L'Argentière-la-Bessée

L'Argentière-la-Bessée
L'Argentière-la-Bessée
Commune
	The L'Argentière-les Écrins railway station
	Coat of arms
	Location of L'Argentière-la-Bessée
	L'Argentière-la-Bessée L'Argentière-la-Bessée
	Coordinates: 44°47′43″N 6°33′36″E / 44.7953°N 6.56°E
Country	France
Region	Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Department	Hautes-Alpes
Arrondissement	Briançon
Canton	L'Argentière-la-Bessée
Intercommunality	Pays des Écrins
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Patrick Vigne
Area 1	64.55 km2 (24.92 sq mi)
Population (2021)	2,267
• Density	35/km2 (91/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	05006 /05120
Elevation	945–3,243 m (3,100–10,640 ft) ; (avg. 976 m or 3,202 ft)
	1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

L'Argentière-la-Bessée is a commune of the Hautes-Alpes department in the Alps in southeastern France.

The town lies on the River Durance, which is used for kayaking, white-water rafting and other water sports. The Argentiere Canoe Slalom Course is in the Durance River south of the town. The town is located on the edge of the Écrins National Park. There is an SNCF station in the town with trains running to Briançon and Paris. The village has an old silver mine (which is where the name of L'Argentière derived from), which is now opened to tourists.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
2006	2,302	—
2007	2,304	+0.1%
2008	2,330	+1.1%
2009	2,328	−0.1%
2010	2,326	−0.1%
2011	2,322	−0.2%
2012	2,318	−0.2%
2013	2,311	−0.3%
2014	2,317	+0.3%
2015	2,307	−0.4%
2016	2,293	−0.6%