three principal ranges lying to the south-east are: the Mountains ofLacaune, theSidobre and theMontagne Noire, belonging to theCévennes.
The stony and wind-blown slopes of the Mountains ofLacaune (Monts de Lacaune) are used forpasture. The highest point of the range and of the department is thePuech Montgrand, 1,267 m (4,157 ft) high; several other summits are not much short of this. The granite-strewn plateaux of theSidobre, from 490 to 610 m (1,600 to 2,000 ft) high, separate the valley of the riverAgout from that of its western tributary, theThoré River. TheMontagne Noire, on the southwestern border of the department, derives its name from the forests on its northern slope. Its highest point is thePic de Nore at 1,211 m (3,973 ft) high.
Thelimestone andsandstone foot-hills are clothed withvines 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 riverAude, the whole department belongs to the basin of theGaronne.
^ab"Département du Tarn (81) – Résumé statistique".Publications et statistiques pour la France ou les régions (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques – INSEE. Retrieved8 August 2015.
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