Hautes-Pyrénées

Hautes-Pyrenees () is a department in the southwest of France. It is part of the Occitanie region and its main city is Tarbes.
History
Hautes-Pyrenees 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-Vallees.
Geography
Hautes-Pyrenees 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 departement of Pyrenees-Atlantiques.
The department is surrounded by 2 regions and 3 departments:
Occitanie
Gers to the north
Haute-Garonne to the east
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Pyrenees-Atlantiques to the west
and by Spain (the province of Huesca) to the south.
Three natural regions can be distinguished in the department.
The Pyrenees, 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 Pyrenees National Park.
The second region of the Hautes-Pyrenees, 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 Bagneres-de-Bigorre. Other rivers are the Gave de Pau and the Neste.
Hautes-Pyrenees has two small territorial exclaves--a remnant from the Middle Ages--within the neighboring departement of Pyrenees-Atlantiques.
Climate
The climate of the department is an oceanic climate with relatively hot summers, mild winters and abundant rainfall, Cfb in the Koppen 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 departement is managed by the Departamental Council of the Haute-Garonne in Tarbes. The Hautes-Pyrenees is part of the region of Occitanie.
Administrative divisions
There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 17 cantons and 470 communes (municipalities) in the Hautes-Pyrenees.
The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Hautes-Pyrenees department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
Aureilhan (6501)
Borderes-sur-l'Echez (6502)
Les Coteaux (6503)
La Haute-Bigorre (6504)
Lourdes-1 (6505)
Lourdes-2 (6506)
Moyen Adour (6507)
Neste, Aure et Louron (6508)
Ossun (6509)
Tarbes-1 (6510)
Tarbes-2 (6511)
Tarbes-3 (6512)
Val d'Adour-Rustan-Madiranais (6513)
La Vallee de l'Arros et des Baises (6514)
La Vallee de la Barousse (6515)
La Vallee des Gaves (6516)
Vic-en-Bigorre (6517)
Population
The inhabitants of Hautes-Pyrenees are known, in French, as Haut-Pyreneens (women: Haut-Pyreneennes). They are also known as the Bigourdans.
Hautes-Pyrenees has a population, in 2014, of 228,950, for a population density of inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Tarbes, with 143,753 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Argeles-Gazost and Bagneres-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 Argeles-Gazost and Bagneres-de-Bigorre have, respectively, 3,020 and 7,602 inhabitants.