Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 770,940 as of 2023;

Demographics

Population development since 1791:

The inhabitants of the Gard are called Gardois in French. The most populous commune is Nîmes, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are eight communes that have more than 10,000 inhabitants:

{| class=wikitable

! Commune

! Population (2023)

|-

|Nîmes

|style="text-align: center;" | 151,839

|-

|Alès

|style="text-align: center;" | 46,125

|-

|Bagnols-sur-Cèze

|style="text-align: center;" | 18,112

|-

|Beaucaire

|style="text-align: center;" | 15,692

|-

|Saint-Gilles

|style="text-align: center;" | 14,734

|-

|Villeneuve-lès-Avignon

|style="text-align: center;" | 13,148

|-

|Vauvert

|style="text-align: center;" | 11,671

|-

|Pont-Saint-Esprit

|style="text-align: center;" | 10,958

|-

|}

Politics

In the closely contested first round of the 2012 presidential election, the Gard was the only department to vote for the National Front candidate Marine Le Pen by a slim plurality, with 25.51% of the vote. The incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy of the Union for a Popular Movement party received 24.86% of the vote, while Socialist candidate François Hollande received 24.11% of the vote share.

Departmental Council

The President of the Departmental Council has been Françoise Laurent-Perrigot of the Socialist Party (PS) since 2021.

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;"

!colspan=2| Party || Seats

|-

! style="background-color: " |

|The Republicans (LR) ||align="right"| 12

|-

! style="background-color: " |<span style="color:white; font-size:190%;">•</span>

|Socialist Party (PS) ||align="right"| 10

|-

! style="background-color: " |

|Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) ||align="right"| 7

|-

! style="background-color: " |<span style="color:white; font-size:190%;">•</span>

|French Communist Party (PCF) ||align="right"| 6

|-

! style="background-color: " |<span style="color:white; font-size:190%;">•</span>

|Miscellaneous left (DVG) ||align="right"| 4

|-

! style="background-color: " |

|National Rally (FN) ||align="right"| 4

|-

! style="background-color: " |<span style="color:white; font-size:190%;">•</span>

|Europe Ecology – The Greens (EELV) ||align="right"| 2

|-

! style="background-color: " |

|Miscellaneous right (DVD) ||align="right"| 1

|}

Current members of the National Assembly

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!colspan="2"|Constituency!!Member!!Party

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Gard's 1st constituency

| Yoann Gillet

| National Rally

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Gard's 2nd constituency

| Nicolas Meizonnet

| National Rally

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Gard's 3rd constituency

| Pascale Bordes

| National Rally

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Gard's 4th constituency

| Pierre Meurin

| National Rally

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Gard's 5th constituency

| Alexandre Allegret-Pilot

| Union of the Right for the Republic

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Gard's 6th constituency

| Sylvie Josserand

| National Rally

|}

Tourism

The Gard contains a part of the Cévennes National Park. There are important Roman architectural remains in Nîmes, as well as the famous Roman aqueduct, the Pont du Gard.

The Gard is also home to the source of Perrier, a carbonated mineral water sold both in France and internationally on a large scale. The spring and facility are located just south-east of the commune of Vergèze.

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Aiguèze.jpg|Aiguèze

File:Chateau d'Uzès 12.JPG|Uzès

File:Cascades Sautadet.jpg|Cèze

</gallery>

See also

  • Arrondissements of the Gard department
  • Cantons of the Gard department
  • Communes of the Gard department

References

  • Prefecture website
  • Departmental Council website
  • Welcome to the Gard
  • Guide Gard