Gers is a department in the region of Occitania, Southwestern France. Named after the Gers River, its inhabitants are called the Gersois and Gersoises in French. In 2016, it had a population of 190,664.

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. It is surrounded by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées, Haute-Garonne, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques. In 1808 it lost Lavit on its north-eastern side to the newly created department of Tarn-et-Garonne.

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

• Armagnac brandy;
• Côtes de Gascogne;
• Floc de Gascogne;
• Foie gras;
• Wild mushrooms.

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. Alexandre Dumas, père created the famous Gersois d'Artagnan, the fourth musketeer of The Three Musketeers. A museum to d'Artagnan is found in the Gersois village of Lupiac.

A horse race at the Auteuil Hippodrome has been named after André Boingnères, a notable local race-horse owner and the successful Mayor of Termes-d'Armagnac between 1951 and 1976.

Feel free to Email me any additions or corrections

LINKS AVAILABLE TO YOUR SITE