Haute-Garonne

**Haute-Garonne** ("Upper Garonne"; ) is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city and prefecture of the department is Toulouse.

## History

Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790.  It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.

The department was originally larger than now because it included the district of Castelsarrasin which was transferred to the department of Tarn-et-Garonne when it was created in 1808.

## Geography

Haute-Garonne has an area of . It is part of the Occitanie region. The department is not a historical region of France; this is an administrative division made from various pieces of Languedoc and Gascogne.

The department is surrounded by the departments:
- Ariège to the southeast
- Aude to the east
- Tarn to the northeast
- Tarn-et-Garonne to the north
- Gers to the west
- Hautes-Pyrénées to the southwest

and by Spain (provinces of Lleida and Huesca) to the south.

The department is crossed by the upper course of the Garonne river (hence the name) for nearly . The borders of the department follow the river. The Garonne enters France from Spain at the town of Fos, goes through Toulouse and leaves the department. Two big canals cross the department from east to west: the Canal du Midi and the Canal de Garonne.

There are three distinct geographical areas in the department:
1. The extreme south of the department lies in the Pyrenees mountain range and there are many mountains. The highest mountain is Peak of Perdiguère () that is  above sea level.
1. A first plain, to the north of the Pyrenees, that extends from Montréjeau to Saint-Martory
1. A second plain, the vast plain of Toulouse, that extends from Saint-Martory to the northern border of the department.

### Climate

The climate of the department is an oceanic climate with template summers, **Cfb** in the Köppen climate classification.

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## Administration

The department is managed by the _Departamental Council of the Haute-Garonne_ in Toulouse. The Haute-Garonne is part of the region of Occitanie.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 27 _cantons_ and 589 _communes_ (municipalities) in the Haute-Garonne.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width=60px |Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|311|Muret|Muret|215,606|1,639.0||126|
|312|Saint-Gaudens|Saint-Gaudens|77,545|2,139.6||237|
|313|Toulouse|Toulouse|1,024,517|2,530.7||226|

The following is a list of the 27 cantons of the Haute-Garonne department (with their INSEE codes), in France, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Auterive <small>(3101)</small>
1. Bagnères-de-Luchon <small>(3102)</small>
1. Blagnac <small>(3103)</small>
1. Castanet-Tolosan <small>(3104)</small>
1. Castelginest <small>(3105)</small>
1. Cazères <small>(3106)</small>
1. Escalquens <small>(3107)</small>
1. Léguevin <small>(3108)</small>
1. Muret <small>(3109)</small>
1. Pechbonnieu <small>(3110)</small>
1. Plaisance-du-Touch <small>(3111)</small>
1. Portet-sur-Garonne <small>(3112)</small>
1. Revel <small>(3113)</small>
1. Saint-Gaudens <small>(3114)</small>
1. Toulouse-1 <small>(3115)</small>
1. Toulouse-2 <small>(3116)</small>
1. Toulouse-3 <small>(3117)</small>
1. Toulouse-4 <small>(3118)</small>
1. Toulouse-5 <small>(3119)</small>
1. Toulouse-6 <small>(3120)</small>
1. Toulouse-7 <small>(3121)</small>
1. Toulouse-8 <small>(3122)</small>
1. Toulouse-9 <small>(3123)</small>
1. Toulouse-10 <small>(3124)</small>
1. Toulouse-11 <small>(3125)</small>
1. Tournefeuille <small>(3126)</small>
1. Villemur-sur-Tarn <small>(3127)</small>

## Population

The inhabitants of Haute-Garonne are known, in French, as _Haut-Garonnais_ (women: _Haut-Garonnaises_).

Haute-Garonne has a population, in 2014, of 1,317,668, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Toulouse, with 1,024,517 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Muret and Saint-Gaudens, have respectively 215,606 and 77,545 inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Haute-Garonne**

The 10 cities with more people living in them in 2014 in the department are:

|No.|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|1|Toulouse|466,297|Toulouse|
|2|Colomiers|38,541|Toulouse|
|3|Tournefeuille|26,674|Toulouse|
|4|Muret|24,975|Muret|
|5|Blagnac|23,416|Toulouse|
|6|Plaisance-du-Touch|17,278|Toulouse|
|7|Cugnaux|17,004|Toulouse|
|8|Balma|15,319|Toulouse|
|9|Ramonville-Saint-Agne|13,986|Toulouse|
|10|Castanet-Tolosan|12,640|Toulouse|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Haute-Garonne department
- Communes of the Haute-Garonne department

## Other websites

- Departamental Council website
- Prefecture website
- Tourism website
- Photography Panoramics 360° website

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Haute-Garonne
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Prefecture-Tlse 12.JPG
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Haute-Garonne department, in Toulouse
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Haute-Garonne department, in Toulouse
- **image flag**: Drapeau non-officiel fr département Haute-Garonne.svg
- **flag alt**: Flag of Haute-Garonne
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Haute-Garonne.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Haute-Garonne-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Haute-Garonne in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Occitanie
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Toulouse
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne, Saint-Gaudens
- **p2**: Muret
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Georges Méric
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 6309.3
- **population total**: 1317668
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population rank**: 13th
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Haut-Garonnais, Haut-Garonnaise
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 27
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 589
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-31
- **website**: [http://www.haute-garonne.fr/fr/index.html http://www.haute-garonne.fr/]