Home › A › Alpes (HAUTES hot- lp a depart)

Alpes (HAUTES hot- lp a depart)

HAUTES (hot-älp), a depart- department in the S. E. of France, adjoining the Italian frontier, formed almost entirely from the Dauphiné, but including a small part of the old Provence in the S.; divided into three arrondissements, Gap, Briançon, and Embrun; capital, Gap. In physical features it corresponds closely with Basses Alpes. In the N., on the borders of the department of Isère, the granite mass of Pelvoux rises to the height of 13,460 feet out of the limestone Alps. At its northern base runs the road from Grenoble by the Col du Lautaret (6,800 feet) to Briançon. The principal river is the Durance, which partly separates it from Basses Alpes, and, among its tributaries are the Buech, which flows from N. to S. in the W., and the Guil. The department is the poorest in France in natural resources. Its principal wealth consists of its mountain pastures, on which fine merino sheep are reared.

Marble of all shades is abundant, and there is a considerable extent of anthracite near Briançon. Area, 2,178 square miles. Pop. about 110,000.

ALPHABET ALPES-MARITIMES (älp mär-etem'), a department in the extreme S. E. of France formed mainly from the province of Nice, ceded by Italy in 1860, but containing also the arrondissement of Grasse, detached from Var; divided into three arrondissements, Nice, Grasse, and Puget-Théniers; capital, Nice. The physical features are similar to those of Basses and Hautes Alpes. The limestone region in the S. W. is specially remarkable for its magnificent scenery, its deep and dark defiles or clus, and its numerous swallow-holes, in which streams disappear to reappear in fine springs.

The mildness of the climate has caused several places on the coast to become favorable health resorts, especially Cannes, Antibes, Nice, and Mentone.

The department surrounds on the land side the principality of Monaco. Among the products are vines, mulberries, olives, oranges, and citrons. Flowers are cultivated on a large scale for the making of perfumes, which forms the principal industry of the department. Area, 1,443 square miles. Pop., about 375,000.

ALPHA and OMEGA, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, sometimes used to signify the beginning and theend, or the first and the last of anything; also as a symbol of the Divine Being. They They were also formerly the symbol of Christianity, and engraved accordingly on the tombs of the ancient Christians.