Alès is a town and commune in southern France, in the Languedoc-Roussillon région. It is one of the sous-préfectures of the Gard département. It was formerly known as Alais. The commune is an administrative division of France. ... The French Republic or France (French: République française or France) is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in western Europe, and which is further made up of a collection of overseas islands and territories located in other continents. ... Capital Montpellier Area 27,376 km² Regional President Georges Frêche ( PS) (since 2004) Population   - 2004 estimate   - 1999 census   - Density (Ranked 10th) 2,458,000 2,295,648 90/km² (2004) Arrondissements 14 Cantons 186 Communes 1,545 Départements Aude Gard Hérault Lozère Pyrénées-Orientales... France is divided into 26 régions: 21 of these are in the continental part of metropolitan France, one is Corse on the island of Corsica (although strictly speaking Corse is in fact a territorial collectivity, not a région, but is referred to as a région in common... Subprefecture is an administrative level that is below prefecture or province. ... Gard is a département located in the south of France named after the river Gardon (or Gard). ... The départements (or departments) are administrative units of France, roughly analogous to British counties and are now grouped into 22 metropolitan and four overseas régions. ...

Geography

Alès lies NW of Nîmes and it is near the Cévennes National Park. Location within France Nîmes is a city and commune of southern France, préfecture (capital) of the Gard département. ...

Sights

• cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church building, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy (such as the Roman Catholic Church or the Anglican churches), which serves as the central church of a bishopric. ...

Miscellaneous

Alès used to serve as the seat of a diocese. In some Christian churches, the diocese is an administrative territorial unit governed by a bishop, sometimes also referred to as a bishopric or episcopal see, though more often the term episcopal see means the office held by the bishop. ...

Alès was the birthplace of:

• Louis Leprince-Ringuet (1901-2000), physicist
• Laurent Blanc (born 1965), football defender

1901 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 2000 is a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The word physicist should not be confused with physician, which means medical doctor. ... Laurent Blanc (born November 19, 1965 in Ales) is a French football defender, who scored the first golden goal in World Cup history in the 1998 World Cup. ... 1965 was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1965 calendar). ... The striker (wearing red jersey) has run past the defender (in white jersey) and is about to take a shot at the goal, while the goalkeeper positions himself to stop the ball. ... In association football a defender is a player whose position of play is behind the midfielders and first and foremost provide support to the goalkeeper. ...

External link

• City council website (http://www.ville-ales.fr/) (in French)