is a
Département in the southwest of
France named after the
Garonne river.
Haute-Garonne was one of the original 83 departments created during the
French Revolution on
March 4 ,
1790 . It was created from part of the former province of
Languedoc .
Haute-Garonne is part of the current ''région'' of
Midi-Pyrénées and is surrounded by the ''départements'' of
Hautes-Pyrénées ,
Gers ,
Tarn-et-Garonne ,
Tarn ,
Aude , and
Ariège . It also borders
Spain in the south (
Province Of Lleida and
Province Of Huesca ).
The department is crossed by the
Garonne River for nearly 200 kilometers (125 miles). The extreme south of the ''département'' lies in the
Pyrenees mountain range and is very mountainous. The highest elevation is the Peak of Perdiguère, at 3,222 meters (10,571 ft) above sea level.
The inhabitants of the department are called ''Haut-Garonnais''. The greatest population concentration is around
Toulouse . The south of the department is quite sparsely populated.
