Gard

The Pont du Gard near Nîmes, France. The Pont du Gard is an aqueduct bridging the river Gard, and was built on the order of the Roman emperor Agrippa, c. 19 BC.

Département in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France; area 5,848 sq km/2,258 sq mi; population (1999 est) 623,100. It has a short coastline on the Mediterranean, and flowing through it is the River Rhône and its tributaries the Cèze, the Ardèche, and the Gard. Olives, vines, mulberries (for silkworms), fruit, and cereals are produced in great quantities, and cattle are raised. There is much mineral wealth, including iron, lignite, copper, asphalt, zinc, and lead, and there are metallurgical, silk, leather, and oil industries. The administrative centre is Nîmes. Other towns include Alès and Le Vigan.

In the northwest are ridges of the Cévennes Mountains, of which Mont Aigoual is the highest point at 1,560 m/5,118 ft. In the south the land is low-lying with marshy plains yielding salt. The Garrigues range in the southwest is a series of limestone hills. The département suffers from the cold, dry mistral wind that blows across parts of southern France.

Gard is formed from part of the former province of Languedoc.