Hautes-Pyrénées

**Hautes-Pyrénées** () is a department in the southwest of France. It is part of the Occitanie region and its main city is Tarbes.

## History

Hautes-Pyrénées is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790.  It was created with parts of the former province of Gascony; these parts were the old province of Bigorre and the Pays des Quatre-Vallées.

## Geography

Hautes-Pyrénées has an area of , or 0.81% of the country. It is part of the Occitanie region and has two small territorial exclaves—a remnant from the Middle Ages—located within the neighboring _département_ of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

The department is surrounded by 2 regions and 3 departments:
- Occitanie
    - Gers to the north
    - Haute-Garonne to the east
- Nouvelle-Aquitaine
    - Pyrénées-Atlantiques to the west

and by Spain (the province of Huesca) to the south.

Three natural regions can be distinguished in the department.

The Pyrénées, along the border with Spain, cover the southern half of the department, with 66% of the department. They form a natural barrier between France and Spain. More than 30 mountains here are over  high.

The Pic Vignemale (), at , is the highest point of the department; it is on the border with Spain. The Vignemale is in the Pyrénées National Park.

The second region of the Hautes-Pyrénées, with 17% of the territory, consists of chains low hills.

The third region, in the northern part of the department, is the plain of the Adour river and consists of largely flat agricultural land.

The main river of the department is the Adour river that flows through the cities of Tarbes and Bagnères-de-Bigorre. Other rivers are the Gave de Pau and the Neste.

Hautes-Pyrénées has two small territorial exclaves—a remnant from the Middle Ages—within the neighboring _département_ of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

### Climate

The climate of the department is an oceanic climate with relatively hot summers, mild winters and abundant rainfall, **Cfb** in the Köppen climate classification.

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

The average temperature for the year in Lourdes 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

The département is managed by the _Departamental Council of the Haute-Garonne_ in Tarbes. The Hautes-Pyrénées is part of the region of Occitanie.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 17 _cantons_ and 470 _communes_ (municipalities) in the Hautes-Pyrénées.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width="50px" | Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|651|Argelès-Gazost|Argelès-Gazost|38,813|1,300.2||87|
|652|Bagnères-de-Bigorre|Bagnères-de-Bigorre|46,384|1,675.7||171|
|653|Tarbes|Tarbes|143,753|1,488.1||212|

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Hautes-Pyrénées department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Aureilhan <small>(6501)</small>
1. Bordères-sur-l'Échez <small>(6502)</small>
1. Les Coteaux <small>(6503)</small>
1. La Haute-Bigorre <small>(6504)</small>
1. Lourdes-1 <small>(6505)</small>
1. Lourdes-2 <small>(6506)</small>
1. Moyen Adour <small>(6507)</small>
1. Neste, Aure et Louron <small>(6508)</small>
1. Ossun <small>(6509)</small>
1. Tarbes-1 <small>(6510)</small>
1. Tarbes-2 <small>(6511)</small>
1. Tarbes-3 <small>(6512)</small>
1. Val d'Adour-Rustan-Madiranais <small>(6513)</small>
1. La Vallée de l'Arros et des Baïses <small>(6514)</small>
1. La Vallée de la Barousse <small>(6515)</small>
1. La Vallée des Gaves <small>(6516)</small>
1. Vic-en-Bigorre <small>(6517)</small>

## Population

The inhabitants of Hautes-Pyrénées are known, in French, as _Haut-Pyrénéens_ (women: _Haut-Pyrénéennes_). They are also known as the _Bigourdans_.

Hautes-Pyrénées has a population, in 2014, of 228,950, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Tarbes, with 143,753 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Argelès-Gazost and Bagnères-de-Bigorre, have respectively 38,813 and 46,384 inhabitants.

The city with more people living in it is the capital, Tarbes (40,900), followed by Lourdes (14,361). The subprefectures of Argelès-Gazost and Bagnères-de-Bigorre have, respectively, 3,020 and 7,602 inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Hautes-Pyrénées**

The cities with more than 4,000 inhabitants in the department are:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Tarbes|40,900|Tarbes|
|Lourdes|14,361|Argelès-Gazost|
|Aureilhan|7,879|Tarbes|
|Bagnères-de-Bigorre|7,602|Bagnères-de-Bigorre|
|Lannemezan|5,912|Bagnères-de-Bigorre|
|Vic-en-Bigorre|5,004|Tarbes|
|Bordères-sur-l'Échez|4,879|Tarbes|
|Séméac|4,803|Tarbes|
|Juillan|4,104|Tarbes|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Hautes-Pyrénées department
- Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department

## Other websites

- Departamental Council of Hautes-Pyrénées
- Tourism & culture in Hautes-Pyrenees
- Prefecture website
- Western Pyrenees National Park
- Photography Panoramics 360° website

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Hautes-Pyrénées
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Préfecture des Hautes-Pyrénées.jpg
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Hautes-Pyrénées department, in Tarbes
- **image caption**: Prefecture building of the Hautes-Pyrénées department, in Tarbes
- **image flag**: Proposed flag for Hautes-Pyrénées.svg
- **flag alt**: Flag of Hautes-Pyrénées
- **image shield**: Blason dpt fr HautesPyrenees.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Hautes-Pyrénées-Position.svg
- **map alt**: Location of Hautes-Pyrénées in France
- **map caption**: Location of Hautes-Pyrénées 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**: Tarbes
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Argelès-Gazost
- **p2**: Bagnères-de-Bigorre
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Michel Pélieu
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 4464.0
- **population total**: 228950
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Haut-Pyrénéens / Bigourdans
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 17
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 470
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-65
- **website**: [http://www.hautespyrenees.fr/fr/index.html www.hautespyrenees.fr]