Département Gers

Gers
region	Occitania
prefecture	Also
Sub-prefecture (s)	Condom Mirande
Residents	191.091 (Jan. 1, 2017)
Population density	31 inhabitants per km²
surface	6,256.82 km²
Arrondissements	3
Community associations	17th
Cantons	17th
Communities	461
President of the Department Council
ISO-3166-2 code	FR-32
Location of the Gers department in the Occitanie region

Gers [ ʒɛːʀ or ʒɛʀs ] is the French department with serial number 32. It is located in the southwest of the country in the Occitania region and was named after the river Gers , a tributary of the Garonne .

history

The department arose on March 4, 1790 from parts of the former French province of Gascogne (mainly from the counties Armagnac and Condomois ). After the creation of the Tarn-et-Garonne department in 1808, some communities in the northeast had to give it up.

It belonged to the Midi-Pyrénées region from 1960 to 2015 , which was added to the Occitania region in 2016 .

geography

Gers is located in the south-west of France in the historic province of Gascony .

The department borders on the departments Hautes-Pyrénées , Haute-Garonne , Tarn-et-Garonne , Lot-et-Garonne , Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques .

The Gers is one of the most agricultural and least populated areas in Western Europe . Because of its beautiful landscape, Gers is sometimes referred to as the Tuscany of France .

coat of arms

Description : In silver, a red lion with a red tongue out.

population

The inhabitants of the department are called Gersois.

The Gascognic language is a subspecies of the Occitan language strongly influenced by Basque .

Administrative division

Communes and arrondissements in the Gers department

Arrondissement	Cantons	Communities	Residents January 1, 2017	Area km²	Density of population / km²	Code INSEE
Also	10	134	81,892	1,923.50	43	321
Condom	7th	162	67,041	2,462.15	27	322
Mirande	6th	165	42,158	1,871.17	23	323
Département Gers	17th	461	191.091	6,256.82	31	32

See also:

• List of communes in the Gers department
• List of cantons in the Gers department
• List of associations of municipalities in the Gers department

The Tarn-et-Garonne department was re-established in 1808

Agriculture

The area is very rural. Some culinary specialties are:

• Armagnac - brandy ,
• Côtes de Gascogne ,
• Floc de Gascogne ,
• Foie gras

Next to corn , rapeseed , sunflower and corn grown.

climate

The summers are long and warm, the winters short and mild. The annual rainfall varies from more than 900 millimeters in the southwest of the department to less than 700 millimeters in the northeast ( Auch , Condom , Lectoure ).

The winters are different, with often negative temperatures, but the climate remains soft and dry, the department is one of the sunniest in France.

Summers are very hot and dry, the temperature often exceeding 40 ° C. It is also one of the hottest cities in France , along with Toulouse and Millau, with more than 300 sunny days a year.

This climate has been a strong attraction for visitors for centuries. In the area you can find several castles, medieval walled places and places of religious importance on the Way of St. James and the Via Podiensis .

Partnerships

The Gers department has had a partnership with the Wanzhou district of Chongqing , People's Republic of China , since 1988 .

literature

The Gersois Charles d'Artagnan de Batz-Castelmore , better known as D'Artagnan, is the fourth musketeer from the novel The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas .

Web links

Commons : Département Gers  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• General Council of the Gers Department (French)
• Prefecture of the Gers department (French)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Chongqing Municipal Government

Coordinates: 43 ° 40 '  N , 0 ° 34'  E