Tarbes

Tarbes
Tarba
Prefecture and commune
Tarbes, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Tarbes, Musée des Beaux-Arts
Coat of arms of Tarbes
Coat of arms
Location of Tarbes
Tarbes is located in France
Tarbes
Tarbes
Tarbes is located in Occitanie
Tarbes
Tarbes
Coordinates: 43°13′51″N 0°04′21″E / 43.230700°N 0.072600°E / 43.230700; 0.072600
CountryFrance
RegionOccitanie
DepartmentHautes-Pyrénées
ArrondissementTarbes
CantonChief town of 3 cantons
IntercommunalityLe Grand Tarbes
Government
 • Mayor (2014-2020) Gérard Trémège
Area
1
15.33 km2 (5.92 sq mi)
Population
 (2014)
40,900
 • Density2,700/km2 (6,900/sq mi)
DemonymTarbais(es)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code
65440 /65000
Elevation284–326 m (932–1,070 ft)
(avg. 304 m or 997 ft)
Websitewww.tarbes.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Tarbes (Occitan: Tarba) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. It is part of the historical region of Gascony and is the capital since 1790 of the Hautes-Pyrénées department.

It is the second largest metropolitan area of the old Midi-Pyrénées region, after Toulouse.

The inhabitants of Tarbes are known, in French, as Tarbais (women: Tarbaises).

Name

The city is named for the first time during the 5th century like Civitas Turba ubi castrum Bigorra. It is also an important city of the Novempopulania. Gregory of Tours, in the 7th century, called the city as Talvam vicum.

During the Middle Ages, the city went by the names Tarbe (1214), Tursa, Tarvia (1284) and also Tarbia.

History

Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède cathedral, Tarbes (Hautes-Pyrénées, France).

A small town founded in the 3rd century B.C. became a Roman colony under the name of Tarba. It was destroyed by the Vikings in 840 and rebuilt by the Bishop of Bigorre or Tarbes.

From the twelfth century on, Tarbes became the capital of the County of Bigorre. During the religious wars, the cathedral was burnt in 1569 by Protestants but the bishop had it rebuilt in 1652.

In 1790, Tarbes became the capital of the new department of Hautes-Pyrénées.

Geography

Tarbes is located in the southwest of France, at the foot of the Pyrenees, in a fertile plain of the valley of the river Adour, at 20 km (12 mi) to the northeast of Lourdes, 70 km (43 mi) to the southeast of Auch, 144 km (89 mi) to the east of Bayonne and 155 km (96 mi) to the southwest of Toulouse.

It has an area of 15.33 km2 (6 sq mi) and its average altitude is 304 m (997 ft); at the city hall, the altitude is 311 m (1,020 ft).

Two rivers flow through the city: the Adour by the east and the Échez by the west.

Neighboring municipalities

Tarbes and its neighboring communes
Map of the commune de Tarbes

The following municipalities (communes) are around Tarbes:

Climate

Tarbes has an oceanic climate with relatively hot summers, mild winters and abundant rainfall, Cfb in the Köppen climate classification.

Climate data for Tarbes, France (altitude 360m, 1981–2010) (Source: Météo-France, Infoclimat.fr)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 10.3
(50.5)		 11.3
(52.3)		 14.2
(57.6)		 15.8
(60.4)		 19.5
(67.1)		 22.8
(73.0)		 25.1
(77.2)		 25.2
(77.4)		 22.8
(73.0)		 19.0
(66.2)		 13.7
(56.7)		 11.0
(51.8)		 17.6
(63.6)
Average low °C (°F) 1.0
(33.8)		 1.5
(34.7)		 3.7
(38.7)		 5.6
(42.1)		 9.5
(49.1)		 12.8
(55.0)		 14.9
(58.8)		 14.9
(58.8)		 11.9
(53.4)		 8.7
(47.7)		 4.3
(39.7)		 1.8
(35.2)		 7.6
(45.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 95.0
(3.74)		 81.1
(3.19)		 87.0
(3.43)		 111.7
(4.40)		 111.6
(4.39)		 78.0
(3.07)		 56.0
(2.20)		 68.1
(2.68)		 71.6
(2.82)		 88.1
(3.47)		 102.5
(4.04)		 96.7
(3.81)		 1,047.4
(41.24)
Source 1: climat.meteofrance.com
Source 2: infoclimat.fr

Population

The city of Tarbes has a population, in 2014, of 40,900; its population density is of 2,668 inhabitants/km2.

Evolution of the population in Tarbes

Administration

Tarbes is the prefecture of the Hautes-Pyrénées department since 1790. It is also the capital of three Cantons:

  1. Tarbes-1, formed with a part of Tarbes (13,514 inhabitants) (2014)
  2. Tarbes-2, formed with a part of Tarbes (13,402 inhabitants) (2014)
  3. Tarbes-3, formed with a part of Tarbes (13,984 habitants) (2014)

It is part of the intercommunality Le Grand Tarbes (French: Communauté d'agglomération du Grand Tarbes).

Sister cities

Tarbes is twinned with:

Transport

The Gare de Tarbes railway station offers direct connections with Paris, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Bayonne and other cities in the region. There is a motorway that connects Tarbes with Bayonne and Toulouse. Tarbes is also served by the small Tarbes-Lourdes-Pyrénées Airport situated 10 kilometers away of the city centre.

Education

Notes

  1. ↑ Novempopulania ("country of the nine peoples") was a Roman province, also called Aquitania Tertia.
  2. ↑ In this case, "county" (French: Comté) means "land under a count (the British earl)".

References

  1. ↑ "Hautes-Pyrénées" (in French). habitants.fr. Retrieved 17 February 2017.[permanent dead link]
  2. ↑ "Tarbes". Map-France.com. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
  3. ↑ "Climat en France - normales - Météo France - Tarbes".[permanent dead link]
  4. ↑ "Normales et records des stations météo de France - Infoclimat - Tarbes-Ossun-Lourdes".
  5. ↑ "Régions, départements, arrondissements, cantons et communes" (PDF). Populations légales 2014 (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  6. ↑ "Tarbes jumelée avec l'Espagne et l'Allemagne". Mairie de Tarbes. Archived from the original on 7 August 2013. Retrieved 8 November 2013.

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