La Garde, Var

Commune in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, France

La Garde La Garda (Occitan)
Commune
A night view of La Garde in 2008
Coat of arms
Location of La Garde
(2022–2026)		Hélène Bill^[1] (DVD)
Area ¹	15.54 km² (6.00 sq mi)
Population (2021)^[2]	25,912
• Density	1,700/km² (4,300/sq mi)
Demonym	Gardéens
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	83062 /83130
Elevation	0–206 m (0–676 ft) (avg. 1 m or 3.3 ft)
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

La Garde (French pronunciation: [la ɡaʁd]; Provençal Occitan: La Garda) is a seaside commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France.

It is located in the Métropole Toulon Provence Méditerranée, east of the city of Toulon.

History

The name derives from the town's ancient origins, meaning "The Guard". It is mentioned in 1056, when its castle was a fief of the Bishops of Toulon; they kept it until the 13th century, when it was handed over to the Castellanes, then the lords of Glandevès and the Thomas. Today only a tower and the chapel remain of the castle.

La Garde was repeatedly invaded during the French Wars of Religion. In 1707 it was sacked by Savoyard troops.

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1793	1,050	—
1800	2,263	+11.59%
1806	2,288	+0.18%
1821	2,329	+0.12%
1831	2,353	+0.10%
1836	2,572	+1.80%
1841	2,321	−2.03%
1846	2,429	+0.91%
1851	2,875	+3.43%
1856	2,568	−2.23%
1861	2,572	+0.03%
1866	2,695	+0.94%
1872	2,852	+0.95%
1876	2,986	+1.15%
1881	2,864	−0.83%
1886	3,104	+1.62%
1891	3,418	+1.95%
1896	2,398	−6.84%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1901	2,791	+3.08%
1906	2,961	+1.19%
1911	3,037	+0.51%
1921	2,827	−0.71%
1926	3,048	+1.52%
1931	3,095	+0.31%
1936	3,792	+4.15%
1946	4,066	+0.70%
1954	5,021	+2.67%
1962	6,273	+2.82%
1968	9,629	+7.40%
1975	15,506	+7.04%
1982	19,805	+3.56%
1990	22,412	+1.56%
1999	25,329	+1.37%
2009	26,064	+0.29%
2014	25,145	−0.72%
2020	25,563	+0.28%

Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. There is more info on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.

Source: EHESS^[3] and INSEE (1968–2020)^[4]

International relations

La Garde, Var is twinned with:

Montesarchio, Italy
Spa, Belgium

References

^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires" (in French). data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises. 6 June 2023.
^ "Populations légales 2021". The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies. 28 December 2023.
^ Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui: Commune data sheet La Garde, EHESS (in French).
^ Population en historique depuis 1968, INSEE