Gers (river)

The Gers (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɛːʁ]) (Occitan: Gers) is a 178-kilometre (111 mi) long river in southern France, left tributary of the Garonne.

Its source is in the foothills of the Pyrenees, near Lannemezan. It flows north through the départements Hautes-Pyrénées, Gers and Lot-et-Garonne. It flows into the Garonne in Layrac, near Agen. The city Auch lies along the river Gers. It gives its name to the Gers département.

Departments and cities

The Gers passes through the following departments and main towns:

References

Gers

The Gers (French: le Gers, pronounced: [ʒɛʁs] or [ʒɛʁ]; Gascon: Gers) is a department in the Languedoc-Roussillon-Midi-Pyrénées region in the southwest of France named after the Gers River.

Inhabitants are called les Gersois.

History

In the Middle Ages, the Lordship of L'Isle-Jourdain was nearby.

The Gers is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Guyenne and Gascony.

In 1808 it lost Lavit on its north-eastern side to the newly created department of Tarn-et-Garonne.

Culture

The culture is largely agricultural, with great emphasis on the local gastronomical specialties such as:

Also, some prominent cultivated crops are corn, colza, sunflowers and grain.

The Gascon language is a dialect of Occitan, but it is not widely spoken. The department is characterised by sleepy bastide villages and rolling hills with the Pyrenees visible to the south.

Gers (disambiguation)

Gers may refer to:

See also

Gers (Schwalm)

Gers (Schwalm) is a river of Hesse, Germany.

See also

Coordinates: 50°57′N 9°13′E / 50.950°N 9.217°E / 50.950; 9.217