Meurthe-et-Moselle

Meurthe-et-Moselle
—  Department  —
Coat of arms
Location of Meurthe-et-Moselle in France
Coordinates: 48°40′N 06°10′E / 48.667°N 6.167°E / 48.667; 6.167Coordinates: 48°40′N 06°10′E / 48.667°N 6.167°E / 48.667; 6.167
Country	France
Region	Lorraine
Prefecture	Nancy
Subprefectures	Briey Lunéville Toul
Government
– President of the General Council	Michel Dinet
Area1
– Total	5,246 km2 (2,025.5 sq mi)
Population (1999)
– Total	713,779
– Rank	28th
– Density	136.1/km2 (352.4/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
– Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Department number	54
Arrondissements	4
Cantons	44
Communes	594
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Meurthe-et-Moselle (French pronunciation: [mœʁte mɔzɛl]) is a department in the Lorraine region of France, named after the Meurthe and Moselle rivers.

History

Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of Moselle and Meurthe which remained French territory.

The current boundary between Meurthe-et-Moselle and Moselle was the border between France and Germany from 1871 to 1919 and again between 1940 and 1944. The only subsequent change took place in 1997 and involved the incorporation, for administrative reasons, of the little commune of Han-devant-Pierrepont which had previously fallen within the Meuse department.

Geography

Meurthe-et-Moselle is part of the region of Lorraine and is surrounded (counter-clockwise) by the departments of Meuse, Vosges, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle; and by the nations of Luxembourg and Belgium. Parts of Meurthe-et-Moselle belong to Parc naturel régional de Lorraine.

Its extends from north to south for 130 kilometers and between 7 and 103 kilometers from west to east.

The important rivers are the following:

• Moselle
• Meurthe
• Chiers
• Vezouze

Economy

The economy was highly dependent on mining until the 1960s. There are iron, salt, and lime extraction sites.

The urban area around Nancy has a very dynamic economy based largely on services, research, and higher education.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Meurthe-et-Mosellans.

The area around Nancy has become highly urbanized, whereas the Santois in the south is quite rural.

See also

• Cantons of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department
• Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department
• Arrondissements of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department

External links

• (French) Prefecture website
• (French) General council website
• (English) Meurthe-et-Moselle Tourism Guide
• (French) Tourism website