Haute-Savoie

**Haute-Savoie** is a département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France, bordering Switzerland and Italy.

## Name 
Before 1860, the territory of the modern Haute-Savoie and Savoie departments had been part of the Kingdom of Sardinia, as a Duchy, since 1713. Annexation of the region by France was made in 1860. In that year, the Emperor Napoléon III divided the territory in two departments: *Savoie*, to the south, with the city of Chambéry, and *Haute-Savoie*, to the north, with the city of Annecy.

*Haute* ("High") in the name Haute-Savoie is not because of the altitude but because of its position, to the north, in the territory.

## History
The department of Haute-Savoie was created in 1860 from the northern part of the Duchy of Sardinia with four *arrondissements*: Annecy, Bonneville, Saint-Julien and Thonon. The capital was Annecy.

On 10 September 1926, the *arrondissement* of Saint-Julien was eliminated but became again an arrondissement in 1933.

The Haute-Savoie department is within the watershed of the Rhône river but with short rivers. There are two important lakes in the department: the Lake Geneva, shared with Switzerland, and the Lake Annecy.

### Climate
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Annecy is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype **Cfb**.

## Administration
Haute-Savoie is managed by the *Departmental*

*of Haute-Savoie* in Annecy. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

### Administrative divisions
There are 4 *arrondissements* (districts), 17 *cantons* and 281 *communes* (municipalities) in Haute-Savoie.

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Haute-Savoie department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

# Annecy-1 (7401)
# Annecy-2 (7402)
# Annecy-le-Vieux (7403)
# Annemasse (7404)
# Bonneville (7405)
# Cluses (7406)
# Évian-les-Bains (7407)
# Faverges (7408)
# Gaillard (7409)
# Le Mont-Blanc (7410)
# La Roche-sur-Foron (7411)
# Rumilly (7412)
# Saint-Julien-en-Genevois (7413)
# Sallanches (7414)
# Sciez (7415)
# Seynod (7416)
# Thonon-les-Bains (7417)

## Demographics
The inhabitants of Haute-Savoie are known, in French, as *Haut-Savoyards* (women: *Haut-Savoyardes*).

Haute-Savoie had a population, in 2014, of 783,127, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The *arrondissement* of Annecy, with 276,382 inhabitants, is the *arrondissement* with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Haute-Savoie**

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 bar:2014 at: 783127 fontsize:S text: 783,127 shift:(-18,5)

The *communes* in the department with more inhabitants are:

## Gallery

File:Annecy vue du mont Veyrier.jpg|Annecy and Lake Annecy.
File:Château de Bonneville.jpg|Bonneville castle.
File:St Julien en Genevois Hotel de Ville.JPG|The city hall of Saint-Julien-en-Genevois.
File:Thonon-les-Bains - village des pecheurs 2.JPG|Thonon-les-Bains - fishermen town.
File:Thonon-les-Bains et Mont-Blanc.JPG|Thonon-les-Bains and the Mont-Blanc.

## Related pages
* Arrondissements of the Haute-Savoie department
* Communes of the Haute-Savoie department

## References
## Other websites
* Departmental Council website 
* Prefecture website