Some figures?

The department

Population: 139 561 inhabitants (2002)
Surface area: 698 840 hectares / 6 988 sq. km.
Density: 20 inhabitants per sq. km, making it one of the biggest and the least populated départements in.
Préfecture: Digne les Bains (18 000 inhabitants approx.).

Administrative divisions  4 arrondissements, 30 cantons, 200 communes
Geographical division: Mountain, Verdon, Haute Provence
Biggest towns: The biggest town has a population of 20 0000.
Mountain Area: Barcelonnette, Seyne les Alpes, Colmars, Allos.
Verdon Area: Castellane, Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, Valensole, Saint André les Alpes, Entrevaux.
Haute Provence Area: Digne les Bains (Préfecture), Manosque, Sisteron, Forcalquier.

The Land offers you...

•  Over 5 000 Kms of paths and tracks, 
  
•  900 kms of paths for horse-trekking,
  
•  1 500 kms for mountain-biking, and last but not least...
  
•  Via ferrata, climbing, potholing, geology, prehistory ...
  

The Water offers you...

•   800 kms of rivers and torrents,
  
•  6 big lakes and many other smaller ones,
  
• Two spas (Digne les Bains and Gréoux les Bains),
  
•  Lakes, Gorges, Clues, Torrents ...
  

The Air offers you...

• Paragliding, hang-gliding, hot air ballooning, ultra-light, kites....
• Gliding, parachuting...
• The Haute Provence sky is renowned for the purest sky in Europe from the point of view of light pollution, and for this reason, houses the CNRS in Saint Michel l'Observatoire.
  

Sports

High mountain
Altitudes of over 3 000 metres: Rambling, mountain climbing...
Middle mountain
Activities based on discovery : mountain biking, snow-shoe walking, skiing...
Plains and valleys
Activités based on leisure : Rambling, on foot, on horseback, riding donkeys...

Wild water sports, air sports, acrobatic sports, climbing, via ferrata, gliding, paragliding, rafting, canyoning, orienteering... can all be done in our departement.

For those subject to vertigo, hunting, fishing, picking mushrooms, archery ... can also be found.