page_title: Haute-Savoie
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Haute-Savoie / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Maps of arrondissements and cantons of France: Département de la Haute-Savoie.PNG (Région Rhône-Alpes)
context_page_description: Haute-Savoie is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is Annecy. To the north is Lake Geneva; to the south and southeast are Mont Blanc and the Aravis mountain ranges.
  It holds its name from the Savoy historical region, as does the department of Savoie, located south of Haute-Savoie. In 2016, it had a population of 801,416. Its subprefectures are Bonneville, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois and Thonon-les-Bains. The French entrance to the Mont Blanc Tunnel into Italy is in Haute-Savoie. It is noted for winter sports; the first Winter Olympic Games were held at Chamonix in 1924.
context_section_description: Haute-Savoie comprises four arrondissements, divided into 281 communes and 17 cantons.
  To the north, it borders the Swiss Canton of Geneva and Lake Geneva; to the east the Swiss Canton of Valais and Italy's Aosta Valley; to the west the French department of Ain, and to the south the department of Savoie.
  Haute-Savoie has the largest range of elevations of all the departments in France; the lowest point is 250 metres (820 ft) in the Rhône River Valley, and the highest Mont Blanc at 4,810.40 metres (15,782.2 ft). Some of the world's best-known ski resorts are in Haute-Savoie.
  The terrain of the department includes the Alpine Mont Blanc Range; the French Prealps of the Aravis Range, the Chablais, Bornes and Bauges Alps; and the peneplains of Genevois haut-savoyard and Albanais (known collectively as L'Avant-pays savoyard). Its mountainous terrain makes mountain passes important to trade and economic life. Some of the most important are the Col de la Forclaz (which connects Chamonix to the Canton of Valais) and the Mont Blanc Tunnel, linking Chamonix to Courmayeur in the Aosta Valley.
caption: Haute-Savoie highlighted in brown in the former Rhône-Alpes region, with arrondissements outlined
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