Alsace
Alsace (/ælˈsæs/,[5] US also /ælˈseɪs, ˈælsæs/;[6][7] French: [alzas] ⓘ; Low Alemannic German/Alsatian: Elsàss [ˈɛlsɑs]; German: Elsass (German spelling before 1996: Elsaß.) [ˈɛlzas] ⓘ; Latin: Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,919,745.[3] Alsatian culture is characterized by a blend of German and French influences.[8]
For other uses, see Alsace (disambiguation).
Alsace
Elsàss (Alemannic German)
8,280 km2 (3,200 sq mi)
1,919,745
230/km2 (600/sq mi)
Alsatian
€67.748 billion (2022)
€35,800 (2022)
FR-A
Until 1871, Alsace included the area now known as the Territoire de Belfort, which formed its southernmost part. From 1982 to 2016, Alsace was the smallest administrative région in metropolitan France, consisting of the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments. Territorial reform passed by the French Parliament in 2014 resulted in the merger of the Alsace administrative region with Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine to form Grand Est. On 1 January 2021, the departments of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin merged into the new European Collectivity of Alsace but remained part of the region Grand Est.
Alsatian is an Alemannic dialect closely related to Swabian, although since World War II most Alsatians primarily speak French. Internal and international migration since 1945 has also changed the ethnolinguistic composition of Alsace. For more than 300 years, from the Thirty Years' War to World War II, the political status of Alsace was heavily contested between France and various German states in wars and diplomatic conferences. The economic and cultural capital of Alsace, as well as its largest city, is Strasbourg, which sits on the present German international border. The city is the seat of several international organizations and bodies.
Society[edit]
Demographics[edit]
Alsace's population increased to 1,919,745 in 2021.[3] It has regularly increased over time, except in wartime and shortly after the German annexation of 1871 (when many Alsatians who had opted to keep their French citizenship emigrated to France), by both natural growth and immigration. High population growth during the post-WW2 economic boom of the Trente Glorieuses ended after the 1973 oil crisis. Demographic growth picked up again in the 1990s and 2000s, but by the 2010s Alsace entered a new period of slow demographic growth.
There is an accord de coopération internationale between Alsace and the following regions:[53]