page_title: Hautes-Alpes
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Hautes-Alpes / Geography
caption_attribution_description: Carte des Hautes-Alpes
context_page_description: Hautes-Alpes is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. Located in and named after the Alps, it had a population of 141,107 in 2016. Its prefecture is Gap; its sole subprefecture is Briançon.
context_section_description: The department is surrounded by the following French departments: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Drôme, Isère, and Savoie. Italy borders it on the east with the Metropolitan City of Turin and the province of Cuneo, region of Piedmont.
  Hautes-Alpes is located in the Alps mountain range. The average elevation is over 1000 m, and the highest elevation is over 4000 m. The only three sizable towns are Gap, Briançon, and Embrun, which was the subprefecture until 1926.
  The third highest commune in all of Europe is the village of Saint-Véran. Gap and Briançon are the highest prefecture and subprefecture in France.
  The following rivers flow through the department: Durance, Guisane, Buëch, Drac and Clarée. The Durance has been dammed to create one of the largest artificial lakes in Western Europe: the Lac de Serre-Ponçon. The Queyras valley is located in the eastern part of the department and is noted by many as being an area of outstanding beauty.
caption: Map of Hautes-Alpes
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