Ariège

Ariège, a department in the south of France, lying along the northern slopes of the Pyrenees. It contains some of the highest mountain-summits in France, such as Montcalm, 10,513 feet, and Estats, 10,800 feet; but is comparatively level towards the north, where the climate is milder than amongst the hills. There are extensive forests; iron, coal, and other minerals are wrought, and there are cloth manufactures. Area, 1890 sq. m. Pop. (1886) 237,619; (1891) 227,491.—The river Ariège rises in the Pyrenees, and after a course of 93 miles, falls into the Garonne near Toulouse.