Gers

Gers is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the old provinces of Guyenne and Gascony.

The new department had six districts: Auch, Lectoure, Condom, Nogaro, L'Isle-Jourdain and Mirande. The capital (now prefecture) was Auch.^[4]

in 1808, part of the Gers department was transferred to the new Tarn-et-Garonne department'.^[4]

 

Gers is known for its hilly landscape and bastide villages. The Pyrenees are visible to the south.

Gers is part of the Occitanie region, and is the 34th French department in area with 6,256.8 km² (2,416 sq mi).^[2]

The department is surrounded by six departments in two regions:

• Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
  • Lot-et-Garonne (north)
  • Pyrénées-Atlantiques (southwest)
  • Landes (west)
• Occitanie region
  • Tarn-et-Garonne (northeast)
  • Haute-Garonne (east)
  • Hautes-Pyrénées (south)

The main rivers of the department are the Garonne and the Gers, a left tributary of the Garonne. Other rivers are Save, Gimone, Arrats, Baïse and Osse.

The highest point in the department is Mont de Chapelle Saint Roch (43°21′20″N 00°30′09″E / 43.35556°N 0.50250°E / 43.35556; 0.50250 (Mont de Chapelle Saint Roch)), in west central Pyrénées near the border with the Hautes-Pyrénées department, with an altitude of 377 m (1,237 ft).^[5]

The climate of Gers is an oceanic climate with template summers, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.^[6]

The annual rainfall in the department varies from over 900 mm (35.4 in) in the southwest of the department, to less than 700 mm (27.6 in) in the northeast (Auch, Condom and Lectoure).

Summers are very hot and dry, the temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F). Winters vary, often with frost, but the climate remains mild and dry.

The department is managed by the Departamental Council of the Gers in Auch. Gers is part of the region of Occitanie.

There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 17 cantons and 462 communes (municipalities) in Gers.^[7]

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Gers department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:^[10]

The inhabitants of Gers are known, in French, as Gersois (women: Gersoises).^[11]

Gers has a population, in 2014, of 190,625,^[3] for a population density of 30.5 inhabitants/km². The arrondissement of Auch, with 87,118 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Condom and Mirande, have respectively 65,562 and 37,945 inhabitants.^[8]

Evolution of the population in Gers

 

The 10 most important cities in the department are:

The economy in Gers revolves primarily around agriculture and culinary tourism. The department is a producer of maize, wheat, rapeseed, sunflower.

Some well-known products of the region are:

• Armagnac, a brandy
• Côtes de Gascogne, wine
• Floc de Gascogne, an apéritif (an alcoholic drink served before a meal)
• Foie gras
• Wild mushrooms

• Arrondissements of the Gers department
• Communes of the Gers department

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gers (department).

• Departamental Council website Archived 2015-11-06 at the Wayback Machine (in French)
• Prefecture website (in French)
• Comité départemental du tourisme et des loisirs du Gers Archived 2014-02-09 at the Wayback Machine
• Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie du Gers (in French)

43°39′N 0°35′E / 43.650°N 0.583°E / 43.650; 0.583