Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie

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 an ...

of Southwestern France. Named after the river

Garonne The Garonne (, also , ; Occitan, Catalan, Basque, and es, Garona, ; la, Garumna or ) is a river of southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux – ...

, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and fr ...

, the country's fourth-largest. In 2019, it had a population of 1,400,039.Populations légales 2019: 31 Haute-Garonne
INSEE

History

Haute-Garonne is 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 conside ...

on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former provinces 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 ...

and Guyenne/ Gascony. The department was originally larger. The reduction in its area resulted from an

imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

decree dated 21 November 1808 and which established the neighbouring department of Tarn-et-Garonne, to the north. The new department, created in response to the pleadings of various locally powerful politicians, took territory from five surrounding departments including Haute-Garonne. The districts lost to Tarn-et-Garonne in 1808 were those of Montech and Castelsarrasin.

Geography

Haute-Garonne is part of the current

of Occitanie and is surrounded by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers, Tarn-et-Garonne, Tarn,

Aude Aude (; ) is a department in Southern France, located in the Occitanie region and named after the river Aude. The departmental council also calls it " Cathar Country" (French: ''Pays cathare'') after a group of religious dissidents active ...

, and Ariège. It also borders

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

in the south ( province of Lleida and province of Huesca). According to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

, the Haute-Garonne department has Oceanic climate,

Subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, g ...

and Polar climate. The department is crossed by the upper course of the

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, and goes through

and leaves the department. The extreme south of the department lies in the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to ...

mountain range and is very mountainous. The highest elevation is the Peak of Perdiguère, at above sea level.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called ''Haut-Garonnais''. The greatest population concentration is around

. The south of the department is quite sparsely populated. Overall the department had a population of 1.4 million as of the 2019

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

. Young people are well represented with 55% of the population under the age of 40 and of those, 16% are between the ages of 20 and 29. This is in part because Toulouse is an important

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

town. The department has also received significant migration from other parts of the country.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 8 communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:

Politics

This department was the political base of former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

Departmental Council of Haute-Garonne

The Departmental Council of Haute-Garonne comprises 54 seats. In the 2015 departmental elections, 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 ...

(PS) won 48 seats. The Republicans secured the remaining 6 seats. The President of the Departmental Council has been Georges Méric (PS) since 2015.

Members of the National Assembly

Haute-Garonne elected the following members of 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 r ...

during the 2017 legislative election:

Tourism

Main sights

Haute-Garonne's main sights include: File:Toulouse Capitole Night Wikimedia Commons.jpg, The Capitole de Toulouse at night Laréole - Le chateau - Façade Nord Ouest.jpg, Château de Laréole File:Bagnères-de-Luchon vue Pyrénées.JPG, The

mountain range seen from Bagnères-de-Luchon File:Lac d'OO-01.jpg,

Lac d'Oô The Lac d'Oô () is an artificial lake in the Pyrenees with an area of 42 hectares located at an altitude of 1507 m in the commune of Oô Oô (; oc, Òu) is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southwestern ...

File:Ariane 5 at Cite de l'Espace 2.jpg,

Cité de l'espace The Cité de l'espace ( French for Space City) is a scientific discovery centre in France focused on spaceflight. It was opened in June 1997 and is located on the eastern outskirts of Toulouse. , there had been more than four million visitors. ...

Winter sports

The department has four ski resorts: * Peyragudes (1600 m -2450 m), 55 km of slopes * Luchon-Superbagnères (1440 m - 2260 m), 30 km of slopes * Le Mourtis (1380 m - 1816 m), 22 km of slopes * Bourg-d'Oueil (1350 m - 1500 m)