Gap, Hautes-Alpes

**Gap** is a *commune* in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is the *préfecture* (capital), and main city, of the department.

Gap is the highest prefecture (departmental capital) of France; the city is in a valley whose bottom is at an altitude of about  above sea level.

## Geography
Gap is in the south central part of the Hautes-Alpes department. The *Luye*, a tributary of the Durance river, flows through the city.

It has an area of . Its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .

The distances from Gap to other cities are:
* Paris, the national capital - ;
* Marseille, the regional capital - ;
* Strasbourg - ;
* Reims - ;
* Bordeaux - ;
* Toulouse - ;
* Montpellier - ;
* Lyon - ;
* Nice - .

The *commune* of Gap is surrounded by 17 *communes*: Laye, Saint-Laurent-du-Cros, Forest-Saint-Julien, La Rochette, Rambaud, Jarjayes, Neffes, Châteauvieux, Lettret, Pelleautier, La Roche-des-Arnauds, La Freissinouse, La Fare-en-Champsaur, Poligny, Le Noyer, Le Dévoluy, Rabou

### Climate
The climate of Gap, in the Köppen climate classification, is **Cfb** - Oceanic climate with template summers.

## Population
The inhabitants of Gap are known, in French, as *Gapençais* (women: *Gapençaises*).

With a population of 40,225, Gap has a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

**Evolution of the population in Gap**

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 bar:1968 from:0 till: 23994
 bar:1975 from:0 till: 28233
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 bar:2006 from:0 till: 37332
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 bar:1975 at: 28233 fontsize:S text: 28,233 shift:(-15,5)
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 bar:1990 at: 33444 fontsize:S text: 33,444 shift:(-15,5)
 bar:1999 at: 36262 fontsize:S text: 36,262 shift:(-15,5)
 bar:2006 at: 37332 fontsize:S text: 37,332 shift:(-15,5)
 bar:2011 at: 40654 fontsize:S text: 40,654 shift:(-15,5)
 bar:2014 at: 40225 fontsize:S text: 40,225 shift:(-15,5)

Gap forms with La Rochette the urban area of Gap with a population of 40,700 inhabitants (2014) and an area of . This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Gap, formed by 39 *communes*, with a population of 62,567 inhabitants (2014) and an area of .

## Administration
Gap is the prefecture of the Hautes-Alpes department, the capital of the *arrondissement* of Gap and the administrative centre () of four cantons:
* Gap-1 formed by a part of Gap, with 9,895 inhabitants (2014).
* Gap-2 formed by a part of Gap, with 10,743 inhabitants (2014).
* Gap-3 formed by a part of Gap, with 10,346 inhabitants (2014).
* Gap-4 formed by a part of Gap, with 9,241 inhabitants (2014).

It is part of the intercommunality *Gap-Tallard-Durance* ().

### Twin towns 
Gap is twinned with:

* Pinerolo, Italy, since 1966;
* Traunstein, Germany, since 1976.

## Gallery

File:Gap025.jpg|Carnot street, Gap.
File:Gap020.jpg|Gap.
File:Musée départemental05.JPG|The Departemental Museum of Gap.
File:Place J. Marcellin.JPG|Jean-Marcellin square.
File:Gap022.jpg|alt=The Luye at Gap, near to the Parc de la Pépinière|The Luye at Gap, near the *Parc de la Pépinière*.

## References
## Related pages
* Arrondissements of the Hautes-Alpes department
* Communes of the Hautes-Alpes department

## Other websites
* Ville de Gap - official website