Oise

For other uses, see Oise (disambiguation).

Oise
Department
Prefecture building of the Oise department, in Beauvais
Coat of arms
Location of Oise in France
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Prefecture	Beauvais
Subprefectures	Clermont Compiègne Senlis
Government
• President of the General Council	Yves Rome
Area 1
• Total	5,860 km2 (2,260 sq mi)
Population  (2013)
• Total	815,400
• Rank	26th
• Density	140/km2 (360/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	60
Arrondissements	4
Cantons	21
Communes	690
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Oise (French pronunciation: [waz]) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Natives of the department are called Isariens.

History

Oise is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province 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.

Geography

Oise is part of the current region of Hauts-de-France and 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.

Principal towns

Most Populous Oise communes

Rank	Commune	Canton	Arrondissement	Population
1	Beauvais	Beauvais-1 Beauvais-2	Beauvais	55,252
2	Compiègne	Compiègne-1 Compiègne-2	Compiègne	40,430
3	Creil	Creil	Senlis	34,262
4	Nogent-sur-Oise	Nogent-sur-Oise	Senlis	18,753
5	Senlis	Senlis	Senlis	15,583
6	Crépy-en-Valois	Crépy-en-Valois	Senlis	14,962
7	Méru	Méru	Beauvais	13,995
8	Noyon	Noyon	Compiègne	13,894
9	Montataire	Monataire	Senlis	12,843
10	Pont-Sainte-Maxence	Pont-Sainte-Maxence	Senlis	12,637

Tourism

The major tourist attraction of the department is the Parc Astérix, which opened in 1989. Another very interesting site is Beauvais Cathedral. Also to be seen is the Chateau de Pierrefonds, restored by Viollet-le-Duc. The art collection of the Château de Chantilly is one of the largest outside Paris.

• 
  Art gallery in the Château de Chantilly
• 
  Beauvais Cathedral
• 
  Rollercoaster at the Parc Astérix
• 
  Renault FT in the Glade of the Armistice
• 
  Château de Pierrefonds

Twinned county

Oise is twinned with Bedfordshire. 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 it 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

• Template:Fr icon Prefecture website
• Template:Fr icon General Council website
• Template:Fr icon oise directory website
• Template:En icon Oise Tourist Board