The Gard (French pronunciation: [ɡaʁ] ) is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019; its prefecture is Nîmes.
The department is named after the river Gardon. In recent decades of the twenty-first century, local administration and French speakers have returned to the original Occitan name of the river, Gard (Occitan pronunciation: [gaɾ]). It is part of a revival of Occitan culture.
Nîmes is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Cévennes mountain range, the estimated population of the commune of Nîmes stood at 148,561 in 2019.
Dubbed the most Roman city outside Italy, Nîmes has a rich history dating back to the Roman Empire when the city's population was estimated at approximately 50,000–60,000, and the city itself served as the regional capital. Since several famous monuments and ancient Roman buildings are located in Nîmes, including the Arena of Nîmes and the Maison carrée, the city is often referred to as the "French Rome."
Provençal (/ˌprɒvɒ̃ˈsɑːl/, also UK: /-sæl/, US: /ˌproʊ-, -vən-/, French: [pʁɔvɑ̃sal] ; Occitan: provençau or prouvençau [pʀuvenˈsaw]) is a variety of Occitan, spoken by people in Provence and parts of Drôme and Gard. The term Provençal used to refer to the entire Occitan language, but more recently it has referred only to the variety of Occitan spoken in Provence. However, it can still be found being used to refer to Occitan as a whole, e.g. Merriam-Webster states that it can be used to refer to general Occitan, though this is going out of use.
Provençal is also the customary name given to the older version of the Occitan language used by the troubadours of medieval literature, when Old French or the langue d'oïl was limited to the northern areas of France. Thus, the ISO 639-3 code for Old Occitan is [pro].
Bouches-du-Rhône (/ˌbuːʃ djuː ˈroʊn/ BOOSH dew ROHN; French: les Bouches-du-Rhône [le buʃ dy ʁon] , locally [le ˈbuʃə dy ˈʁɔnə]; Occitan: lei Bocas de Ròse [lej ˈbukɔz de ˈʀɔze]; "the Mouths of the Rhône") is a department in southern France. It borders Vaucluse to the north, Gard to the west and Var to the east. The Mediterranean Sea lies to the south. Its prefecture and largest city is Marseille; other important cities include Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Martigues and Aubagne.
Marseille, France's second-largest city, has one of the largest container ports in the country. It prides itself on being France's oldest city, founded by Greek settlers from Phocaea around 600 BC. Bouches-du-Rhône is the most populous department of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, with 2,043,110 inhabitants as of 2019. It has an area of 5,087 km (1,964 sq mi). Its INSEE and postal code is 13.
The Camargue (/kæˈmɑːrɡ/, also UK: /kəˈ-/, US: /kɑːˈ-/, French: [kamaʁɡ]; Provençal: Camarga) is a coastal region in southern France located south of the city of Arles, between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhône river delta. The eastern arm is called the Grand Rhône; the western is the Petit Rhône.
Administratively, it lies within the department of Bouches-du-Rhône (‘Mouths of the Rhône’); it spans portions of the communes of Arles, Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône. A further expanse of marshy plain, known as the "Petite Camargue" (Little Camargue; Occitan: Pichon Camarga), just to the west of the "Petit Rhône", lies within the department of Gard.
Jean Paulhan (2 December 1884 – 9 October 1968) was a French writer, literary critic and publisher, director of the literary magazine Nouvelle Revue Française (NRF) from 1925 to 1940 and from 1946 to 1968. He was a member (Seat 6, 1963–68) of the Académie française. He was born in Nîmes (Gard) and died in Paris.
The author Anne Desclos revealed that she had written the novel Story of O as a series of love letters to her lover Paulhan, who had admired the work of the Marquis de Sade.
The Gardon or Gard (Occitan and French: Gardon, Gard, French pronunciation: [ɡaʁdɔ̃] , [ɡaʁ] ) is a river in southern France. It is the namesake of the department of Gard. Several of its tributaries are also called Gardon. It is 127.6 km (79.3 mi) long, and takes its source in the commune of Saint-Martin-de-Lansuscle, in the Cévennes mountain range. In its upper course it is also referred to as Gardon de Saint-Martin. From its furthest source, that of its tributary "Gardon de Saint-Jean", it is 133 km long. It flows into the Rhône (right-side tributary) at Comps, north of Beaucaire, across from Vallabrègues.
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃tmaʁi d(ə) la mɛʁ], alternatively with the definite article Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, lit. "(the) Saint Marys of the Sea", locally Les Saintes, [le sɛ̃t]; Provençal: Lei Santei Marias de la Mar (classical norm) or Li Sànti Marìo de la Mar (Mistralian norm)), is the capital of the Camargue (Provençal: Camarga) natural region in Southern France. It lies on the Mediterranean Sea.
Administratively, it is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, on the departmental border with Gard. It covers the second-largest area of all communes in metropolitan France, smaller only than that of neighbouring Arles. In 2021, it had a population of 2,120.
Vers-Pont-du-Gard (French pronunciation: [vɛʁs pɔ̃ dy ɡaʁ]; Vèrs in Occitan) is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.
The Pont du Gard is located on the territory of the commune.