Early years

The department of Var was created at the time of the French Revolution, on 4 March 1790, from a portion of the former royal province of Provence.

Toulon, the historical capital city of Var, was returned that title in 1974.

Napoleon arriving in Fréjus, 1799

Its capital was originally Toulon, but this was moved to Grasse in 1793 to punish the Toulonnais for yielding the town to the British in 1793. Subsequently, the capital was moved to Brignoles in 1795, then to Draguignan in 1797. It was not returned to Toulon until 1974.

19th century

In 1815, following the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo the department was occupied by Austrian troops until November 1818. In 1854 the first railroad reached Toulon.

With the creation of the new department of Alpes-Maritimes in 1860 and following the annexation by France of Nice, the eastern part of the department, corresponding to the arrondissement of Grasse, was moved to the new department. This move also shifted the river Var, which had given the department its name, to the new department.

In 1884 a cholera epidemic struck Toulon. The leader of the fight against the epidemic was Georges Clemenceau, a doctor and a member of the National Assembly for the Seine department. He was later elected a member of the Chamber of Deputies for the Var department from 1888 to 1893 and Senator from 1902 to 1920, during which time he also served as Prime Minister of France.

Recent times

The First World War (1914–1918) stimulated growth in shipyards and military industries in the region, but weakened the agricultural and food industries. In 1942 the German Army moved from Occupied France into the zone libre, which included the Var department. The French Fleet was sabotaged in Toulon Harbour to keep it from falling into German hands. The Maquis Vallier, a group of maquis resistance fighters, was active. On 15 August 1944 American and Free French forces land at Saint-Tropez, Sainte-Maxime and Saint-Raphaël. The Free French fleet arrived at Toulon on 13 September.

In the 1960s about 100,000 French citizens were repatriated from Algeria following the Algerian War of Independence and settled in the Var department. In 2014, Fréjus Mayor David Rachline became the first Senator from Var elected under the National Front (later National Rally) banner; alongside Stéphane Ravier from neighbouring Bouches-du-Rhône, the two became the first National Front members of the Senate under the Fifth Republic.

Principal towns

In 2019, the population of Var was 1,076,711, of whom 51% live in the agglomeration (urban unit) of Toulon, the prefecture and most populous commune.^[8] As of 2019, there are nine communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:^[3]

Departmental Council of Var

The Departmental Council of Var comprises 46 seats. In the 2021 departmental election, 26 seats were won by The Republicans (LR), 13 by miscellaneous right candidates, 3 by the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI), 2 by the National Rally (RN) and 2 by miscellaneous centre candidates. Var currently has no left-wing departmental councillors.

Since 2022, La Garde Mayor Jean-Louis Masson (LR) has been President of the Departmental Council of Var. His governing majority comprises all councillors except the two elected under the National Rally banner, who form the opposition.

Representation in Paris

Tourism

Bormes-les-Mimosas

Cascade de Sillans

Saint-Tropez

Popular tourist attractions in Var include:

• The port and beaches of Saint-Tropez;
• The seaside village of Sainte-Maxime, with waterfront promenade, shops and restaurants, and a ferry service to Saint-Tropez;
• The beach of Cavalaire-sur-Mer, the longest sand beach on the coast;
• Boat tours of the Rade, or harbour, of Toulon, the main anchorage of the French Navy;
• Wind-surfing offshore of the peninsula of Giens;
• Le Thoronet Abbey, one of the best-preserved medieval Cistercian monasteries in France;
• The Baptistery of Fréjus Cathedral, the oldest Christian structure in Provence;
• The hilltop village of Bormes-les-Mimosas;
• The Îles d'Hyères, including the underwater natural park around the Île de Port-Cros;
• Hiking in the Massif de l'Esterel;
• The hilltop villages of Gassin, Ramatuelle, Montauroux, Fayence, Callian, Seillans, Tourrettes, Saint-Paul-en-Forêt, Mons and Tanneron in the Fayence region;
• The Verdon Gorge, Lake of Sainte-Croix and hilltop villages of the upper Var;
• The hilltop villages, wine caves and vineyards near Bandol.

Industry

The construction industry employs 28,000 workers in the Var of which 4,000 work alone and 4,500 companies employ the remaining 24,000 salaried workers. Industry generates an annual turnover of €2.5 billion. Of this, €500 million is derived from public works.^[10]

Agriculture

800 km² or 13% of the total area is dedicated to agriculture, on which 40,000 people (14% of the Var working population) depend for their livelihoods. The department also has 10 km² of horticultural land (of which 4 km² are covered). Var is France's largest grower of cut flowers, producing some 500 million stems a year. Livestock farming is mainly sheep (50,000) and goats (4,200). Vines and viticultural related activities account for 345 km² of farmland. The 450 domaines or coopératives and the 4 AOCs (appellation d'origine contrôlée) produce 150 million litres of wine a year. Var leads the world in the production of rose wine.

Other important agricultural products include olives (cultivated on 42 km² of land—a quarter of all French olive groves—and processed in 40 mills), figs (the Var produces 80% of France's figs), and honey (800 tonnes per year). There are also 9 km² of market gardens.

Agricultural turnover in Var is €610 million per year, of which 45% is sales of wines and 42% of horticultural products.^[11]

In 2008 the Var department received approximately €15 million in farm subsidies under the EU Common Agriculture Policy, an average of about €6,000 per recipient farm. This compares with an average across France as a whole of over €18,000 per farm.^[12]