Haute-Garonne

Haute-Garonne ("Upper Garonne"; ) is a department in the southwest of France named after the Garonne river. Its main city and prefecture of the department is Toulouse.

History
Haute-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790.  It was created from part of the former province of Languedoc.

The department was originally larger than now because it included the district of Castelsarrasin which was transferred to the department of Tarn-et-Garonne when it was created in 1808.

 Geography 
Haute-Garonne has an area of . It is part of the Occitanie region. The department is not a historical region of France; this is an administrative division made from various pieces of Languedoc and Gascogne.

The department is surrounded by the departments:
 Ariège to the southeast
 Aude to the east
 Tarn to the northeast
 Tarn-et-Garonne to the north
 Gers to the west
 Hautes-Pyrénées to the southwest

and by Spain (provinces of Lleida and Huesca) to the south.

The department is crossed by the upper course of the Garonne river (hence the name) for nearly . The borders of the department follow the river. The Garonne enters France from Spain at the town of Fos, goes through Toulouse and leaves the department. Two big canals cross the department from east to west: the Canal du Midi and the Canal de Garonne.

There are three distinct geographical areas in the department:
 The extreme south of the department lies in the Pyrenees mountain range and there are many mountains. The highest mountain is Peak of Perdiguère () that is  above sea level.
 A first plain, to the north of the Pyrenees, that extends from Montréjeau to Saint-Martory
 A second plain, the vast plain of Toulouse, that extends from Saint-Martory to the northern border of the department.

Climate
The climate of the department is an oceanic climate with template summers, Cfb in the Köppen climate classification.

Administration
The department is managed by the Departamental Council of the Haute-Garonne in Toulouse. The Haute-Garonne is part of the region of Occitanie.

Administrative divisions
There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 27 cantons and 589 communes (municipalities) in the Haute-Garonne.

+ Arrondissements of the Haute-Garonne department INSEEcode  Arrondissement  Capital  Population(2014) Area(km²)  Density(Inh./km²)  Communes 311  Muret  Muret  215,606  1,639.0    126 312  Saint-Gaudens  Saint-Gaudens  77,545  2,139.6    237  313  Toulouse  Toulouse  1,024,517  2,530.7    226

The following is a list of the 27 cantons of the Haute-Garonne department (with their INSEE codes), in France, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:Décret n° 2014-152 du 13 février 2014 portant délimitation des cantons dans le département de la Haute-Garonne

 Auterive (3101)
 Bagnères-de-Luchon (3102)
 Blagnac (3103)
 Castanet-Tolosan (3104)
 Castelginest (3105)
 Cazères (3106)
 Escalquens (3107)
 Léguevin (3108)
 Muret (3109)
 Pechbonnieu (3110)
 Plaisance-du-Touch (3111)
 Portet-sur-Garonne (3112)
 Revel (3113)
 Saint-Gaudens (3114)
 Toulouse-1 (3115)
 Toulouse-2 (3116)
 Toulouse-3 (3117)
 Toulouse-4 (3118)
 Toulouse-5 (3119)
 Toulouse-6 (3120)
 Toulouse-7 (3121)
 Toulouse-8 (3122)
 Toulouse-9 (3123)
 Toulouse-10 (3124)
 Toulouse-11 (3125)
 Tournefeuille (3126)
 Villemur-sur-Tarn (3127)

Population
The inhabitants of Haute-Garonne are known, in French, as Haut-Garonnais (women: Haut-Garonnaises).

Haute-Garonne has a population, in 2014, of 1,317,668, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Toulouse, with 1,024,517 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Muret and Saint-Gaudens, have respectively 215,606 and 77,545 inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Haute-Garonne

The 10 cities with more people living in them in 2014 in the department are:

 No. City  Population(2014) Arrondissement 1  Toulouse  466,297  Toulouse 2  Colomiers  38,541  Toulouse 3  Tournefeuille  26,674  Toulouse 4  Muret  24,975 Muret 5  Blagnac  23,416  Toulouse 6  Plaisance-du-Touch  17,278  Toulouse 7  Cugnaux  17,004  Toulouse 8  Balma  15,319  Toulouse 9  Ramonville-Saint-Agne  13,986  Toulouse 10  Castanet-Tolosan  12,640  Toulouse

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Haute-Garonne department
 Communes of the Haute-Garonne department

References

Other websites

 Departamental Council website  
 Prefecture website  
 Tourism website  
 Photography Panoramics 360° website