Haut-Rhin

{{short description|Department of France}} {{Expand French|topic=geo|date=November 2009|Haut-Rhin}} {{Infobox settlement  | name = Haut-Rhin | native_name = {{native name|gsw|'s Owerlànd / Owerelsàss}} | type = Department of France | image_skyline = Colmar Prefecture.JPG | image_alt = | image_caption = Prefecture building of the Haut-Rhin department, in Colmar | image_flag = Drapeau Haut-Rhin.svg | flag_alt = | image_shield = Blason département fr Haut-Rhin.svg | shield_alt = | nickname = | motto = | image_map = Haut-Rhin-Position.svg | map_alt = | map_caption = Location of Haut-Rhin in France | mapframe = yes | pushpin_map = | pushpin_label_position = | pushpin_map_alt = | pushpin_map_caption = | coordinates = {{coord|47|57|51|N|7|19|11|E|region:FR_type:adm2nd_source:GNS-enwiki|display=inline,title}} | coor_pinpoint = | coordinates_footnotes = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = France | subdivision_type1 = Region | subdivision_name1 = Grand Est | established_title = | established_date = | founder = | seat_type = Prefecture | seat = Colmar | parts_type = Subprefectures | parts_style = para | p1 = Altkirch<br>Mulhouse<br>Thann | government_footnotes = | leader_party = | leader_title = Prefect | leader_name = Louis Laugier<ref>[https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/jorf/id/JORFTEXT000042171198 Décret du 29 juillet 2020 portant nomination du préfet du Haut-Rhin], Légifrance</ref> | unit_pref = Metric | area_magnitude = | area_footnotes = {{ref|area|1}} | area_total_km2 = 3525 | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_min_m = | elevation_max_m = | population_total = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}} | population_as_of = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}} | population_footnotes = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes2}} | population_rank = 29th | population_density_km2 = auto | population_demonym = | population_note = | blank_name_sec1 = Department number | blank_info_sec1 = 68 | blank_name_sec2 = Arrondissements | blank_info_sec2 = 4 | blank1_name_sec2 = Cantons | blank1_info_sec2 = 17 | blank2_name_sec2 = Communes | blank2_info_sec2 = 366 | timezone1 = CET | utc_offset1 = +1 | timezone1_DST = CEST | utc_offset1_DST = +2 | postal_code_type = | postal_code = | area_code_type = | area_code = | iso_code = | website = | footnotes = {{note|area|1}} French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km<sup>2</sup> }} {{Alsace sidebar}} '''Haut-Rhin''' ({{IPA|fr|oʁɛ̃|-|Fr-Paris--Haut-Rhin.ogg}})<ref>{{literally|Upper Rhine}}; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or ''{{lang|gsw|'s Iwerlànd}}''; {{cite web|title=Wàs brücht m'r im Elsàss ? Petit lexique français-alsacien|url=http://www.olcalsace.org/sites/default/files/lexique_indispensable_2011.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.olcalsace.org/sites/default/files/lexique_indispensable_2011.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|author=Office pour la Langue et la Culture d’Alsace|website=oclalsace.org|language=fr|access-date=10 December 2013}} {{langx|de|Oberelsass}}, {{literally|Upper Alsace}}.</ref> is a department in the Grand Est region, France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means Upper Rhine. Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departments of the former administrative Alsace region, the other being Bas-Rhin (Lower Rhine), especially after the 1871 cession of the southern territory known since 1922 as the Territoire de Belfort, although it is still rather densely populated compared to the rest of metropolitan France. It had a population of 770,738 in 2023.<ref name=pophist/>

On 1 January 2021, the départemental collectivities of Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin were merged into the European Collectivity of Alsace.

== History == Haut-Rhin is one of the original 83 départements, created during the French Revolution, on 4 March 1790 through the application of the law of 22 December 1789 in respect of the southern half of the province of Alsace (Haute-Alsace).

Its boundaries have been modified many times: * 1798, it absorbed Mulhouse, formerly a free city, and the last Swiss enclave in the south of Alsace; * 1800, it absorbed the whole ''département'' of Mont-Terrible; * 1814, it lost the territories which had been part of Mont-Terrible, which were returned to Switzerland, except for the former County of Montbéliard; * 1816, it lost Montbéliard, which was transferred to the ''département'' of Doubs; * 1871, it was mostly annexed by the German Empire (Treaty of Frankfurt); the remaining French part formed the Territoire de Belfort in 1922; * 1919, it was reverted to France (Treaty of Versailles) but remains administratively separated from Belfort. * 1940, it was annexed de facto by Nazi Germany. * 1944, it was recovered by France.

== Geography == Haut-Rhin is bordered by the Territoire de Belfort and Vosges ''départements'' and the Vosges Mountains to the west, the Bas-Rhin ''département'' to the North, Switzerland to the south and its eastern border with Germany is also the Rhine. In the centre of the ''département'' lies a fertile plain. The climate is semi-continental.

===Subdivisions=== The department consists of the following ''arrondissements'': *Altkirch *Colmar-Ribeauvillé *Mulhouse *Thann-Guebwiller

===Principal towns===

The most populous commune is Mulhouse; the prefecture Colmar is the second-most populous. As of 2023, there are 9 communes with more than 12,000 inhabitants:<ref name=pop2023>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/fichier/8680694/dep68.pdf Populations de référence 2023: 68 Haut-Rhin], INSEE</ref>

{| class=wikitable ! Commune ! Population (2023) |- | Mulhouse | style="text-align: center;" | 104,978 |- | Colmar | style="text-align: center;" | 66,970 |- | Saint-Louis | style="text-align: center;" | 22,805 |- | Wittenheim | style="text-align: center;" | 15,553 |- | Illzach | style="text-align: center;" | 14,923 |- | Rixheim | style="text-align: center;" | 14,380 |- | Kingersheim | style="text-align: center;" | 13,354 |- | Riedisheim | style="text-align: center;" | 12,200 |- | Cernay | style="text-align: center;" | 12,057 |}

== Demographics == Population development between 1801 and 2023: {{Historical populations |align=none |percentages=pagr |footnote=Sources:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://splaf.free.fr/68his.html|title=Historique du Haut-Rhin|website=Le SPLAF}}</ref><ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/8643952?geo=DEP-68#tableau-POPREF_G1 Population municipale entre 1968 et 2023], INSEE</ref> |graph-pos=bottom |cols=2 |1801|272,334 |1806|299,877 |1821|326,633 |1831|375,473 |1841|409,683 |1851|436,744 |1861|459,554 |1871|458,873 |1880|461,942 |1890|471,609 |1900|495,209 |1910|517,865 |1921|468,943 |1931|516,726 |1936|507,551 |1946|471,705 |1954|509,647 |1962|547,920 |1968 |585018 |1975 |635209 |1982 |650372 |1990 |671319 |1999 |708025 |2007 |742408 |2012 |755202 |2017 |764030 |2023 |770738 }}

== Economy == Haut-Rhin is one of the richest French ''départements''. Mulhouse is the home of the Stellantis Mulhouse Plant automobile factory, where the Peugeot 2008 and Peugeot 508 are currently built. The lowest unemployment rate in France can be found in the Southern Sundgau region (approximately 2%). The countryside is marked by hills. Many ''Haut-Rhinois'' work in Switzerland, especially in the chemical industries of Basel, but commute from France where living costs are lower. However, the region does have some of France's worst socio-economic inequalities; Mulhouse has long been one of France's poorest major cities.

== Law ==

Alsace and the adjacent Moselle department have a legal system slightly different from the rest of France. The statutes in question date from the period 1871–1919 when the area was part of the German Empire. With the return of Alsace-Lorraine to France by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, Paris accepted that Alsace and Moselle should retain some local laws in respect of certain matters, especially with regard to hunting, economic life, local government relationships, health insurance and social rights. It includes notably the absence of any formal separation between church and state: several mainstream denominations of the Christian church benefit from state funding, in contrast to principles applied in the rest of France.

==Politics==

=== Presidential elections 2nd round === {| class="wikitable" |- !colspan="2"|Election!!Winning candidate!!Party!!%!!2nd place candidate!!Party!!% |- |style="background-color: {{party color|La République En Marche!}}" | | 2022 | Emmanuel Macron | LREM | 52.90 | Marine Le Pen | FN | 47.10 |- |style="background-color: {{party color|La République En Marche!}}" | | 2017<ref name="auto">{{cite web | url=https://www.interieur.gouv.fr/Elections/Les-resultats/Presidentielles | title=Présidentielles }}</ref> | Emmanuel Macron | LREM | 57.97 | Marine Le Pen | FN | 42.03 |- |style="background-color: {{party color|Union for a Popular Movement}}" | | 2012 | Nicolas Sarkozy | UMP | 63.33 | François Hollande | PS | 36.67 |- |style="background-color: {{party color|Union for a Popular Movement}}" | | 2007 | Nicolas Sarkozy | UMP | 65.39 | Ségolène Royal | PS | 34.61 |- |style="background-color: {{party color|Rally for the Republic}}" | | 2002<ref name="auto"/> | Jacques Chirac | RPR | 77.65 | Jean-Marie Le Pen | FN | 22.35 |- |style="background-color: {{party color|Rally for the Republic}}" | | 1995<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.politiquemania.com/presidentielles-1995-departement.html | title=Résultats de l'élection présidentielle de 1995 par département - Politiquemania }}</ref> | Jacques Chirac | RPR | 57.26 | Lionel Jospin | PS | 42.74 |}

===Current National Assembly Representatives===

{| class="wikitable" |- !colspan="2"|Constituency!!Member<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/|title=Assemblée nationale ~ Les députés, le vote de la loi, le Parlement français|first=Assemblée|last=Nationale|website=Assemblée nationale}}</ref>!!Party |- |style="background-color: {{party color|Renaissance (French political party)}}" | | Haut-Rhin's 1st constituency | Brigitte Klinkert | Renaissance |- |style="background-color: {{party color|Democratic Movement (France)}}" | | Haut-Rhin's 2nd constituency | Hubert Ott | MoDem |- |style="background-color: {{party color|Horizons (political party)}}" | | Haut-Rhin's 3rd constituency | Didier Lemaire | Horizons |- |style="background-color: {{party color|The Republicans (France)}}" | | Haut-Rhin's 4th constituency | Raphaël Schellenberger | The Republicans |- |style="background-color: {{party color|Renaissance (French political party)}}" | | Haut-Rhin's 5th constituency | Olivier Becht | Renaissance |- |style="background-color: {{party color|Democratic Movement (France)}}" | | Haut-Rhin's 6th constituency | Bruno Fuchs | MoDem |}

==Tourism ==

<gallery> File:Mulhouse - Town hall.jpg|Mulhouse town hall File:Colmar - Alsace.jpg|Colmar File:67-Riquewihr-arcade.jpg|Riquewihr File:2012-11-16 16-00-31-vallee-doller.jpg|View from the Ballon d'Alsace File:Hunawihr1P7.jpg|Hunawihr and Alsatian vineyards </gallery>

==Transport== The department's main airport is served by EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg located in Saint-Louis, it provides air travel for the department as well as Basel-Stadt in the nearby border of Switzerland and Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. Strasbourg Airport is another alternative airport that the department also uses, it is located {{convert|109|km|0|abbr=on}} north of Mulhouse.

== Culture == * Alsatian language

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{commons}} * {{in lang|fr}} [https://www.haut-rhin.gouv.fr/ Prefecture website] * {{in lang|fr}} [https://www.alsace.eu/ Collectivité européenne d'Alsace] {{Alsace topics}} {{Departments of France}}

Category:Haut-Rhin Category:1790 establishments in France Category:Grand Est region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia Category:Departments of Grand Est Category:States and territories established in 1790