Hautes-Alpes

Hautes-Alpes (; ) is a depairtment in sootheastren Fraunce namit efter the Alps muntain range.

 History 
Hautes-Alpes is ane o the oreeginal 83 depairtments creatit durin the French Revolution on 4 Mairch 1790. It consists o the sootheast o the umwhile province o Dauphiné an the north o Provence.

At the time when the depairtment wis creatit, the twa muntain communes o La Grave an Villar-d'Arêne successfully campaigned tae be includit in Hautes-Alpes an no in the neighbourin depairtment o Isère tae which thay haed oreeginally been assigned. This wis acause thay hoped tae benefit frae the relative autonomy an certain fiscal privileges enjoyed bi the region syne the fowerteent century unner the terms o the Statute o the Briançon Escartons.

Napoleon passed throu Gap when he returned tae reclaim Fraunce efter his exile on Elba.

 Geography 
The department is surroondit bi the follaein French depairtments: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, :Drôme, Isère, an Savoie. Italy borders it on the east.

Hautes-Alpes is locatit in the Alps muntain range. The average elevations is ower 1000 m, an the heichest elevation is ower 4000 m. The anerlie three sizable touns are Gap, Briançon, an Embrun, which wis the subprefectur till 1926.

The third heichest commune in aw o Europe is the veelage o Saint-Véran. Gap an Briançon are the heichest prefectur an subprefectur in Fraunce.

The follaeing rivers flow throu the depairtment:
 Durance
 Guisane
 Buëch
 Drac
 Clarée
 Séveraisse

The Durance haes been dammed tae create the mucklest airtificial lake in Europe: the Lac de Serre-Ponçon.

The Queyras valley is locatit in the eastren pairt o the depairtment an is notit bi mony as bein an aurie o ootstaundin beauty.

 Demographics 
The indwallers o the depairtment are cried Haut-Alpins.

The extremely muntainous terrain explains the spairse population, which wis oreeginally aboot 120,000. It chyngit little durin the 19t century, but fell tae aboot 85,000 efter Warld War I. Thanks in muckle pairt tae tourism, the population haes risen frae 87,436 in 1962 tae 121,419 in 1999, principally in the toun o Gap.

Politics

The Preses o the General Cooncil is Jean-Yves Dusserre o the Union for a Popular Muivement.

 Tourism 
The tourist industry is mucklely dependent on skiin in winter. In simmer the Alpine scenery an mony ootdoor activities attract visitors frae athort Europe (sailin, hikin, climbin an aerial sports such as glidin). The Tour de France passes throu the depairtment regularly. This draws mony cyclin fanatics tae cycle the cols an watch the race.

See an aw
Cantons o the Hautes-Alpes depairtment
Communes o the Hautes-Alpes depairtment
Arrondissements o the Hautes-Alpes depairtment

Freemit airtins

  Offeecial Wabsteid 
  Prefectur wabsteid 
  General Cooncil wabsteid  
  A veelage in the French Alps built bi Vauban