Editing Hautes-Alpes (section)

== Geography ==
[[File:Hautes-Alpes.jpeg|thumb|left|Map of Hautes-Alpes]]
The department is surrounded by the following French departments: [[Alpes-de-Haute-Provence]], [[Drôme]], [[Isère]] and [[Savoie]]. Italy borders it on the east with the [[Metropolitan City of Turin]] and the [[province of Cuneo]], region of [[Piedmont]].

Hautes-Alpes is located in the [[Alps]] mountain range. The average elevation is over 1000 m; the highest elevation is over 4000 m. The only three sizable cities are [[Gap, Hautes-Alpes|Gap]], [[Briançon]] and [[Embrun, Hautes-Alpes|Embrun]], which was a subprefecture until 1926.<ref name=splaf/>

The third-highest settlement in all of Europe is the Hautes-Alpes village of [[Saint-Véran]]. [[Gap, Hautes-Alpes|Gap]] and [[Briançon]] are the highest [[Prefectures in France|prefecture]] and [[Subprefectures in France|subprefecture]] in France, respectively.

The following rivers flow through the department: [[Durance]], [[Guisane]], [[Buëch]], [[Drac (river)|Drac]] and [[Clarée]]. The [[Durance]] has been dammed to create one of the largest artificial lakes in Western Europe: the [[Lac de Serre-Ponçon]]. The [[Queyras]] valley is located in the eastern part of the department and is noted by many as being an area of outstanding beauty.

===Principal communes===
The most populous commune is the prefecture [[Gap, Hautes-Alpes|Gap]]. As of 2019, there are 2 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants, and 6 communes with more than 3,000 inhabitants:<ref name=pop2019/>

{| class=wikitable
! Commune
! Population (2019)
|-
| [[Gap, Hautes-Alpes|Gap]]
| style="text-align: center;" | 40,631
|-
| [[Briançon]]
| style="text-align: center;" | 11,339
|-
| [[Embrun, Hautes-Alpes|Embrun]]
| style="text-align: center;" | 6,335
|-
| [[Laragne-Montéglin]]
| style="text-align: center;" | 3,543
|-
| [[Veynes]]
| style="text-align: center;" | 3,216
|-
| [[Chorges]]
| style="text-align: center;" | 3,061
|}