AUDE

dpartement, Languedoc-Roussillon rgion, southern France. It was formed in 1790 from part of Languedoc and covers an area of 2,370 square miles (6,139 square km). From the Mediterranean Gulf of Lion on the east it reaches inland to the Gate of Carcassonne, which lies between the Pyrenees (maximum elevation 11,000 feet ) and the Massif Central (6,000 feet ). Most of the dpartement is within the Aude River drainage basin, but its westward reaches extend into the Garonne River basin. Behind the coastal sand dunes are extensive lagoons, notably Sigean and Leucate. The lowland, warm in winter and hot and dry in summer, produces vast quantities of inexpensive wine. Minerals are scarce, with some sulfur mined at Malvsi and iron ore at Leucate on the coast. Quillan, in the foothills of the southwest, has an important plastics industry. Carcassonne, the capital, contains a picturesque citadel with its restored medieval fortifications and buildings. It, like Narbonne and Limoux, heads an arrondissement. Aude dpartement is under the jurisdiction of the court of appeals and acadmie (educational division) at Montpellier in the dpartement of Hrault. Pop. (1990 prelim.) 297,500.