Hautes-Alpes () is a department in southeastern France, in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. It is named after the Alps mountain range and its prefecture (capital) is Gap.

History

The department of the Hautes-Alpes was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with the southeastern part of the old province of the Dauphiné.

It was divided in four districts: Briançon, Embrun, Gap and Serres, with Chorges as its capital but during that same year the capital was moved to Gap.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the four districts were changed into three arrondissements: Gap, Briançon and Embrun.

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissement of Embrun was eliminated.

After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the department was occupied by troops from Austria and of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

During World War II, the department was occupied by the fascist Italy.

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

The department is surrounded by the Piedmont region (Italy) and four departments in two regions:
 Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region
 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (south)
 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
 Isère (north)
 Savoie (northeast)
 Drôme (west)

Hautes-Alpes is in the Alps mountain range. The average elevation is over . The third highest commune in all of Europe is the village of Saint-Véran. Gap and Briançon are the highest prefecture and subprefecture in France.

The highest point is  Barre des Écrins (), in the commune of Pelvoux; it is  high. The lowest point is in the valley of the Buëch river, with an altitude of .

The main rivers in Hautes-Alpes are the Durance, a tributary of the Rhône river, Buëch and Drac.

Climate
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Embrun is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Marine West Coast Climate) and of the subtype "Cfc".

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Embrun is . The month with the most precipitation on average is May with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Embrun 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
Hautes-Alpes is managed by the Departmental Council of Hautes-Alpes in Gap. The department is part of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region.

Administrative divisions
There are 2 arrondissements (districts), 15 cantons and 167 communes (municipalities) in Hautes-Alpes.

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

 L'Argentière-la-Bessée (0501)
 Briançon-1 (0502)
 Briançon-2 (0503)
 Chorges (0504)
 Embrun (0505)
 Gap-1 (0506)
 Gap-2 (0507)
 Gap-3 (0508)
 Gap-4 (0509)
 Guillestre (0510)
 Laragne-Montéglin (0511)
 Saint-Bonnet-en-Champsaur (0512)
 Serres (0513)
 Tallard (0514)
 Veynes (0515)

Demographics
The inhabitants of Hautes-Alpes are known, in French, as Haut-Alpins (women: Haut-Alpines).

Hautes-Alpes had a population, in 2013, of 139,883, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Gap, with 104,131 inhabitants, is the arrondissement with more inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Hautes-Alpes

The communes in the department with more inhabitants are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Hautes-Alpes department
 Communes of the Hautes-Alpes department

References

Other websites

 Departmental Council website 
 Prefecture website 
 Hautes-Alpes tourism

Departments in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur