YONNE, a department of central France, was formed in 1790 partly from the province of Champagne proper (with its dependencies, Sénonais and Tonnerrois), partly from Burgundy proper (with its dependencies, the county of Auxerre and Avallonnais), and partly from Gâtinais (Orléanais and Île-de-France). It lies between 47° 18' and 48° 25' N. lat. and 2’ 50' and 4° 20' E. long., and is bounded by Aube on the N.E., Côte-d’Or on the E., Nièvre on the S., Loiret on the W., and Seine-et-Marne on the N.W. The highest elevation (2000 feet) of the department is in the granite mountains of Morvan, in the south-east, where other peaks range from 1300 to 1600 feet. These mountains are flanked by limestone plateaus, from 700 to 1200 feet in height, traversed by the Yonne and its tributaries. The department belongs wholly to the basin of the Seine, except a small district in the south-west, which belongs to that of the Loire. The river Yonne flows through it from south to north-north-west, receiving on the right bank the Cure (with its tributary the Cousin), the Serein, the Ar-mançon (the valley of which is traversed by the Burgundy Canal and by the railway from Paris to Lyons through Burgundy), and the Vanne (from which Paris is partly supplied by an aqueduct). To the west of the Yonne lie the sources of the Loing, another tributary of the Seine, and of its affluents, the Ouanne and the Lunain. The Yonne is navigable throughout the department, and is connected with the Loire by the Canal of Nivernais, which in turn is connected with that of Briare joining the Seine and the Loire. The climate of Yonne resembles that of Paris; but the extremes of heat and cold are greater on the plateaus. The annual rainfall is 27 inches at Auxerre and 32 in the east of the department. The ...prevailing winds are from the south-west and west.
Of a total area of 1,835,475 acres 1,125,412 acres are arable, 426,757 are under wood, 91,309 under vines, 79,366 under grass, and 39,316 are returned as occupied by heaths, pasture-lands, and marshes. The live stock in 1880 included 41,295 horses, 1280 mules, 8438 asses, 126,636 cattle, 238,522 sheep of native and 58,416 of superior breed (wool-clip in 1880 566 tons), 30,561 pigs, and 6516 goats. There were also 21,411 beehives (61 tons of honey). Oxen are fattened and the well-known St Florentin cheeses made. The wines of Tonnerre and Auxerrois are the finest red wines of Lower Burgundy, and those of Chablis are the finest white. The principal crops in 1884 were—wine 22,486,420 gallons (average of ten preceding years 28,607,370 gallons), wheat 5,500,000 bushels, meslin 192,600, rye 680,625, barley 948,750, oats 4,677,750, buckwheat 35,200, potatoes 3,410,088, beetroot for fodder 25,060 tons, hops 79 tons, colza seed 206, hemp seed 138, hemp 99, linseed 40, flax 22, tobacco 33, hay 386,650, clover 34,245, lucerne 30,189, and sainfoin 6297 tons. The forests consist of oak, beech, elm, hornbeam, ash, and birch, and re-plantations are being made with different kinds of pine and with larch; chestnut trees are not uncommon. In 1880 700 tons of peat were extracted; and there are fine quarries of Oolitic limestone, and of cement, ochre, fossil phosphates, china clay, and chalk. The chief industrial establishments are tanneries, forges (11,863 tons of iron in 1882), papermills, saw-mills, and breweries; files and other articles of steel, boots and shoes, hosiery, and champagne are also manufactured. Cereals, wines, firewood, charcoal, ochre, and bark are exported; southern wines and building materials are among the imports. There are 286 miles of railway, 318 of national and 6755 of other roads, and 205 of waterway. The population was 357,029 in 1881, and 355,364 in 1886. About 217,000 are engaged in agricultural pursuits. The department constitutes the archiepiscopal diocese of Sens, has its court of appeal at Paris, its academy at Dijon, and belongs to the district of Orleans army corps. It is divided for administrative purposes into five arrondissements. Places of note are the chef-lieu Auxerre (16,754 inhabitants in 1886), the picturesque Avallon (5768), Joigny (6189), famous for its wines, and Tonnerre (4650), for its wines and building stones.
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