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Ain is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the rivers Saône and Rhône. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it neighbours the cantons of Geneva and Vaud. In 2016, it had a population of 638,425.
Ain is composed of four geographically different areas (Bresse, Dombes, Bugey and Pays de Gex), each of which contribute to the diverse and dynamic economic development of the department. In Bresse, agriculture and agro-industry are dominated by the cultivation of cereals, cattle breeding, milk and cheese production as well as poultry farming. In Dombes, pisciculture assumes greater importance, as does winemaking in Bugey.
In the alphabetical ordering of French departments, used for postal and demographic purposes amongst others, Ain comes first and is thus assigned the number 01 as its department number.
Ain is bordered by Jura to the north, Saône-et-Loire to the northeast, Rhône and the Lyon Metropolis to the southwest, Isère to the south, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, and Switzerland to the east.
In economic terms, tourism in Ain means €300 million of business volume and 10,000 direct jobs as well as another 10,000 indirect employments. In December 2006, 2.9% of the department's employment was related to the tourist sector (source: Committee for Tourism in the Department of Ain, 2006).
In 2006, 700,000 tourists visited sites of interest in the department (museums, castles, religious monuments, gardens and caves). During the winter of 2006/2007, winter sports activity was strongly restrained by the lack of snow. The number of daily skiing tourists amounted to 238,000 (180,500 for alpine skiing and 57,000 for cross-country skiing). The previous average amounted to 465,000 daily tourists per winter.
Angling and cycling tourism (27 circuits with altogether more than 1,500 km) attracts numerous visitors each year. The hotel and hospitality sector counts about 1,100 establishments (hotels, camping grounds, bed and breakfast (so-called "gîtes"), holiday apartments, guest rooms etc.). Their joined capacity amounts to 40,850 beds. During the 2006 season, 2.5 million nights were spent in the department compared to 2.7 million in 2002 (source: Committee for Tourism in the Department of Ain, 2006). 15,000 hunters are registered in the department, 3,000 to 4,000 of whom hunt in Dombes, one of the best hunting regions for water birds in France.