About the region
Savoie is a French department located in the Rhone-Alpes region in the French Alps. It is one of the two departments of the old Duchy of Savoy that was annexed by France on March 24th 1860, the other being Haute-Savoie.
Savoie borders the departments of Haute-Savoie, Ain, Isere and Hautes-Alpes in addition to Italy. The department is crossed by the Isere river, which has its source in the Iseran pass. Its two main lakes are Lake Bourget, the largest and deepest lake in France, and Lake Aiguebelette, one of the least polluted in France due to a 1976 law forbidding any use of motorboats on the lake. Much of Savoie is covered by mountains.