Rhône-Alpes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Rhône-Alpes
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| Country |  France |
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| Dissolved | 1 January 2016 | ||
| Prefecture | Lyon | ||
| Departments |
8+1 Metropolis
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| Area | |||
| • Total | 43,698 km2 (16,872 sq mi) | ||
| Population
(1 January 2014)
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| • Total | 5,645,407 | ||
| • Density | 129.1914/km2 (334.604/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | FR-V | ||
| GDP (2014) | Ranked 2nd | ||
| Total | €207 billion (US$228 bn) | ||
| Per capita | €32,000 (US$35,200) | ||
| NUTS Region | FR7 | ||
Rhône-Alpes was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris. Rhône-Alpes has the sixth-largest economy of any European region.
Geography
Rhône-Alpes is located in the southeast of France. The neighboring (pre-2016) regions are Bourgogne (Burgundy) and Franche-Comté to the north, Auvergne to the west, Languedoc-Roussillon to the southwest, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur to the south. The eastern part of the region is in the Alps, and borders Switzerland and Italy. The highest peak is Mont Blanc, on the French-Italian border. The central part of the region comprises the river valleys of the Rhône and the Saône. The confluence of these two rivers is at Lyon. The western part of the region contains the start of the Massif Central mountain range. The region also borders or contains major lakes such as Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) and Lake Annecy. The Ardèche flows through the southwest portion of the region, where it has carved the deepest gorge in Europe.
As with the rest of France, French is the only official language of the region. Until the mid-20th century, Arpitan was widely spoken in the whole region, while many of the inhabitants of the south spoke varieties of Occitan; both are in steep decline in this region. There are immigrant populations from Armenia, Italy, North Africa, Poland and Portugal, and elsewhere.
The departments in the region were:
The Rhône-Alpes region hosted the Winter Olympics three times; in 1924 at Chamonix, 1968 at Grenoble, and 1992 at Albertville.
Images for kids
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The Kiosque Peynet on the Champ de Mars in Valence.
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Castle and rooftops in the old section of Chambéry
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The Palais de l'Isle in Annecy
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The Bastille, 264 m above Grenoble
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Saint-Gervais-les-Bains has been a popular holiday destination since the early 1900s
See also
In Spanish: Ródano-Alpes para niños
