Meurthe-et-Moselle

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Meurthe-et-Moselle
Coat of arms of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department
Location
Location of Meurthe-et-Moselle in France
Administration
Department number: 54
Region: Lorraine
Prefecture: Nancy
Subprefectures: Briey
Lunéville
Toul
Arrondissements: 4
Cantons: 44
Communes: 594
President of the General Council: Michel Dinet
Statistics
Population Ranked 28th
 -1999 713,779
Population density: 136/km²
Land area¹: 5246 km²
¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km².
France

Meurthe-et-Moselle is a department in the northeast of France named after the Meurthe and Moselle rivers.

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] Geography

Meurthe-et-Moselle is part of the region of Lorraine and is surrounded by the departments of Meuse, Vosges, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle and by the nations of Luxembourg and Belgium.

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:

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links