The department was inhabited inprehistoric times, as evidenced by the presence ofcaves withcave paintings anddolmens. In historical times it was inhabited byBasque people; they settled on the northern side of thePyrenees and in the valleys below. In 415 it became part of thekingdom of theVisigoths, until their defeat at the hands of theking of theFranks in 507.
TheAriège plain. The north of the department consists ofplains, smallhills and low valleys whereagriculture is an important activity. Two major rivers, theAriège and theLèze, flow through the plain from south to north.
ThePyrenean foothills. This area includes the small mountains and hills below 1,000 m (3,281 ft).
TheAriége high country. Thegeography is dominated by thePyrenees mountains exceeding 1,000 m (3,281 ft) above sea level which form the border between France and Spain.
Mediterranean – particularly visible in the vegetation of the foothills and of the valley of the Ariège river towards Tarascon, and in the Sault country
Continental – in the Pyrenean valleys, with many storms and big differences of temperature between day and night
Temperatures are mild in the foothills, e.g. at the city ofFoix (400 metres) the average is 5 °C in January and 19 °C in July. However, they decline rapidly with elevation, e.g. atl'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre (1,430 m) it is 0 °C in January and 14 °C in July.
The following is a list of the 13cantons of theAriège department (with theirINSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:[9]
The inhabitants of Ariège are known, inFrench, asariègeois (women:ariègeoises).[10]
Ariège has a population, in 2014, of 152,574,[3] for a population density of 31.2 inhabitants/km2. Thearrondissement of Pamiers, with 73,702 inhabitants, is by far the one with more inhabitants. The other two, Foix and Saint-Girons, have respectively 51,473 and 27,399 inhabitants.[7]
Evolution of the population in Ariège
About 25% of the population lives in the fourcommunes with 6,000 or more inhabitants.[11]
The 10 most important cities in the department are:
Agriculture is an important activity in Ariege. Only a small part of its territory is used by farmers; only 132,110 hectares (326,451 acres), 27% of its total area, are used for agriculture in the Ariege.[12]
In the Ax valleys, themining oftalc is the most typical activity. This industry is supplemented bytourism forwinter sports.
Hydroelectric production is about one-fifth of the production in the Pyrenees. The hydroelectric plant atAston has the largest annual production capacity in the Pyrenees.
↑2.02.1"Département de l'Ariège (09) - Résumé statistique".Publications et statistiques pour la France ou les régions (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved10 February 2015.
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