Haute-Savoie is a département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France, bordering Switzerland and Italy.

Name 
Before 1860, the territory of the modern Haute-Savoie and Savoie departments had been part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, as a Duchy, since 1713. Annexation of the region by France was made in 1860. In that year, the Emperor Napoléon III divided the territory in two departments: Savoie, to the south, with the city of Chambéry, and Haute-Savoie, to the north, with the city of Annecy.

Haute ("High") in the name Haute-Savoie is not because of the altitude but because of its position, to the north, in the territory.

History
The department of Haute-Savoie was created in 1860 from the northern part of the Duchy of Sardinia with four arrondissements: Annecy, Bonneville, Saint-Julien and Thonon. The capital was Annecy.

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissement of Saint-Julien was eliminated but became again an arrondissement in 1933.

During World War II, the department was occupied by the fascist Italy, from November 1942 to September 1943.

Geography
The Haute-Savoie is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It has an area of .

The department borders with the Ain and Savoie departments, both in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and with Switzerland and Italy.

In the territory of the department is a part of the Mont Blanc massif, on the border with Italy. The average altitude of the department is of about . The highest point in the department is  Mont Blanc (; it is  high, the highest point of France, Italy and of Western Europe.

The Haute-Savoie department is within the watershed of the Rhône river but with short rivers. There are two important lakes in the department: the Lake Geneva, shared with Switzerland, and the Lake Annecy.

Climate
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Annecy is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype Cfb.

Administration
Haute-Savoie is managed by the Departmental Council of Haute-Savoie in Annecy. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Administrative divisions
There are 4 arrondissements (districts), 17 cantons and 281 communes (municipalities) in Haute-Savoie.

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Haute-Savoie department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Annecy-1 (7401)
 Annecy-2 (7402)
 Annecy-le-Vieux (7403)
 Annemasse (7404)
 Bonneville (7405)
 Cluses (7406)
 Évian-les-Bains (7407)
 Faverges (7408)
 Gaillard (7409)
 Le Mont-Blanc (7410)
 La Roche-sur-Foron (7411)
 Rumilly (7412)
 Saint-Julien-en-Genevois (7413)
 Sallanches (7414)
 Sciez (7415)
 Seynod (7416)
 Thonon-les-Bains (7417)

Demographics
The inhabitants of Haute-Savoie are known, in French, as Haut-Savoyards (women: Haut-Savoyardes).

Haute-Savoie had a population, in 2014, of 783,127, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Annecy, with 276,382 inhabitants, is the arrondissement with more inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Haute-Savoie

The communes in the department with more inhabitants are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Haute-Savoie department
 Communes of the Haute-Savoie department

References

Other websites

 Departmental Council website 
 Prefecture website 

Departments in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes