Gard

**Gard** is a French department in southern France in the Occitanie region and named after the Gardon river. Its prefecture is Nîmes.

## History

Gard is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was divided in 8 districts: Alais, Beaucaire, Nîmes, Pont-Saint-Esprit, Saint-Hippolyte, Sommières, Uzès and Le Vigan. The capital was Nîmes alternating with Alais and Uzès. In 1794, Nîmes became the only capital.

With the creation of the _arrondissements_, the 8 districts became four _arrondissements_: Nîmes, Alais, Uzès and Le Vigan. In 1926, the _arrondissement_ of Uzès was eliminated.

## Geography

Gard is part of the Occitanie region, in southern France, with an area of .

The department borders with 6 other departments in 3 regions:
- Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
    - Bouches-du-Rhône (south)
    - Vaucluse (east)
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
    - Ardèche (north)
- Occitanie
    - Hérault (south)
    - Aveyron (west)
    - Lozère (west)

The department has a  long coast along the Mediterranean Sea.

There are 4 natural regions in Gard:
1. The **Cévennes**, a mountain chain that is part of the Massif Central. It is between the Lozère and Gard departments.
1. The **Garrigues**, a natural region found in the Hérault and Gard departments. It is formed by hills and plateaus of limestone.
1. The **Costières**, a natural region of the Gard department found to the south of Nîmes.
1. The ***low region*** formed by the plains of the Rhone river and those along the coast.

The highest point in the department is _Mont Aigoual_, () that is  high it is in the _Cévennes_ mountains, on the border with the Lozère department.

The main river of Gard is the Gardon (or _Gard_), a right tributary of the Rhone. The Rhone flows through the eastern border of the department.

### Climate

The climate of the Gard department, in the city of Nîmes, is subtropical with dry-summer, **Csa** (Mediterranean Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

The average temperature for the year in Nîmes, at an altitude of ,  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 .

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

## Administration

Gard is part of the region of Occitanie. The department is managed by the _Departamental Council of the Gard_ in Nîmes.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 23 _cantons_ and 353 _communes_ (municipalities) in Gard.
|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density (Inh./km²) !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|301|Alès|Alès|151,823|1,321.6||101|
|302|Nîmes|Nîmes|547,598|3,132.8||177|
|303|Le Vigan|Le Vigan|36,608|1,398.5||75|

The following is a list of the 23 cantons of the Gard department (with their INSEE codes), in France, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Aigues-Mortes <small>(3001)</small>
1. Alès-1 <small>(3002)</small>
1. Alès-2 <small>(3003)</small>
1. Alès-3 <small>(3004)</small>
1. Bagnols-sur-Cèze <small>(3005)</small>
1. Beaucaire <small>(3006)</small>
1. Calvisson <small>(3007)</small>
1. La Grand-Combe <small>(3008)</small>
1. Marguerittes <small>(3009)</small>
1. Nîmes-1 <small>(3010)</small>
1. Nîmes-2 <small>(3011)</small>
1. Nîmes-3 <small>(3012)</small>
1. Nîmes-4 <small>(3013)</small>
1. Pont-Saint-Esprit <small>(3014)</small>
1. Quissac <small>(3015)</small>
1. Redessan <small>(3016)</small>
1. Roquemaure <small>(3017)</small>
1. Rousson <small>(3018)</small>
1. Saint-Gilles <small>(3019)</small>
1. Uzès <small>(3020)</small>
1. Vauvert <small>(3021)</small>
1. Le Vigan <small>(3022)</small>
1. Villeneuve-lès-Avignon <small>(3023)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of Gard are known, in French, as _Gardois_ (women: _Gardoises_).

Gard has a population, in 2014, of 736,029, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Nîmes, with 547,598 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Alès and Le Vigan, have respectively 151,823 and 36,608 inhabitants.

The city with more people living in it is the capital, Nîmes (151,075). The subprefectures of Alès and Le Vigan have, respectively, 39,993 and 3,933 inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Aude**

The 10 most important cities in the department are:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Nîmes|151,075|Nîmes|
|Alès|39,993|Alès|
|Bagnols-sur-Cèze|18,172|Nîmes|
|Beaucaire|15,859|Nîmes|
|Saint-Gilles|13,326|Nîmes|
|Villeneuve-lès-Avignon|11,716|Nîmes|
|Vauvert|11,353|Nîmes|
|Pont-Saint-Esprit|10,155|Nîmes|
|Marguerittes|8,577|Nîmes|
|Uzès|8,569|Nîmes|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Gard department
- Communes of the Gard department

## Other websites

- Departamental Council website
- Prefecture website
- Région Occitanie

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Gard
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Nîmes Préfecture.jpg
- **image alt**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Gard department, in Nîmes
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Gard department, in Nîmes
- **image flag**: Drapeau non-officiel fr département Gard.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **flag alt**: Flag of Gard
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Gard.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Gard-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Gard 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**: Nîmes
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Alès
- **p2**: Le Vigan, Gard, Le Vigan
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Denis Bouad
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 5852.8
- **population total**: 736029
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population rank**: List of French departments by population, 33
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Gardois
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 23
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 353
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-30
- **website**: [http://www.gard.fr/ http://www.gard.fr/]