Gard () is a

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

Southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

, located in the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

Occitanie Occitanie may refer to: *Occitania, a region in southern France called ''Occitanie'' in French *Occitania (administrative region) Occitania ( ; french: Occitanie ; oc, Occitània ; ca, Occitània ) is the southernmost administrative region of ...

. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Populations légales 2019: 30 Gard
INSEE its

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

. The department is named after the river

Gardon The Gardon or Gard ( Occitan and French: ''Gardon, Gard'', , ) is a river in southern France. It is the namesake of the department of Gard. Several of its tributaries are also called ''Gardon''. It is long, and takes its source in the commu ...

. In recent decades of the 21st century, local administration and French speakers have returned to the original

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language Occitan (; o ...

name of the river, Gard (). It is part of a revival of Occitan culture.

History

In classical times the Gard area was settled by

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and their allies. They built the

Via Domitia The Via Domitia was the first Roman road built in Gaul, to link Italy and Hispania through Gallia Narbonensis, across what is now Southern France. The route that the Romans regularised and paved was ancient when they set out to survey it, and tr ...

across the region in 118 BC. Centuries later, on 4 March 1790, Gard was one of the original 83 departments created during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. It comprised the ancient province of

Languedoc The Province of Languedoc (; , ; oc, Lengadòc ) is a former province of France. Most of its territory is now contained in the modern-day region of Occitanie in Southern France. Its capital city was Toulouse. It had an area of approximately ...

. Originally this department was to include the canton of

Ganges The Ganges ( ) (in India: Ganga ( ); in Bangladesh: Padma ( )). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international river to which India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China are the riparian states." is ...

, but Ganges was transferred to the neighbouring department of

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Aigues Mortes Aigues-Mortes (; oc, Aigas Mòrtas) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitania region of southern France. The medieval city walls surrounding the city are well preserved. Situated on the junction of the Canal du Rhône à Sète a ...

, which gave the department its own outlet to the

Gulf of Lion The Gulf of Lion or Gulf of Lions ( French: ''golfe du Lion'', Spanish: ''golfo de León'', Italian: ''Golfo del Leone'', Occitan: ''golf del/dau Leon'', Catalan: ''golf del Lleó'', Medieval Latin: ''sinus Leonis'', ''mare Leonis'', Classical L ...

on the Mediterranean Sea. During the middle of the nineteenth century the prefecture, traditionally a centre of commerce with a manufacturing sector focused on textiles, was an early beneficiary of railway development, becoming an important railway junction. Several luxurious hotels were built, and the improved market access provided by the railways also encouraged, initially, a rapid growth in wine growing. But many winegrowers were ruined when the vineyards were infected with

phylloxera Grape phylloxera is an insect pest of commercial grapevines worldwide, originally native to eastern North America. Grape phylloxera (''Daktulosphaira vitifoliae'' (Fitch 1855) belong to the family Phylloxeridae, within the order Hemiptera, bugs ...

in 1872.

Geography

Gard is part of the

and is surrounded by the departments of

Hérault Hérault (; oc, Erau, ) is a department of the region of Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault River, its prefecture is Montpellier. It had a population of 1,175,623 in 2019.Lozère Lozère (; oc, Losera ) is a landlocked department in the region of Occitanie in Southern France, located near the Massif Central, bounded to the northeast by Haute-Loire, to the east by Ardèche, to the south by Gard, to the west by Aveyron, ...

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants o ...

Bouches-du-Rhône Bouches-du-Rhône ( , , ; oc, Bocas de Ròse ; "Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in Southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and large ...

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

. The highest point in the department is

Mont Aigoual Mont Aigoual (; oc, Mont Augal, elevation 1567m / 5141 ft) is the highest point of the Gard '' department'', France. It is part of the Massif Central, and it is located within the Cévennes National Park. Its southern slopes are the sourc ...

. In the first quarter of the 21st century, the department has suffered serious

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

ing. The region has also been subject to some of the highest recorded temperatures in France's history as climate change alters summer heat.

Demographics

Population development since 1791: The inhabitants of Gard are called ''"Gardois"''. The most populous commune is

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are eight communes that have more than 10,000 inhabitants each:

Politics

In the closely contested first round of the 2012 presidential election, Gard was the only department to vote for the National Front candidate

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its pre ...

by a slim plurality, with 25.51% of the vote. The incumbent President

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

of the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement (french: link=no, Union pour un mouvement populaire, ; UMP, ) was a centre-right political party in France that was one of the two major contemporary political parties in France along with the centre-left Social ...

party received 24.86% of the vote, while

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

candidate

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. He previously was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (PS) from 1997 to 2008, Mayor of Tulle from ...

received 24.11% of the vote share.

Departmental Council

The President of the Departmental Council has been Françoise Laurent-Perrigot of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS) since 2021.

Members of the National Assembly

In the 2017 legislative election, Gard elected the following representatives to the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

Tourism

Gard contains a part of the

Cévennes National Park Cévennes National Park (french: Parc national des Cévennes) is a French national park located in Southern France, in the mountainous area of Cévennes. Created in 1970, the park has its administrative seat in Florac at Florac Castle. It is l ...

. There are important Roman architectural remains in

, as well as the famous

Roman aqueduct The Romans constructed aqueducts throughout their Republic and later Empire, to bring water from outside sources into cities and towns. Aqueduct water supplied public baths, latrines, fountains, and private households; it also supported mining o ...

, the

Pont du Gard The Pont du Gard is an ancient Roman aqueduct bridge built in the first century AD to carry water over to the Roman colony of ''Nemausus'' ( Nîmes). It crosses the river Gardon near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard in southern France. The Pont ...

. Gard is also home to the source of

Perrier Perrier ( , also , ) is a French brand of natural bottled mineral water obtained at its source in Vergèze, located in the Gard ''département''. Perrier is known for its carbonation and its distinctive green bottle. Perrier was part of the ...

, a carbonated mineral water sold both in France and internationally on a large scale. The spring and facility are located just south-east of the commune of

Vergèze Vergèze (; oc, Vergesa) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France. Vergèze-Codognan station has rail connections to Nîmes, Avignon and Montpellier. Located just south-east of the commune is the production facility for Perrier, ...

. File:Aiguèze.jpg, Aiguèze File:Chateau d'Uzès 12.JPG,

Uzès Uzès (; ) is a commune in the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. In 2017, it had a population of 8,454. Uzès lies about north-northeast of Nîmes, west of Avignon and south-east of Alès. History Originally ''Uc ...

File:Cascades Sautadet.jpg,

Cèze The Cèze (; oc, Céser) is a karstic French river, a right tributary of the Rhône. It runs through the departments of Lozère and Gard in the Occitanie region. It is long, and its basin area is . Its source is in the Cévennes mountains, ...