HAUTE-SANE

dpartement, Franche-Comt rgion, eastern France. It was created from the northern part of the historic province of Franche-Comt. Haute-Sane is a transitional region between the areas of Lorraine and Alsace to the north and those of Burgundy and Franche-Comt to the south. The dpartement lies astride the upper course of the Sane River, while the Belfort Gap, a strategic entry from Germany into France, lies to the east. Haute-Sane's northern part occupies the southern slopes of the Vosges mountains. The Sane River flows southwest across the dpartement through plateaus and plains, meandering west of Vesoul, Haute-Sane's capital, and through the town of Gray. The climate is continental, with sudden changes of temperature. More than one-third of Haute-Sane is covered with forests and more than one-fourth with pastureland, while approximately one-fifth, notably the warm, sheltered Sane River valley, is cultivated for cereals, fruit, and vegetables. Dairy farming in the dpartement is directed toward milk production for Gruyre cheese. Fougerolles in the northeast, near the spa of Luxeuil-les-Bains, has been noted for more than three centuries for its production of kirsch, a cherry brandy. Industrial activity is small, devoted in large part to textiles and to work in wood and metal, and Haute-Sane is slowly losing its rural population. The dpartement is divided into two arrondissements, Vesoul and Lure, and is in the educational division of Besanon. Area 2,070 square miles (5,360 square km). Pop. (1990) 229,650.