Gard is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019; its prefecture is Nîmes. The department is named after the river Gardon. In recent decades of the 21st century, local administration and French speakers have returned to the original Occitan name of the river, Gard. It is part of a revival of Occitan culture.