Barras (French pronunciation: [baʁas]; Occitan: Barràs) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of south-eastern France.

The Ravin de Vaunaves forms most of the north-eastern border as it flows south-east to join Les Duyes.

[11] In Ancient times, the Bodiontici populated the Bléone valley and its tributaries as well as the Gauls who lived in the current commune of Barras.

[10] In 1070 a person named Féraud donated the fiefdom of Beaucouse (now in the commune of Thoard) to the Abbey of Saint-Victor of Marseille.

At that time there was a large estate (villa) in Saint Domnin where the abbey installed a priory which passed to the Bishop of Gap in the 14th century.

It was heavily depopulated by the crises of the 14th century (the Black Death and the Hundred Years War) and the population was completely eliminated in 1471.

[13] At the same time soldiers seized the castle of Tournefort and threatened the region through their raids and looting.

[13] The Patriotic Society of Barras was created in 1791:[15] it was one of the first in the Lower Alps, probably due to the fact that the parish priest, Jean Gaspard Gassend, was deputy to the States General.

[17] The Coup d'état of 2 December 1851 committed by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte against the French Second Republic provoked an armed uprising in the Lower Alps in defence of the Constitution.

After the failure of the uprising harsh repression continued on those who stood up to defend the Republic: 5 inhabitants of Barras were brought before the Joint Committee.

The second Duruy Act (1877) allowed it, thanks to government subsidies, to build a new school[19] but it was only after the Ferry laws that the village girls were enrolled.

[27] At the end of 2015 the primary sector (agriculture, forestry) had seven active establishments within the meaning of Insee and no salaried jobs.

From 1988 to 2000, the utilised agricultural area (UAA) increased sharply from 311 hectares to 1289 while the number of farms fell from 14 to 11.

At the end of 2015 the tertiary sector (trade, services) had seven establishments with three employees, to which can be added four administrative institutions employing four people.