Gers
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| Gers | |
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| The Gers coat of arms | |
| Location | |
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| Administration | |
| Département number: | 32 |
| Région: | Midi-Pyrénées |
| Préfecture: | Auch |
| Sub-Préfectures: | Condom Mirande |
| Arrondissements: | 3 |
| Cantons: | 31 |
| Communes: | 463 |
| Conseiller Général: | Philippe Martin PS |
| Statistics | |
| Population | Ranked 89th |
| -1999 | 172,335 |
| Population density: | 28/km² |
| Land area¹: | 6257 km² |
| ¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km². | |
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Gers is a département in the southwest of France named after the Gers River.
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[edit] History
Historically, Gers was part of Gascony. It was one of the original 83 départements created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascony.
[edit] Geography
Located in southwestern France, Gers is part of the Midi-Pyrénées region. It is surrounded by the départements of Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, Landes, and Pyrénées-Atlantiques.
[edit] Demographics
The inhabitants of the département are called Gersois.
[edit] Culture
The culture is largely agricultural, with great emphasis on the local gastronomical specialties, the pâté de foie gras and wild mushrooms.
The Gascon language is a dialect of the langue d'oc, but it is not spoken much today.
There has been a heavy influence of waves of Spanish immigrants.
[edit] See also
- Cantons of the Gers département
- Communes of the Gers département
- Arrondissements of the Gers département
[edit] External links
- Conseil Général website (in French)
- Prefecture website (in French)
- http://www.gers-gascogne.com/fr/default.asp (in French)
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