an arrondissement of the department of the Upper Alps in France, extending over 445 square miles. It is divided into fourteen cantons and 122 communes, and inhabited by 63,825 persons. The capital, a city of the same name, is situated on the river Luie, on a kind of basin formed by hills, over which tower the snow-covered mountains of the Alps. It is an old and ill-built place, containing 8150 inhabitants, who are occupied in making linen and woollen cloths. There is in the city a museum, containing collections of the plants, minerals, birds, and antiquities of the Alps. Long. 5° 59'. 42". E. Lat. 44° 33'. 37". N.