Gap, Hautes-Alpes
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Commune of Gap | |
Location | |
Longitude | 06° 04' 43" E |
Latitude | 44° 33' 34" N |
Administration | |
---|---|
Country | France |
Region | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur |
Department | Hautes-Alpes (préfecture) |
Arrondissement | Gap |
Canton | Chief town of 6 cantons |
Mayor | Pierre Bernard-Reymond (2001-2008) |
Statistics | |
Altitude | 625 m–2,360 m (avg. 745 m) |
Land area¹ | 110.43 km² |
Population² (1999) |
36,262 |
- Density (1999) | 328/km² |
Miscellaneous | |
INSEE/Postal code | 05061/ 05000 |
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel). | |
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Gap (Occitan: Gap) is a commune in France, the préfecture (capital) of the Hautes-Alpes département.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
An Alpine crossroads at the intersection of D994 and Route Nationale 85 the Route Napoléon, Gap lies 2,406 feet above sea level along the right bank of the Luye River (close to where it joins the Durance River). The region around Gap is known as Gapençais.
[edit] History
Originally founded by the Gauls, the Roman emperor Augustus seized the town in 14 BC and renamed it Vapincum. Gap was annexed by the French crown in 1512.
Napoleon I left Elba in February of 1815 and had reached Gap on March 15 with 40 horsemen and 10 grenadiers where he had thousands of copies of his Proclamations printed. The whole population of the city accompanied Napoleon when he left Gap.
[edit] See also
[edit] Sources and external links
- This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.
- Gallia Christiana (Nova, 1715), I, 452-473, Instrumenta, 86-89, (Nova, 1725), III, 1051-1107; Instrumenta, 177-188, 205-8;
- ALBANES, Gallia christiana Novissima (Montbeliard, 1899), I,
- DEPERY, Histoire hagiologique du diocese de Gap (Gap, 1852);
- FISQUET, France Pontificale (Paris, 1868);
- GAILLAUD, Histoire de Notre Dame d'Embrun (Gap, 1862);
- ROMAN, Sigillographie du diocese de Gap (Grenoble, 1870);
- IDEM, Tableau historique du departement des Hautes-Alpes (Paris, 1889-91);
- CHEVALIER, Topo-bibl., pp. 988, 1266.
Overseas departments
Cayenne (French Guiana) • Basse-Terre (Guadeloupe) • Fort-de-France (Martinique) • Saint-Denis (Réunion)