VILLEFRANCHE, one of the arrondissements of the department of the Rhone, in the south of France, containing 584½ square miles, and divided into 9 cantons, 127 communes, with 151,980 inhabitants in 1836. The capital is the city of the same name, situated on the river Morgon, near to the left bank of the Paone, in a most fertile district. In 1836 it contained 7553 inhabitants, who make cotton and woollen goods, and carry on a considerable trade in wine, corn, cattle, and other agricultural productions. Long. 4. 38. E. Lat. 48. 59. N.