Rhône-Alpes

	Rhône-Alpes; Former French Region (until 2015)
Basic data
Today part of	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Administrative headquarters	Lyon
population - total January 1, 2017 ; - density	6,584,131 inhabitants ; 150.7 inhabitants per km²
surface; - total ; - share in France :	43,698 km²; 6.8%
Departments	8th
Arrondissements	25th
Cantons	335
Communities	2,874
Formerly ISO 3166-2 code	FR-V

Rhône-Alpes [ ʀoːnˈalp ] (German Rhone-Alps ) was a region in southeastern France that was named after the river Rhone and the Alps . The region consisted of the departments of Ain , Ardèche , Drôme , Isère , Loire , Rhône , Savoie and Haute-Savoie . Then there was the Métropole de Lyon , which is equal to the départements. The region had an area of 43,698 km² and 6,584,131 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2017). Their capital was Lyon .

After the regions of Guyane and Midi-Pyrénées, the region was the third largest in France in terms of area. In terms of population and economic power, it was in second place after the Île-de-France region .

On January 1, 2016, the Rhône-Alpes region was merged with the neighboring Auvergne region to form the new Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region .

geography

Typical picture of the region

The Rhône-Alpes region borders in the northeast on the Switzerland and in the east on the main ridge of the Alps to Italy ( Piedmont and Valle d'Aosta ). In the south it borders on the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region . Important rivers are the Rhone , Isère and Saône . The region also shares Lake Geneva with Switzerland .

coat of arms

Description: The coat of arms is divided and shows on the left a red beflossten blue dolphin , right a silver lion : the blue shield main beam-setting five golden lilies and sign foot on the gap a red shield with a white solid common Cross .

history

The region is made up of historically very different areas that - apart from a common belonging to the early medieval Kingdom of Burgundy - came to France at very different times. A distinction is made between the Lyonnais , the Dauphiné and Savoy , which only became French in 1861.

With the establishment of the regions in France, the Rhône-Alpes region was created in 1960. In 1972 the region received the status of an établissement public under the direction of a regional prefect. The decentralization laws of 1982 gave the regions the status of collectivités territoriales ( territorial authorities ), which until then had only been enjoyed by the municipalities and the départements . In 1986 the regional councils were directly elected for the first time. Since then, the region's powers vis-à-vis the central government in Paris have been gradually expanded.

population

With about six million inhabitants, Rhône-Alpes is the French region with the second largest population after Île-de-France .

Together with its neighboring communities, Lyon forms the third largest urban agglomeration in France with 1,348,832 inhabitants. The region also includes the agglomerations around Grenoble (with 419,334 inhabitants in twelfth place in France) and around Saint-Étienne (with 291,960 inhabitants in 18th place in France). In the north-east of the region, Annemasse and other French communities belong to the cross-border agglomeration around the Swiss Geneva with 106,673 inhabitants in the French part.

1,648,216 people live in the immediate catchment area (aire urbaine) of Lyon , 514,559 in that of Grenoble and 321,703 in that of Saint-Étienne . This means that almost half of the region's population lives in the immediate catchment area of one of these three cities.

The high Alps in the east of the region and the southern parts of the region are relatively sparsely populated.

Cities

The most populous cities in the Rhône-Alpes region are:

city	Inhabitants (year)	Department
Lyon	516.092 (2017)	Rhône
Saint-Etienne	172,565 (2017)	Loire
Grenoble	158,454 (2017)	Isère
Villeurbanne	147,712 (2017)	Rhône
Valence	63,714 (2017)	Drôme
Venissieux	65,894 (2017)	Rhône
Chambery	58,919 (2017)	Savoie
Annecy	126,924 (2017)	Haute-Savoie
Vaulx-en-Velin	49,658 (2017)	Rhône
Saint-Priest	46,207 (2017)	Rhône
Bourg-en-Bresse	41,527 (2017)	Ain

Political structure

The Rhône-Alpes region is divided into eight departments :

Department

prefecture

ISO 3166-2

Arrondissements

Cantons

Communities

Inhabitants (year)

Area
(km²)

Density
(inh / km²)

Ain

Bourg-en-Bresse

FR-01

4th

43

419

643.350

(2017)

5,762

111.7

Ardèche

Privas

FR-07

3

33

339

325.712

(2017)

5,529

58.9

Drôme

Valence

FR-26

3

36

369

511,553

(2017)

6,530

78.3

Isère

Grenoble

FR-38

3

58

533

1,258,722

(2017)

7,431

169.4

Loire

Saint-Etienne

FR-42

3

40

327

762.941

(2017)

4,781

159.6

Rhône

Lyon

FR-69

2

54

288

1,843,319

(2017)

3,249

567.3

Savoie

Chambery

FR-73

3

37

305

431.174

(2017)

6,028

71.5

Haute-Savoie

Annecy

FR-74

4th

34

294

807.360

(2017)

4,388

184

economy

In comparison with the gross domestic product of the European Union expressed in purchasing power standards , the region achieved an index of 111.2 in 2006 (EU-27 = 100).

traffic

Road traffic

The motorway network in the Rhône-Alpes region is one of the densest in France due to the region's central location in Europe. The A7 (also known as the “Autoroute du soleil”; German: sun motorway ), which lies on the Paris - Lyon - Marseille axis , is one of the busiest in France and is known for regular traffic jams.

Rail transport

Alstom Coradia Duplex Ter of the SNCF in the Rhône-Alpes regional traffic

The Rhône-Alpes region has very good connections to the French TGV network: to the south via the LGV Méditerranée in the direction of Marseille and to the north to Paris via the LGV Rhône-Alpes or LGV Sud-Est . The LGV Rhin-Rhône to Strasbourg has been in operation since December 2011 .

Local public transport

The three largest cities in the region ( Lyon , Grenoble , Saint-Étienne ) each have a tram and bus network. The capital Lyon also has a metro .

air traffic

There are several small airports in the region, many of which are mainly used by ski tourists in winter.

By far the largest airport is Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport , followed in second place by Grenoble Saint-Geoirs Airport , which is mainly served by low-cost airlines and charter companies.

Web links

Commons : Rhône-Alpes - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Status: 1999, source: http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/chifcle_fiche.asp?ref_id=NATTEF01204&tab_id=201
↑ Status: 1999, source: http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/chifcle_fiche.asp?ref_id=NATTEF01203&tab_id=205
↑ Eurostat press release 23/2009: Regional GDP per inhabitant in the EU27 (PDF file; 360 kB)

45.548611111111 5.4077777777778Coordinates: 45 ° 33 ' N , 5 ° 24' E

[1] Status: 1999, source: http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/chifcle_fiche.asp?ref_id=NATTEF01204&tab_id=201

[2] Status: 1999, source: http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/chifcle_fiche.asp?ref_id=NATTEF01203&tab_id=205

[3] Eurostat press release 23/2009: Regional GDP per inhabitant in the EU27 (PDF file; 360 kB)

Rhône-Alpes

contents

geography

coat of arms

history

population

Cities

Political structure

economy

traffic

Road traffic

Rail transport

Local public transport

air traffic

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

Basic data
Rhône-Alpes Former French Region (until 2015)


Today part of	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Administrative headquarters	Lyon
population - total January 1, 2017 - density	6,584,131 inhabitants 150.7 inhabitants per km²
surface - total - share in France :	43,698 km² 6.8%
Departments	8th
Arrondissements	25th
Cantons	335
Communities	2,874
Formerly ISO 3166-2 code	FR-V