Valserhône

Valserhône
Commune
Location of Valserhône
Valserhône Show map of France Valserhône Show map of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Coordinates: 46°06′30″N 5°49′36″E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Department	Ain
Arrondissement	Nantua
Canton	Valserhône
Intercommunality	Pays Bellegardien
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Régis Petit[1]
Area ^1	62.54 km^2 (24.15 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]	16,162
• Density	260/km^2 (670/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	01033 /01200
Elevation	330–1,606 m (1,083–5,269 ft) (avg. 485 m or 1,591 ft)
^1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km^2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Valserhône (French pronunciation: [valsəʁon] ^ⓘ; Arpitan: Vâlcerôno) is a commune in the Ain department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. It is the result of the merger, on 1 January 2019, of the communes of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, Châtillon-en-Michaille and Lancrans.[3] In 2018, the three communes had a combined population of 16,431, with Bellegarde-sur-Valserine as the major population centre. This makes Valserhône the third-most populated commune of Ain, after Bourg-en-Bresse and Oyonnax.

Geography

Valserhône is located at the confluence of the Valserine and the Rhône. It was named after the two rivers. The commune is part of Haut-Jura Regional Natural Park.

The commune has a station, Bellegarde, which is located at the junction of three railway lines and has regular service to various destinations in France and Switzerland.

• 
  The Valserine in Valserhône
• 
  Église Saint-Paul de Vouvray in Châtillon-en-Michaille
• 
  Bellegarde station

Climate

Valserhône has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). The average annual temperature in Valserhône is 11.1 °C (52.0 °F). The average annual rainfall is 1,184.6 mm (46.64 in) with December as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around 20.4 °C (68.7 °F), and lowest in January, at around 2.1 °C (35.8 °F). The highest temperature ever recorded in Valserhône was 39.5 °C (103.1 °F) on 13 August 2003; the coldest temperature ever recorded was −17.0 °C (1.4 °F) on 5 February 2012.

Climate data for Bellegarde-sur-Valserine, Valserhône, Ain, France, Alt. : 350 m, (1991-2020 averages, extremes 1994−present)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	16.5 (61.7)	20.2 (68.4)	25.4 (77.7)	29.6 (85.3)	33.8 (92.8)	36.5 (97.7)	38.6 (101.5)	39.5 (103.1)	32.7 (90.9)	28.0 (82.4)	22.9 (73.2)	16.4 (61.5)	39.5 (103.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	5.9 (42.6)	8.3 (46.9)	13.0 (55.4)	17.1 (62.8)	21.0 (69.8)	25.2 (77.4)	27.5 (81.5)	26.9 (80.4)	22.3 (72.1)	17.2 (63.0)	10.5 (50.9)	6.2 (43.2)	16.8 (62.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	2.1 (35.8)	3.4 (38.1)	7.0 (44.6)	10.7 (51.3)	14.7 (58.5)	18.5 (65.3)	20.4 (68.7)	20.0 (68.0)	16.0 (60.8)	11.9 (53.4)	6.3 (43.3)	2.7 (36.9)	11.1 (52.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−1.7 (28.9)	−1.4 (29.5)	1.1 (34.0)	4.3 (39.7)	8.4 (47.1)	11.7 (53.1)	13.4 (56.1)	13.0 (55.4)	9.7 (49.5)	6.6 (43.9)	2.1 (35.8)	−0.9 (30.4)	5.5 (41.9)
Record low °C (°F)	−15.4 (4.3)	−17.0 (1.4)	−13.7 (7.3)	−5.4 (22.3)	−1.4 (29.5)	2.3 (36.1)	5.3 (41.5)	4.7 (40.5)	0.1 (32.2)	−5.5 (22.1)	−10.3 (13.5)	−16.1 (3.0)	−17.0 (1.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	116.3 (4.58)	92.5 (3.64)	88.7 (3.49)	81.5 (3.21)	94.2 (3.71)	86.1 (3.39)	86.9 (3.42)	91.4 (3.60)	87.4 (3.44)	108.8 (4.28)	118.7 (4.67)	132.1 (5.20)	1,184.6 (46.64)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm)	11.3	9.4	9.9	9.9	11.7	9.4	8.9	9.0	8.5	10.4	11.0	11.4	120.7
Source: Meteociel[4]

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	13,097	—
1975	14,194	+1.16%
1982	13,812	−0.39%
1990	14,157	+0.31%
1999	14,422	+0.21%
2007	15,375	+0.80%
2012	15,764	+0.50%
2017	16,423	+0.82%
Populations of the area corresponding with the commune of Valserhône at 1 January 2020. Source: INSEE[5]

See also

• Communes of the Ain department

References

1. "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 13 September 2022. Archived from the original on 28 June 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
2. "Populations de référence 2022" (in French). The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 19 December 2024.
3. Arrêté préfectoral Archived 23 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine, 22 October 2018 (in French)
4. "Normales et records pour Bellegarde (01)". Meteociel. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
5. Population en historique depuis 1968 Archived 18 July 2022 at the Wayback Machine, INSEE