Alpes-de-Haute-Provence or sometimes abbreviated as AHP, formerly until 1970 known as Bas-Alpes, is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the south, Vaucluse to the west, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes to the north. Formerly part of the province of Provence, it had a population of 164,308 in 2019, which makes it the 8th least populated department and the 94th most populated French department.
Image: PN des Ecrins 3
Image: Vue depuis la citadelle de Sisteron 01
Image: Lac de Sainte Croix
Hydrology and topography
Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the south. It largely corresponds with the modern administrative region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and includes the departments of Var, Bouches-du-Rhône, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, as well as parts of Alpes-Maritimes and Vaucluse. The largest city of the region and its modern-day capital is Marseille.
View across lavender field to Mont Ventoux
The historical province of Provence (orange) within the contemporary region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur in southeastern France
The entrance to the Cosquer Cave, decorated with paintings of auks, bison, seals and outlines of hands dating to 27,000 to 19,000 BC, is located 37 metres under the surface of the Calanque de Morgiou in Marseille.
A Bronze Age dolmen (2500 to 900 BC) near Draguignan