The Dauphiné Prealps () are a mountain range in the south-western part of the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

. They are located in

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...

and, marginally, in

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (commonly shortened to PACA), also known as Région Sud, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France, located at the far southeastern point of the Metropolitan France, mainland. The main P ...

(south-eastern

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

). Dauphiné Prealps are the central section of the

French Prealps The French Prealps ( ); are a group of subalpine mountain ranges of medium elevation located immediately west of the French Alps. They roughly stretch from Lake Geneva southwest to the rivers Isère and Drôme; east to a line running from Chamo ...

Etymology

The ''

Dauphiné The Dauphiné ( , , ; or ; or ), formerly known in English as Dauphiny, is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was ...

'' () is a historical region whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of :Isère, :Drôme, and :Hautes-Alpes.

Geography

Administratively the French part of the range belongs to the

French departments In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the Regions of France, administrative regions a ...

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

and, marginally,

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (sometimes abbreviated as AHP; ; ; ), formerly until 1970 known as Basses-Alpes (, ), is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the sou ...

. The whole range is drained by the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

river.

SOIUSA classification

According to

SOIUSA Alps by SOIUSA. SOIUSA (an acronym for - English: ''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps-ISMSA'') is a classification system of the Alps from the geographic and toponomastic point of view. It was designed by Sergio Maraz ...

(''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps'') the mountain range is an Alpine section, classified in the following way: * Main part =

Western Alps The Western Alps are the western part of the Alps, Alpine Range including the southeastern part of France (e.g. Savoie), the whole of Monaco, the northwestern part of Italy (i.e. Piedmont and the Aosta Valley) and the southwestern part of Switzer ...

* Major sector = South Western Alps * Section = Dauphiné Prealps *

Code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communicati ...

= I/A-6

Borders

Dauphiné Prealps' borders are (anticlockwise): *

(north); * Drac,

Col Bayard Col Bayard (1,246 m) is a mountain pass through the Dauphiné Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France. It connects the communities of La Mure and Gap. See also * List of highest paved roads in Europe * List of mountain pass ...

- which connects them with

Dauphiné Alps The Dauphiné Alps () are a group of mountain ranges in Southeastern France, west of the main chain of the Alps. Mountain ranges within the Dauphiné Alps include the Massif des Écrins in Écrins National Park, Belledonne, Le Taillefer range ...

- and

Durance The Durance (; ''Durença'' in the Occitan classical norm or ''Durènço'' in the Mistralian norm) is a major river in Southeastern France. A left tributary of the Rhône, it is long. Its drainage basin is .Buëch The Buëch (; ) is a river in southeastern France, a right tributary of the Durance. It is long. Its drainage basin A drainage basin is an area of land in which all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth ...

, Col de Macuègne - which connects them with Provence Alps and prealps - and Toulourenc river (south); * Rhone and

valleys (west).

Subdivision

The Dauphiné Prealps are divided into five Alpine subsections: *

Dévoluy Mountains The Dévoluy Mountains (, ) is a limestone massif located in Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart ...

SOIUSA code image:SOIUSA-sezioni.png, Alps by SOIUSA. SOIUSA (an acronym for - English language, English: ''International Standardized Mountain Subdivision of the Alps-ISMSA'') is a classification system of the Alps from the geography, geographic and toponoma ...

:I/A-6.I; * Massif Céüse-Aujour -

:I/A-6.II; * Massif du Vercors -

:I/A-6.III; * Massif du Diois -

:I/A-6.IV; * Massif des Baronnies -

:I/A-6.V.

Notable summits

Some notable summits of the range are:

Notable passes

Some notable passes of the range are:

References

Maps

* French official cartography (''

Institut Géographique National An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

'' - IGN); on-line version
www.geoportail.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dauphine Prealps Western Alps French Alps