Alpes-de-Haute-Provence () is a department in the south of France, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Its prefecture is Digne-les-Bains.

Until 1970, the department was named as Basses-Alpes.

History

The department of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, with the name of Nord-de-Provence was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 but soon its name was changed to Haute-Provence and then to  Basses-Alpes.

It was divided in five districts: Barcelonnette, Castellane, Digne, Forcalquier and Sisteron. with Digne as its capital.

On 12 August 1793, the department of Vaucluse was created from parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes. Basses-Alpes lost the canton of Sault of Vaucluse. Seventeen years later, in 1810, the canton of Barcillonnette was transferred over to Hautes-Alpes.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the five districts were changed into five arrondissements: Barcelonnette, Castellane, Digne, Forcalquier and Sisteron.

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissements of Castellane and Sisteron were eliminated and in 1942 Castellane was made again an arrondissement of the department.

During World War II, the department was occupied by the fascist Italy.
 
The name of the capital, Digne, was changed to Digne-les-Bains in 1988 and on 13 April 1970 the department of Basses-Alpes was renamed Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

Geography
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It has an area of .

The department is surrounded by Italy and five departments in two regions:
 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region
 Hautes-Alpes (north)
 Alpes-Maritimes (east)
 Var (south)
 Vaucluse (west)
 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
 Drôme (northwest)

The highest point is  Aiguille de Chambeyron (), in the "commune" of Saint-Paul-sur-Ubaye, to the northeast of the Ubaye valley; it is  . Other high mountains in the department are Brec de Chambeyron (), Pics de la Font Sancte (), Grand Bérard, () and Tête de Siguret ().

The main river in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is the Durance, a tributary of the Rhône river and that flows through the west of the department. Its main tributaries are the Bléone and Verdon.

The Var river flows through the eastern part of the department.

Climate
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at the Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban airport is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype "Cfb".

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

Administration
Alpes-de-Haute-Provence is managed by the Departamental Council of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in Digne-les-Bains. The department is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.

Administrative divisions
There are 4 arrondissements (districts), 15 cantons and 198 communes (municipalities) in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

The following is a list of the 15 cantons of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Barcelonnette (0401)
 Castellane (0402)
 Château-Arnoux-Saint-Auban (0403)
 Digne-les-Bains-1 (0404)
 Digne-les-Bains-2 (0405)
 Forcalquier (0406)
 Manosque-1 (0407)
 Manosque-2 (0408)
 Manosque-3 (0409)
 Oraison (0410)
 Reillanne (0411)
 Riez (0412)
 Seyne (0413)
 Sisteron (0414)
 Valensole (0415)

Demographics
The inhabitants of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence are known, in French, as Bas-Alpins (women: Bas-Alpines), referring to the department of Basses-Alpes which was the former name of the department until 13 April 1970.

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence had a population, in 2014, of 161,588, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Forcalquier, with 88,333 inhabitants, is the arrondissement with more inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence

The 10 communes in the department with more inhabitants are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department
 Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department

References

Other websites

 Departmental Council website 
 Prefecture website 
 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence tourism 
 Provenceweb tourist guide

Departments in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur