Hautes-Pyrénées

Hautes-Pyrénées () is a department in the southwest of France. It is part of the Occitanie region and its main city is Tarbes.

History
Hautes-Pyrénées 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-Vallées.

 Geography 
Hautes-Pyrénées 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 département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

The department is surrounded by 2 regions and 3 departments:
 Occitanie
 Gers to the north
 Haute-Garonne to the east
 Nouvelle-Aquitaine
 Pyrénées-Atlantiques to the west

and by Spain (the province of Huesca) to the south.

Three natural regions can be distinguished in the department.

The Pyrénées, 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 Pyrénées National Park.

The second region of the Hautes-Pyrénées, 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 Bagnères-de-Bigorre. Other rivers are the Gave de Pau and the Neste.

Hautes-Pyrénées has two small territorial exclaves—a remnant from the Middle Ages—within the neighboring département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Climate
The climate of the department is an oceanic climate with relatively hot summers, mild winters and abundant rainfall, Cfb in the Köppen 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 département is managed by the Departamental Council of the Haute-Garonne in Tarbes. The Hautes-Pyrénées is part of the region of Occitanie.

Administrative divisions
There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 17 cantons and 470 communes (municipalities) in the Hautes-Pyrénées.

+ Arrondissements of the Hautes-Pyrénées INSEEcode  Arrondissement  capital  Population(2014)  Area(km²)  Density(Inh./km²)  Communes 651  Argelès-Gazost  Argelès-Gazost  38,813  1,300.2    87 652  Bagnères-de-Bigorre  Bagnères-de-Bigorre  46,384  1,675.7    171 653  Tarbes  Tarbes  143,753  1,488.1    212

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Hautes-Pyrénées department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Aureilhan (6501)
 Bordères-sur-l'Échez (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 Vallée de l'Arros et des Baïses (6514)
 La Vallée de la Barousse (6515)
 La Vallée des Gaves (6516)
 Vic-en-Bigorre (6517)

Population
The inhabitants of Hautes-Pyrénées are known, in French, as Haut-Pyrénéens (women: Haut-Pyrénéennes). They are also known as the Bigourdans.

Hautes-Pyrénées 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, Argelès-Gazost and Bagnères-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 Argelès-Gazost and Bagnères-de-Bigorre have, respectively, 3,020 and 7,602 inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Hautes-Pyrénées

The cities with more than 4,000 inhabitants in the department are:
 City  Population(2014) Arrondissement Tarbes  40,900  Tarbes Lourdes  14,361  Argelès-Gazost Aureilhan  7,879  Tarbes Bagnères-de-Bigorre  7,602  Bagnères-de-Bigorre Lannemezan  5,912  Bagnères-de-Bigorre Vic-en-Bigorre  5,004  Tarbes Bordères-sur-l'Échez  4,879  Tarbes Séméac  4,803  Tarbes Juillan  4,104  Tarbes

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Hautes-Pyrénées department
 Communes of the Hautes-Pyrénées department

References

Other websites

 Departamental Council of Hautes-Pyrénées  
 Tourism & culture in Hautes-Pyrenees
 Prefecture website  
 Western Pyrenees National Park 
 Photography Panoramics 360° website