Côte-d'Or

Côte-d'Or, a department in the east of France, formed of part of the old province of Burgundy, with an area of 3383 sq. m., and a pop. (1891) of 376,866. The surface is in general rather elevated, and is traversed by a chain of hills forming the connecting link between the Cévennes and the Vosges. A portion of that range, called the Côte-d'Or ('golden slope'), receives its name, which it gives to the department, from the excellence of the Burgundy wines produced on its slopes. Much of the surface is covered with forests. The valleys and plains are fertile, and there is good pasture-land. Côte-d'Or is watered by the Seine, which rises in the north-west, and by several of its affluents; by the Saone, and by the Arroux, a tributary of the Loire. By means of canals it has water-communication with the German Ocean, Mediterranean, English Channel, and Bay of Biscay. The climate is temperate; iron, coal, marble, gypsum, and lithographic stones are found, the first in large quantities. Côte-d'Or is divided into four arrondissements: Beaune, Châtillon-sur-Seine, Dijon, and Semur, and has Dijon for its capital.