1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Aveyron |←Avesnes||1911
Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 3 |See also Aveyron on
Wikipedia, and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer.|
AVEYRON, a department of southern France, bounded N. by Cantal,
E. by Lozère and Card, S.W. by Tarn and W. by Tarn-et-Garonne
and Lot. Area, 3386 sq. m. Pop. (1906) 377,299. It corresponds
nearly to the old district of Rouergue, which gave its name to a
countship established early in the 9th century, and united with
that of Toulouse towards the end of the 11th century. The
earliest known natives of this region were the Celtic Rutheni,
to whom the numerous megalithic monuments found in the
department are attributed. Aveyron lies on the southern border
of the central plateau of France. Its chief rivers are the Lot
in the north, the Aveyron in the centre and the Tarn in the
south, all tributaries of the Garonne. They flow from east to
west, following the general slope of the department, and divide
it into four zones. In the north-east, between th