Haute-Garonne (; , ; Upper Garonne) is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. In 2023, it had a population of 1,471,468.

|graph-pos=bottom

|cols=2

|1801|339574

|1821|391118

|1831|427856

|1841|468153

|1851|481610

|1861|484081

|1872|479362

|1881|478009

|1891|472383

|1901|448481

|1911|432126

|1921|424582

|1931|441799

|1936|458647

|1946|512260

|1954|525669

|1962|594633

|1968 |690712

|1975 |777431

|1982 |824501

|1990 |925962

|1999 |1046338

|2007 |1202920

|2012 |1279349

|2017 |1362672

|2023 |1471468

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Toulouse, the prefecture. As of 2023, there were ten communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:

{| class=wikitable

! Commune

! Population (2023)

|-

| Toulouse

| style="text-align: center;" | 514,819

|-

| Colomiers

| style="text-align: center;" | 40,882

|-

| Tournefeuille

| style="text-align: center;" | 30,168

|-

| Blagnac

| style="text-align: center;" | 27,604

|-

| Muret

| style="text-align: center;" | 26,079

|-

| Plaisance-du-Touch

| style="text-align: center;" | 21,079

|-

| Cugnaux

| style="text-align: center;" | 20,662

|-

| Balma

| style="text-align: center;" | 17,772

|-

| Castanet-Tolosan

| style="text-align: center;" | 15,317

|-

| Ramonville-Saint-Agne

| style="text-align: center;" | 15,158

|}

Politics

This department was the political base of former Prime Minister Lionel Jospin.

Departmental Council of Haute-Garonne

The Departmental Council of Haute-Garonne comprises 54 seats. In the 2015 departmental elections, the Socialist Party (PS) won 48 seats. The Republicans secured the remaining 6 seats. The President of the Departmental Council has been Georges Méric (PS) since 2015.

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

!colspan=2| Party || Seats

|-

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

|Socialist Party ||align="right"| 48

|-

! style="background-color: " |

|The Republicans ||align="right"| 6

|-

|-

|}

Members of the National Assembly

Haute-Garonne elected the following members of the National Assembly during the 2017 legislative election:

{| class="wikitable"

|-

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

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Haute-Garonne's 1st constituency

| Hadrien Clouet

| La France Insoumise

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Haute-Garonne's 2nd constituency

| Anne Stambach-Terrenoir

| La France Insoumise

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Haute-Garonne's 3rd constituency

| Corinne Vignon

| Renaissance

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Haute-Garonne's 4th constituency

| François Piquemal

| La France Insoumise

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Haute-Garonne's 5th constituency

| Jean-François Portarrieu

| Renaissance

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Haute-Garonne's 6th constituency

| Arnaud Simion

| Socialist Party

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Haute-Garonne's 7th constituency

| Christophe Bex

| La France Insoumise

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Haute-Garonne's 8th constituency

| Joël Aviragnet

| Socialist Party

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Haute-Garonne's 9th constituency

| Christine Arrighi

| The Ecologists

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Haute-Garonne's 10th constituency

| Jacques Oberti

| Socialist Party

|}

Transport

Air

Haute-Garonne is served by Toulouse–Blagnac Airport. As of March 2024, the airport featured flights to 84 destinations, mostly in Europe and Northern Africa with a few additional seasonal long-haul connections.

Tourism

Main sights

Haute-Garonne's main sights include:

<gallery>

File:Toulouse Capitole Night Wikimedia Commons.jpg|The Capitole de Toulouse at night

Laréole - Le chateau - Façade Nord Ouest.jpg|Château de Laréole

File:Bagnères-de-Luchon vue Pyrénées.JPG|The Pyrenees mountain range seen from Bagnères-de-Luchon

File:Lac d'OO-01.jpg|Lac d'Oô

File:Ariane 5 at Cite de l'Espace 2.jpg|Cité de l'espace

</gallery>

Winter sports

The department has four ski resorts:

  • Peyragudes (1600 m -2450 m), 55&nbsp;km of slopes
  • Luchon-Superbagnères (1440 m - 2260 m), 30&nbsp;km of slopes
  • Le Mourtis (1380 m - 1816 m), 22&nbsp;km of slopes
  • Bourg-d'Oueil (1350 m - 1500 m)

See also

  • Cantons of the Haute-Garonne department
  • Communes of the Haute-Garonne department
  • Arrondissements of the Haute-Garonne department

References

<!--added above External links/Sources by script-assisted edit-->

  • Departmental Council website
  • Prefecture website
  • Tourism website
  • Photography Panoramics 360° website