Place:Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France

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NameAlpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alt namesAlpes-de-Haute-Provence
Alpes-de-Haute Provencesource: Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1984)
Basses-Alpessource: Encyclopædia Britannica (1988) I, 292; Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1984)
TypeDépartement
Coordinates44.167°N 6°E
Located inFrance     (1790 - )
Also located inProvence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France    
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes to the north. Formerly part of the province of Provence, it had a population of 164,308 in 2019, which makes it the 94th most populated French department.

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence's main cities are Digne-les-Bains (prefecture), Manosque, Sisteron, Barcelonnette, Castellane and Forcalquier. Inhabitants are called the Bas-Alpins (masculine) or Bas-Alpines (feminine) in reference to the department's former name, Basses-Alpes, which was in use until 1970. Although the prefecture is Digne-les-Bains, the largest city is Manosque. Alpes-de-Haute-Provence's INSEE and postal code is 04.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Basses-Alpes was one of the 83 original departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 under the Act of 22 December 1789.

On 12 August 1793, the department of Vaucluse was created from parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes. Basses-Alpes lost the canton of Sault to Vaucluse at this point. Seventeen years later, in 1810, the canton of Barcillonnette was transferred over to Hautes-Alpes.

The department of Basses-Alpes was occupied by fascist Italy from November 1942 to September 1943.

On 13 April 1970, the department of Basses-Alpes was renamed to Alpes-de-Haute-Provence.

Here is an unflattering excerpt from an article called "Basse Alpes" from the Atlas Larousse published at the beginning of the 20th century:

"Scattered whitish rocks stand out like bones, a thin topsoil where bushes languish, some mountain flowers and stunted trees ... these mountains form almost everywhere a dreadful desert which will not have more inhabitants: this is the Sahara without the sun of Africa, with the snows of Siberia." (P. Joanne).

"On these steep slopes deforestation and flooding have resulted in a lack of fertile soil and agriculture has been the most miserable. There is a small harvest of wheat, wine in small quantities (but good), and truffles in large numbers. In the southern part, which has the climate of Provence, there are olive trees, mulberry trees, and orange trees. Aromatic plants abound, and there are 250,000 beehives. Manosque because its location is by far the second largest city of the department (with 5,500 inhabitants). Near Manosque are the lignite and gypsum mines. Despite a fairly active trade in olive oil, wine and raw silk, this department is also one of the least populated." (Larousse Illustrated Atlas, Printing Larousse, Paris, 1900).

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