HAUTES-ALPES

dpartement, region of Provence-Alpes-Cte-d'Azur, southeast France. The dpartement occupies the upper basin of the Durance River in the heart of the southern French Alps and is bounded on the east by Italy. It was created from part of the historic province of Dauphin (q.v.) and from a portion of Provence. Consisting largely of mountains and high valleys, the dpartement has only small towns and villages and is among the least populous in France. The mountains rise in magnificent, disordered massifs without regular chains. The Durance River, which rises in the north of the dpartement, flows southwest through Brianon past the ancient fortress town of Embrun and south of Gap (q.v.), the capital of the dpartement. Winters in the dpartement are long and cold, with perpetual snow on the higher mountains; but the sheltered valleys are remarkably dry and sunny. Irrigated meadows, cornfields, orchards, and vineyards occupy the valley floors and lower slopes. Sheep are the basis of the area's livestock farming, although dairy cattle are also reared. A dam at Serre-Ponon, below which a hydroelectric plant has been built, has transformed the torrential Durance River in the south of the dpartement into a lake 16 miles (26 km) long and up to 2 miles wide. Hautes-Alpes is a popular tourist region, and winter sports are well developed in the Brianon area at Serre-Chevalier and Montgenve. The isolation of the high Alpine valleys has been reduced by the development of modern roads. Two important roads traverse the dpartement from north to south: the Route Napolon in the west through Gap and the Route des Grandes Alpes nearer the Italian frontier, using high passes above 6,000 feet (1,830 m). The dpartement is divided into two arrondissements, that of the ancient city of Gap, in which there is a little industry, and that of Brianon, a medieval fortress town with a new town below in which floss silk is made. Hautes-Alpes is in the educational division of Aix-en-Provence. Area 2,142 square miles (5,549 square km). Pop. (1985 est.) 107,000.