Alsace

Alsace (, ; Low Alemannic German/ ; ; ; ) 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 2017, it had a population of 1,889,589.
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 and Swiss German, 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 right on the contemporary German international border. The city is the seat of several international organisations and bodies.
Etymology.
The name "Alsace" can be traced to the Old High German or "Elisaz", meaning "foreign domain". An alternative explanation is from a Germanic "Ell-sass", meaning "seated on the Ill", a river in Alsace.
History.
In prehistoric times, Alsace was inhabited by nomadic hunters. Later the province became a diffuse border region between the French and the German cultures and languages. After the end of the Thirty Years War, southern Alsace was annexed by France in 1648, with most of the remainder conquered later in the century. In contrast to other parts of France, Protestants were permitted to practice their faith in Alsace even after the Edict of Fontainebleau of 1685 that abolished their privileges in the rest of France.
After the 1870–71 Franco-Prussian War, Alsace was returned to Germany and became a part of the 1871 unified German Empire as a formal "Emperor's Land". After World War I the victorious Allies detached it from Germany and awarded the province to the Third French Republic. After having been occupied by Germany during World War II, like the entirety of France, it was returned to France by the Allies at the end of World War II.
Pre-Roman Alsace.
The presence of hominids can be traced back 600,000 years ago. By 1500 BC, Celts began to settle in Alsace, clearing and cultivating the land. Alsace is a plain surrounded by the Vosges mountains (west) and the Black Forest mountains (east). It creates Foehn winds which, along with natural irrigation, contribute to the fertility of the soil. In a world of agriculture, Alsace has always been a rich region which explains why it has suffered so many invasions and annexations in its history.
Roman Alsace.
By 58 BC, the Romans had invaded and established Alsace as a center of viticulture. To protect this highly valued industry, the Romans built fortifications and military camps that evolved into various communities which have been inhabited continuously to the present day. While part of the Roman Empire, Alsace was part of Germania Superior.
Alemannic and Frankish Alsace.
In 357 AD, Germanic tribes attempted to conquer Alsace but they were rebuffed by the Romans. With the decline of the Roman Empire, Alsace became the territory of the Germanic Alemanni. The Alemanni were agricultural people, and their Germanic language formed the basis of modern-day dialects spoken along the Upper Rhine (Alsatian, Alemannian, Swabian, Swiss). Clovis and the Franks defeated the Alemanni during the 5th century AD, culminating with the Battle of Tolbiac, and Alsace became part of the Kingdom of Austrasia. Under Clovis' Merovingian successors the inhabitants were Christianized. Alsace remained under Frankish control until the Frankish realm, following the Oaths of Strasbourg of 842, was formally dissolved in 843 at the Treaty of Verdun; the grandsons of Charlemagne divided the realm into three parts. Alsace formed part of the Middle Francia, which was ruled by the eldest grandson Lothar I. Lothar died early in 855 and his realm was divided into three parts. The part known as Lotharingia, or Lorraine, was given to Lothar's son. The rest was shared between Lothar's brothers Charles the Bald (ruler of the West Frankish realm) and Louis the German (ruler of the East Frankish realm). The Kingdom of Lotharingia was short-lived, however, becoming the stem duchy of Lorraine in Eastern Francia after the Treaty of Ribemont in 880. Alsace was united with the other Alemanni east of the Rhine into the stem duchy of Swabia.
Alsace within the Holy Roman Empire.
At about this time, the surrounding areas experienced recurring fragmentation and reincorporations among a number of feudal secular and ecclesiastical lordships, a common process in the Holy Roman Empire. Alsace experienced great prosperity during the 12th and 13th centuries under Hohenstaufen emperors.
Frederick I set up Alsace as a province (a "procuratio", not a "provincia") to be ruled by ministeriales, a non-noble class of civil servants. The idea was that such men would be more tractable and less likely to alienate the fief from the crown out of their own greed. The province had a single provincial court ("Landgericht") and a central administration with its seat at Hagenau. Frederick II designated the Bishop of Strasbourg to administer Alsace, but the authority of the bishop was challenged by Count Rudolf of Habsburg, who received his rights from Frederick II's son Conrad IV. Strasbourg began to grow to become the most populous and commercially important town in the region.
In 1262, after a long struggle with the ruling bishops, its citizens gained the status of free imperial city. A stop on the Paris-Vienna-Orient trade route, as well as a port on the Rhine route linking southern Germany and Switzerland to the Netherlands, England and Scandinavia, it became the political and economic center of the region. Cities such as Colmar and Hagenau also began to grow in economic importance and gained a kind of autonomy within the "Décapole" (or "Zehnstädtebund"), a federation of ten free towns.
Though little is known about the early history of the Jews of Alsace, there is a lot of information from the 12th century onwards. They were successful as moneylenders and had the favor of the Emperor. As in much of Europe, the prosperity of Alsace was brought to an end in the 14th century by a series of harsh winters, bad harvests, and the Black Death. These hardships were blamed on Jews, leading to the pogroms of 1336 and 1339. In 1349, Jews of Alsace were accused of poisoning the wells with plague, leading to the massacre of thousands of Jews during the Strasbourg pogrom. Jews were subsequently forbidden to settle in the town. An additional natural disaster was the Rhine rift earthquake of 1356, one of Europe's worst which made ruins of Basel. Prosperity returned to Alsace under Habsburg administration during the Renaissance.
Holy Roman Empire central power had begun to decline following years of imperial adventures in Italian lands, often ceding hegemony in Western Europe to France, which had long since centralized power. France began an aggressive policy of expanding eastward, first to the rivers Rhône and Meuse, and when those borders were reached, aiming for the Rhine. In 1299, the French proposed a marriage alliance between Philip IV of France's sister Blanche and Albert I of Germany's son Rudolf, with Alsace to be the dowry; however, the deal never came off. In 1307, the town of Belfort was first chartered by the Counts of Montbéliard. During the next century, France was to be militarily shattered by the Hundred Years' War, which prevented for a time any further tendencies in this direction. After the conclusion of the war, France was again free to pursue its desire to reach the Rhine and in 1444 a French army appeared in Lorraine and Alsace. It took up winter quarters, demanded the submission of Metz and Strasbourg and launched an attack on Basel.
In 1469, following the , Upper Alsace was sold by Archduke Sigismund of Austria to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Although Charles was the nominal landlord, taxes were paid to Frederick III, Holy Roman Emperor. The latter was able to use this tax and a dynastic marriage to his advantage to gain back full control of Upper Alsace (apart from the free towns, but including Belfort) in 1477 when it became part of the demesne of the Habsburg family, who were also rulers of the empire. The town of Mulhouse joined the Swiss Confederation in 1515, where it was to remain until 1798.
By the time of the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century, Strasbourg was a prosperous community, and its inhabitants accepted Protestantism in 1523. Martin Bucer was a prominent Protestant reformer in the region. His efforts were countered by the Roman Catholic Habsburgs who tried to eradicate heresy in Upper Alsace. As a result, Alsace was transformed into a mosaic of Catholic and Protestant territories. On the other hand, Mömpelgard (Montbéliard) to the southwest of Alsace, belonging to the Counts of Württemberg since 1397, remained a Protestant enclave in France until 1793.
German "Land" within the Kingdom of France.
This situation prevailed until 1639, when most of Alsace was conquered by France to keep it out of the hands of the Spanish Habsburgs, who by secret treaty in 1617 had gained a clear road to their valuable and rebellious possessions in the Spanish Netherlands, the Spanish Road. Beset by enemies and seeking to gain a free hand in Hungary, the Habsburgs sold their Sundgau territory (mostly in Upper Alsace) to France in 1646, which had occupied it, for the sum of 1.2 million Thalers. When hostilities were concluded in 1648 with the Treaty of Westphalia, most of Alsace was recognized as part of France, although some towns remained independent. The treaty stipulations regarding Alsace were complex. Although the French king gained sovereignty, existing rights and customs of the inhabitants were largely preserved. France continued to maintain its customs border along the Vosges mountains where it had been, leaving Alsace more economically oriented to neighbouring German-speaking lands. The German language remained in use in local administration, in schools, and at the (Lutheran) University of Strasbourg, which continued to draw students from other German-speaking lands. The 1685 Edict of Fontainebleau, by which the French king ordered the suppression of French Protestantism, was not applied in Alsace. France did endeavour to promote Catholicism. Strasbourg Cathedral, for example, which had been Lutheran from 1524 to 1681, was returned to the Catholic Church. However, compared to the rest of France, Alsace enjoyed a climate of religious tolerance.
France consolidated its hold with the 1679 Treaties of Nijmegen, which brought most remaining towns under its control. France seized Strasbourg in 1681 in an unprovoked action. These territorial changes were recognised in the 1697 Treaty of Ryswick that ended the War of the Grand Alliance.
But Alsace still contained islands of territory nominally under the sovereignty of German princes and an independent city-state at Mulhouse. These enclaves were established by law, prescription and international consensus.
From French Revolution to the Franco-Prussian War.
The year 1789 brought the French Revolution and with it the first division of Alsace into the départements of Haut- and Bas-Rhin. Alsatians played an active role in the French Revolution. On 21 July 1789, after receiving news of the Storming of the Bastille in Paris, a crowd of people stormed the Strasbourg city hall, forcing the city administrators to flee and putting symbolically an end to the feudal system in Alsace. In 1792, Rouget de Lisle composed in Strasbourg the Revolutionary marching song "La Marseillaise" (as "Marching song for the Army of the Rhine"), which later became the anthem of France. "La Marseillaise" was played for the first time in April of that year in front of the mayor of Strasbourg Philippe-Frédéric de Dietrich. Some of the most famous generals of the French Revolution also came from Alsace, notably Kellermann, the victor of Valmy, Kléber, who led the armies of the French Republic in Vendée and Westermann, who also fought in the Vendée.
Mulhouse (a city in southern Alsace), which had been part of Switzerland since 1466, joined France in 1798.
At the same time, some Alsatians were in opposition to the Jacobins and sympathetic to the restoration of the monarchy pursued by the invading forces of Austria and Prussia who sought to crush the nascent revolutionary republic. Many of the residents of the Sundgau made "pilgrimages" to places like Mariastein Abbey, near Basel, in Switzerland, for baptisms and weddings. When the French Revolutionary Army of the Rhine was victorious, tens of thousands fled east before it. When they were later permitted to return (in some cases not until 1799), it was often to find that their lands and homes had been confiscated. These conditions led to emigration by hundreds of families to newly vacant lands in the Russian Empire in 1803–4 and again in 1808. A poignant retelling of this event based on what Goethe had personally witnessed can be found in his long poem "Hermann and Dorothea".
In response to the "hundred day" restoration of Napoleon I of France in 1815, Alsace along with other frontier provinces of France was occupied by foreign forces from 1815 to 1818, including over 280,000 soldiers and 90,000 horses in Bas-Rhin alone. This had grave effects on trade and the economy of the region since former overland trade routes were switched to newly opened Mediterranean and Atlantic seaports.
The population grew rapidly, from 800,000 in 1814 to 914,000 in 1830 and 1,067,000 in 1846. The combination of economic and demographic factors led to hunger, housing shortages and a lack of work for young people. Thus, it is not surprising that people left Alsace, not only for Paris – where the Alsatian community grew in numbers, with famous members such as Georges-Eugène Haussmann – but also for more distant places like Russia and the Austrian Empire, to take advantage of the new opportunities offered there: Austria had conquered lands in Eastern Europe from the Ottoman Empire and offered generous terms to colonists as a way of consolidating its hold on the new territories. Many Alsatians also began to sail to the United States, settling in many areas from 1820 to 1850. In 1843 and 1844, sailing ships bringing immigrant families from Alsace arrived at the port of New York. Some settled in Texas and Illinois, many to farm or to seek success in commercial ventures: for example, the sailing ships "Sully" (in May 1843) and "Iowa" (in June 1844) brought families who set up homes in northern Illinois and northern Indiana. Some Alsatian immigrants were noted for their roles in 19th-century American economic development. Others ventured to Canada to settle in southwestern Ontario, notably Waterloo County.
Alsacian Jews.
In contrast to the rest of France the Jews in Alsace had not been expelled during the Middle Ages. By 1790, the Jewish population of Alsace was approximately 22,500, about 3% of the provincial population. They were highly segregated and subject to long-standing antisemitic regulations. They maintained their own customs, Yiddish language, and historic traditions within the tightly knit ghettos; they adhered to Jewish law. Jews were barred from most cities and instead lived in villages. They concentrated in trade, services, and especially in money lending. They financed about a third of the mortgages in Alsace. Official tolerance grew during the French Revolution, with full emancipation in 1791. However, local antisemitism also increased and Napoleon turned hostile in 1806, imposing a one-year moratorium on all debts owed to Jews. In the 1830–1870 era, most Jews moved to the cities, where they integrated and acculturated, as antisemitism sharply declined. By 1831, the state began paying salaries to official rabbis, and in 1846 a special legal oath for Jews was discontinued. Antisemitic local riots occasionally occurred, especially during the Revolution of 1848. The merger of Alsace into Germany in 1871–1918 lessened antisemitic violence. The constitution of the "Reichsland" of 1911 reserved one seat in the first chamber of the "Landtag" for a representative of the Jewish Consistory of Alsace-Lorraine (besides two seats respectively for the two main Christian denominations).
Struggle between France and united Germany.
The Franco-Prussian War, which started in July 1870, saw France defeated in May 1871 by the Kingdom of Prussia and other German states. The end of the war led to the unification of Germany. Otto von Bismarck annexed Alsace and northern Lorraine to the new German Empire in 1871. France ceded more than 90% of Alsace and one-fourth of Lorraine, as stipulated in the treaty of Frankfurt; Belfort, the largest Alsatian town south of Mulhouse, remained French. Unlike other member states of the German federation, which had governments of their own, the new "Imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine" was under the sole authority of the Kaiser, administered directly by the imperial government in Berlin. Between 100,000 and 130,000 Alsatians (of a total population of about a million and a half) chose to remain French citizens and leave "Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen", many of them resettling in French Algeria as Pieds-Noirs. Only in 1911 was Alsace-Lorraine granted some measure of autonomy, which was manifested also in a flag and an anthem (Elsässisches Fahnenlied). In 1913, however, the Saverne Affair ("French": Incident de Saverne) showed the limits of this new tolerance of the Alsatian identity.
During the First World War, to avoid ground fights between brothers, many Alsatians served as sailors in the Kaiserliche Marine and took part in the Naval mutinies that led to the abdication of the Kaiser in November 1918, which left Alsace-Lorraine without a nominal head of state. The sailors returned home and tried to found an independent republic. While Jacques Peirotes, at this time deputy at the "Landrat Elsass-Lothringen" and just elected mayor of Strasbourg, proclaimed the forfeiture of the German Empire and the advent of the French Republic, a self-proclaimed government of Alsace-Lorraine declared its independence as the "Republic of Alsace-Lorraine". French troops entered Alsace less than two weeks later to quash the worker strikes and remove the newly established Soviets and revolutionaries from power. With the arrival of the French soldiers, many Alsatians and local Prussian/German administrators and bureaucrats cheered the re-establishment of order.
Although U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had insisted that the "région" was self-ruling by legal status, as its constitution had stated it was bound to the sole authority of the Kaiser and not to the German state, France would allow no plebiscite, as granted by the League of Nations to some eastern German territories at this time, because the French regarded the Alsatians as Frenchmen liberated from German rule. Germany ceded the region to France under the Treaty of Versailles.
Policies forbidding the use of German and requiring French were promptly introduced. In order not to antagonize the Alsatians, the region was not subjected to some legal changes that had occurred in the rest of France between 1871 and 1919, such as the 1905 French law on the separation of Church and State.
Alsace-Lorraine was occupied by Germany in 1940 during the Second World War. Although it was never formally annexed, Alsace-Lorraine was incorporated into the Greater German Reich, which had been restructured into Reichsgau. Alsace was merged with Baden, and Lorraine with the Saarland, to become part of a planned Westmark. During the war, 130,000 young men from Alsace and Lorraine were conscripted into the German armies against their will (malgré-nous). There were some volunteers for the Waffen SS., although they were outnumbered by conscripts of the 1926–1927 classes. Thirty of said Waffen SS were involved in the Oradour-sur-Glane massacre (29 conscripts, one volunteer). A third of the malgré-nous perished on the Eastern front. In July 1944, 1500 malgré-nous were released from Soviet captivity and sent to Algiers, where they joined the Free French Forces.
After World War II.
Today, the territory is in certain areas subject to some laws that are significantly different from the rest of France – this is known as the local law.
In more recent years, the Alsatian language is again being promoted by local, national, and European authorities as an element of the region's identity. Alsatian is taught in schools (but not mandatory) as one of the regional languages of France. German is also taught as a foreign language in local kindergartens and schools. There is a growing network of schools proposing full immersion in Alsatian dialect and in Standard German, called "ABCM-Zweisprachigkeit" (ABCM -> French acronym for "Association for Bilingualism in the Classroom from Kindergarten onwards", Zweisprachigkeit -> German for "Bilingualism"). However, the Constitution of France still requires that French be the only official language of the Republic.
Geography.
Topography.
Alsace has an area of 8,283 km2, making it the smallest "région" of metropolitan France. It is almost four times longer than it is wide, corresponding to a plain between the Rhine in the east and the Vosges mountains in the west.
It includes the "départements" of Haut-Rhin and Bas-Rhin (known previously as Sundgau and Nordgau). It borders Germany on the north and the east, Switzerland and Franche-Comté on the south and Lorraine on the west.
Several valleys are also found in the "région". Its highest point is the Grand Ballon in Haut-Rhin, which reaches a height of 1426 m. It contains many forests, primarily in the Vosges and in Bas-Rhin (Haguenau Forest).
The ried lies along the Rhine.
Geology.
Alsace is the part of the plain of the Rhine located at the west of the Rhine, on its left bank. It is a rift or graben, from the Oligocene epoch, associated with its horsts: the Vosges and the Black Forest.
The Jura Mountains, formed by slip (induced by the alpine uplift) of the Mesozoic cover on the Triassic formations, goes through the area of Belfort.
Climate.
Alsace has a semi-continental climate at low altitude and a continental climate at high altitude. There is fairly low precipitation because the Vosges protect it from the west. The city of Colmar has a sunny microclimate; it is the second driest city in France, with an annual precipitation of 600 mm, making it ideal for "vin d'Alsace" ("Alsatian wine").
Governance.
Since 2021, Alsace is a territorial collectivity called the European Collectivity of Alsace ("collectivité européenne d'Alsace").
Administrative divisions.
The European Collectivity of Alsace is divided into 2 departmental constituencies ("circonscriptions départementales"), 9 departmental arrondissements, 40 cantons, and 880 communes.
Society.
Demographics.
Alsace's population increased to 1,872,949 in 2014. It has regularly increased over time, except in wartime, by both natural growth and migration. This growth has even accelerated at the end of the 20th century. INSEE estimates that its population will grow 12.9% to 19.5% between 1999 and 2030.
Religion.
Alsace is generally seen as the most religious of all the French regions. Most of the Alsatian population is Roman Catholic, but, largely because of the region's German heritage, a significant Protestant community also exists: today, the EPCAAL (a Lutheran church) is France's second largest Protestant church, also forming an administrative union (UEPAL) with the much smaller Calvinist EPRAL. Unlike the rest of France, the Local law in Alsace-Moselle still provides for the Napoleonic Concordat of 1801 and the organic articles, which provides public subsidies to the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist churches, as well as to Jewish synagogues; religion classes in one of these faiths is compulsory in public schools. This divergence in policy from the French majority is due to the region having been part of Imperial Germany when the 1905 law separating the French church and state was instituted (for a more comprehensive history, see: Alsace-Lorraine). Controversy erupts periodically on the appropriateness of this legal disposition, as well as on the exclusion of other religions from this arrangement.
Following the Protestant Reformation, promoted by local reformer Martin Bucer, the principle of "cuius regio, eius religio" led to a certain amount of religious diversity in the highlands of northern Alsace. Landowners, who as "local lords" had the right to decide which religion was allowed on their land, were eager to entice populations from the more attractive lowlands to settle and develop their property. Many accepted without discrimination Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, Jews and Anabaptists. Multiconfessional villages appeared, particularly in the region of Alsace bossue. Alsace became one of the French regions boasting a thriving Jewish community, and the only region with a noticeable Anabaptist population. Philipp Jakob Spener who founded Pietism was born in Alsace. The schism of the Amish under the lead of Jacob Amman from the Mennonites occurred in 1693 in Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines. The strongly Catholic Louis XIV tried in vain to drive them from Alsace. When Napoleon imposed military conscription without religious exception, most emigrated to the American continent.
In 1707, the simultaneum forced many Reformed and Lutheran church buildings to also allow Catholic services. About 50 such "simultaneous churches" still exist in modern Alsace, though with the Catholic church's general lack of priests they tend to hold Catholic services only occasionally.
Culture.
Alsace historically was part of the Holy Roman Empire and the German realm of culture. Since the 17th century, the region has passed between German and French control numerous times, resulting in a cultural blend. German traits remain in the more traditional, rural parts of the culture, such as the cuisine and architecture, whereas modern institutions are totally dominated by French culture.
Symbolism.
Strasbourg.
Strasbourg's arms are the colours of the shield of the Bishop of Strasbourg (a band of red on a white field, also considered an inversion of the arms of the diocese) at the end of a revolt of the burghers during the Middle Ages who took their independence from the teachings of the Bishop. It retains its power over the surrounding area.
Flags.
There is controversy around the recognition of the Alsatian flag. The authentic historical flag is the "Rot-un-Wiss"; Red and White are commonly found on the coat of arms of Alsatian cities (Strasbourg, Mulhouse, Sélestat...) and of many Swiss cities, especially in Basel's region. The German region Hesse uses a flag similar to the Rot-un-Wiss. As it underlines the Germanic roots of the region, it was "replaced" in 1949 by a new "Union jack-like" flag representing the union of the two départements. It has, however, no real historical relevance. It has been since replaced again by a slightly different one, also representing the two départements. With the purpose of "Francizing" the region, the Rot-un-Wiss has not been recognized by Paris. Some overzealous statesmen have called it a Nazi invention – while its origins date back to the 11th century and the Red and White banner of Gérard de Lorraine (aka. d'Alsace). The Rot-un-Wiss flag is still known as the real historical emblem of the region by most of the population and the départements' parliaments and has been widely used during protests against the creation of a new "super-region" gathering Champagne-Ardennes, Lorraine and Alsace, namely on Colmar's statue of liberty.
Language.
Although German dialects were spoken in Alsace for most of its history, the dominant language in Alsace today is French.
The traditional language of the "région" is Alsatian, an Alemannic dialect of Upper German spoken on both sides of the Rhine and closely related to Swiss German. Some Frankish dialects of West Central German are also spoken in "Alsace Bossue" and in the extreme north of Alsace. Neither Alsatian nor the Frankish dialects have any form of official status, as is customary for regional languages in France, although both are now recognized as languages of France and can be chosen as subjects in lycées.
Although Alsace has been part of France multiple times in the past, the region had no direct connection with the French state for several centuries. From the end of the Roman Empire (5th century) to the French annexation (17th century), Alsace was politically part of the German world.
The towns of Alsace were the first to adopt the German language as their official language, instead of Latin, during the Lutheran Reform. It was in Strasbourg that German was first used for the liturgy. It was also in Strasbourg that the first German Bible was published in 1466.
From the annexation of Alsace by France in the 17th century and the language policy of the French Revolution up to 1870, knowledge of French in Alsace increased considerably. With the education reforms of the 19th century, the middle classes began to speak and write French well. The French language never really managed, however, to win over the masses, the vast majority of whom continued to speak their German dialects and write in German (which we would now call "standard German").
Between 1870 and 1918, Alsace was annexed by the German Empire in the form of an imperial province or Reichsland, and the mandatory official language, especially in schools, became High German. French lost ground to such an extent that it has been estimated that only 2% of the population spoke French fluently and only 8% had some knowledge of it (Maugue, 1970).
After 1918, French was the only language used in schools, and particularly primary schools. After much argument and discussion and after many temporary measures, a memorandum was issued by Vice-Chancellor Pfister in 1927 and governed education in primary schools until 1939.
During a reannexation by Germany (1940–1945), High German was reinstated as the language of education. The population was forced to speak German and 'French' family names were Germanized. Following the Second World War, the 1927 regulation was not reinstated and the teaching of German in primary schools was suspended by a provisional rectorial decree, which was supposed to enable French to regain lost ground. The teaching of German became a major issue, however, as early as 1946. Following World War II, the French government pursued, in line with its traditional language policy, a campaign to suppress the use of German as part of a wider Francization campaign.
In 1951, Article 10 of the Deixonne Law ("Loi Deixonne") on the teaching of local languages and dialects made provision for Breton, Basque, Catalan and old Provençal, but not for Corsican, Dutch (West Flemish) or Alsatian in Alsace and Moselle. However, in a Decree of 18 December 1952, supplemented by an Order of 19 December of the same year, optional teaching of the German language was introduced in elementary schools in Communes where the language of habitual use was the Alsatian dialect.
In 1972, the Inspector General of German, Georges Holderith, obtained authorization to reintroduce German into 33 intermediate classes on an experimental basis. This teaching of German, referred to as the Holderith Reform, was later extended to all pupils in the last two years of elementary school. This reform is still largely the basis of German teaching (but not Alsatian) in elementary schools today.
It was not until 9 June 1982, with the "Circulaire sur la langue et la culture régionales en Alsace" (Memorandum on regional language and culture in Alsace) issued by the Vice-Chancellor of the Académie Pierre Deyon, that the teaching of German in primary schools in Alsace really began to be given more official status. The Ministerial Memorandum of 21 June 1982, known as the Circulaire Savary, introduced financial support, over three years, for the teaching of regional languages in schools and universities. This memorandum was, however, implemented in a fairly lax manner.
Both Alsatian and Standard German were for a time banned from public life (including street and city names, official administration, and educational system). Though the ban has long been lifted and street signs today are often bilingual, Alsace-Lorraine is today predominantly French in language and culture. Few young people speak Alsatian today, although there do still exist one or two enclaves in the Sundgau region where some older inhabitants cannot speak French, and where Alsatian is still used as the mother tongue. A related Alemannic German survives on the opposite bank of the Rhine, in Baden, and especially in Switzerland. However, while French is the major language of the region, the Alsatian dialect of French is heavily influenced by German and other languages such as Yiddish in phonology and vocabulary.
This situation has spurred a movement to preserve the Alsatian language, which is perceived as endangered, a situation paralleled in other "régions" of France, such as Brittany or Occitania. Alsatian is now taught in French high schools. Increasingly, French is the only language used at home and at work, whereas a growing number of people have a good knowledge of standard German as a foreign language learned in school.
The constitution of the Fifth Republic states that French alone is the official language of the Republic. However, Alsatian, along with other regional languages, are recognized by the French government in the official list of languages of France.
Although the French government signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 1992, it never ratified the treaty and therefore no legal basis exists for any of the regional languages in France. However, visitors to Alsace can see indications of renewed political and cultural interest in the language – in Alsatian signs appearing in car-windows and on hoardings, and in new official bilingual street signs in Strasbourg and Mulhouse.
A 1999 INSEE survey, included in the 1999 Census, the majority of the population in Alsace speak French as their first language, 39.0% (or 500,000 people) of the population speak Alsatian, 16.2% (or 208,000 people) speak German, 75,200 people speak English (or 5.9%) and 27,600 people speak Italian.
The survey counted 548,000 adult speakers of Alsatian in France, making it the second most-spoken regional language in the country (after Occitan). Like all regional languages in France, however, the transmission of Alsatian is on the decline. While 39% of the adult population of Alsace speak Alsatian, only one in four children speak it, and only one in ten children uses it regularly.
Architecture.
The traditional habitat of the Alsatian lowland, like in other regions of Germany and Northern Europe, consists of houses constructed with walls in timber framing and cob and roofing in flat tiles. This type of construction is abundant in adjacent parts of Germany and can be seen in other areas of France, but their particular abundance in Alsace is owed to several reasons:
However, half-timbering was found to increase the risk of fire, which is why from the 19th century, it began to be rendered. In recent times, villagers started to paint the rendering white in accordance with Beaux-Arts movements. To discourage this, the region's authorities gave financial grants to the inhabitants to paint the rendering in various colours, in order to return to the original style and many inhabitants accepted (more for financial reasons than by firm belief).
Cuisine.
Alsatian cuisine, somewhat based on German culinary traditions, is marked by the use of pork in various forms. It is perhaps mostly known for the region's wines and beers. Traditional dishes include "baeckeoffe", "flammekueche", "choucroute", and "fleischnacka". Southern Alsace, also called the Sundgau, is characterized by "carpe frite" (that also exists in Yiddish tradition).
Food.
The festivities of the year's end involve the production of a great variety of biscuits and small cakes called "bredela" as well as "pain d'épices" (gingerbread cakes) which are baked around Christmas time. The Kugelhupf is also popular in Alsace, and the Christstollen during the Christmas season.
The gastronomic symbol of the "région" is undoubtedly the Choucroute, a local variety of Sauerkraut. The word Sauerkraut in Alsatian has the form "sûrkrût", same as in other southwestern German dialects, and means "sour cabbage" as its Standard German equivalent. This word was included into the French language as "choucroute". To make it, the cabbage is finely shredded, layered with salt and juniper and left to ferment in wooden barrels. Sauerkraut can be served with poultry, pork, sausage or even fish. Traditionally it is served with Strasbourg sausage or frankfurters, bacon, smoked pork or smoked Morteau or Montbéliard sausages, or a selection of other pork products. Served alongside are often roasted or steamed potatoes or dumplings.
Alsace is also well known for its foie gras made in the region since the 17th century. Additionally, Alsace is known for its fruit juices and mineral waters.
Wines.
Alsace is an important wine-producing "région". "Vins d'Alsace" (Alsace wines) are mostly white. Alsace produces some of the world's most noted dry rieslings and is the only region in France to produce mostly varietal wines identified by the names of the grapes used (wine from Burgundy is also mainly varietal, but not normally identified as such), typically from grapes also used in Germany. The most notable example is Gewurztraminer.
Beers.
Alsace is also the main beer-producing region of France, thanks primarily to breweries in and near Strasbourg. These include those of Fischer, Karlsbräu, Kronenbourg, and Heineken International. Hops are grown in Kochersberg and in northern Alsace. Schnapps is also traditionally made in Alsace, but it is in decline because home distillers are becoming less common and the consumption of traditional, strong, alcoholic beverages is decreasing.
In tales.
The stork is a main feature of Alsace and was the subject of many legends told to children. The bird practically disappeared around 1970, but re-population efforts are continuing. They are mostly found on roofs of houses, churches and other public buildings in Alsace.
The Easter Bunny was first mentioned in Georg Franck von Franckenau's "De ovis paschalibus" (About Easter eggs) in 1682 referring to an Alsace tradition of an Easter Hare bringing Easter eggs.
The term "Alsatia".
"Alsatia", the Latin form of Alsace's name, entered the English language as "a lawless place" or "a place under no jurisdiction" prior to the 17th century as a reflection of the British perception of the region at that time. It was used into the 20th century as a term for a ramshackle marketplace, "protected by ancient custom and the independence of their patrons". The word is still in use in the 21st century among the English and Australian judiciaries to describe a place where the law cannot reach: "In setting up the Serious Organised Crime Agency, the state has set out to create an Alsatia – a region of executive action free of judicial oversight," Lord Justice Sedley in UMBS v SOCA 2007.
Derived from the above, "Alsatia" was historically a cant term for the area near Whitefriars, London, which was for a long time a sanctuary. It is first known in print in the title of "The Squire of Alsatia", a 1688 play written by Thomas Shadwell.
Economy.
According to the "Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques" (INSEE), Alsace had a gross domestic product of 44.3 billion euros in 2002. With a GDP per capita of €24,804, it was the second-place "région" of France, losing only to Île-de-France. 68% of its jobs are in the services; 25% are in industry, making Alsace one of France's most industrialised "régions".
Alsace is a "région" of varied economic activity, including:
Alsace has many international ties and 35% of firms are foreign companies (notably German, Swiss, American, Japanese, and Scandinavian).
Tourism.
Having been early and always densely populated, Alsace is famous for its high number of picturesque villages, churches and castles and for the various beauties of its three main towns, in spite of severe destructions suffered throughout five centuries of wars between France and Germany.
Alsace is furthermore famous for its vineyards (especially along the 170 km of the "Route des Vins d'Alsace" from Marlenheim to Thann) and the Vosges mountains with their thick and green forests and picturesque lakes.
Transportation.
Roads.
Most major car journeys are made on the A35 autoroute, which links Saint-Louis on the Swiss border to Lauterbourg on the German border.
The A4 toll road (towards Paris) begins 20 km northwest of Strasbourg and the A36 toll road towards Lyon, begins 10 km west from Mulhouse.
Spaghetti-junctions (built in the 1970s and 1980s) are prominent in the comprehensive system of motorways in Alsace, especially in the outlying areas of Strasbourg and Mulhouse. These cause a major buildup of traffic and are the main sources of pollution in the towns, notably in Strasbourg where the motorway traffic of the A35 was 170,000 per day in 2002.
At present, plans are being considered for building a new dual carriageway west of Strasbourg, which would reduce the buildup of traffic in that area by picking up north and southbound vehicles and getting rid of the buildup outside Strasbourg. The line plans to link up the interchange of Hœrdt to the north of Strasbourg, with Innenheim in the southwest. The opening is envisaged at the end of 2011, with an average usage of 41,000 vehicles a day. Estimates of the French Works Commissioner however, raised some doubts over the interest of such a project, since it would pick up only about 10% of the traffic of the A35 at Strasbourg. Paradoxically, this reversed the situation of the 1950s. At that time, the French trunk road left of the Rhine not been built, so that traffic would cross into Germany to use the Karlsruhe-Basel Autobahn.
To add to the buildup of traffic, the neighbouring German state of Baden-Württemberg has imposed a tax on heavy-goods vehicles using their Autobahnen. Thus, a proportion of the HGVs travelling from north Germany to Switzerland or southern Alsace bypasses the A5 on the Alsace-Baden-Württemberg border and uses the untolled, French A35 instead.
Trains.
TER Alsace is the rail network serving Alsace. Its network is articulated around the city of Strasbourg. It is one of the most developed rail networks in France, financially sustained partly by the French railroad SNCF, and partly by the "région" Alsace.
Because the Vosges are surmountable only by the Col de Saverne and the Belfort Gap, it has been suggested that Alsace needs to open up and get closer to France in terms of its rail links. Developments already under way or planned include:
However, the abandoned Maurice-Lemaire tunnel towards Saint-Dié-des-Vosges was rebuilt as a toll road.
Waterways.
Port traffic of Alsace exceeds 15 million tonnes, of which about three-quarters is centred on Strasbourg, which is the second busiest French fluvial harbour. The enlargement plan of the Rhône–Rhine Canal, intended to link up the Mediterranean Sea and Central Europe (Rhine, Danube, North Sea and Baltic Sea) was abandoned in 1998 for reasons of expense and land erosion, notably in the Doubs valley.
Air traffic.
There are two international airports in Alsace:
Strasbourg is also two hours away by road from one of the largest European airports, Frankfurt Main, and 2-hour 30 minutes from Charles de Gaulle Airport through the direct TGV service, stopping in Terminal 2.
Cycling network.
Crossed by three EuroVelo routes
Alsace is the most well equipped region of France, with 2000 kilometres of cycle routes. The network is of a very good standard and well signposted. All the towpaths of the canals in Alsace (canal des houillères de la Sarre, canal de la Marne au Rhin, canal de la Bruche, canal du Rhône au Rhin) are tarred.
Famous Alsatians.
The following is a selection of people born in Alsace who have been particularly influential and/or successful in their respective field.
Major communities.
German original names in brackets if French names are different
Sister provinces.
There is an "accord de coopération internationale" between Alsace and the following regions:


List of Spanish provinces by area

This is a list of the provinces of Spain in order of area.


Province of Cremona

The Province of Cremona (; Cremunés: ; Cremasco: ; Casalasco-Viadanese: ) is a province in the Lombardy region of Italy. Its capital city is Cremona.
The province occupies the central section of Padana Plain, so the whole territory is flat, without any mountains or hills, crossed by several rivers, such as the Serio and Adda, and artificial canals, most of which are used for irrigation.
The river Po, which is the longest Italian river, is the natural boundary with the adjoining Province of Piacenza, while the Oglio separates the province from Brescia.
History.
Lombardy has been inhabited since ancient times and stone age and Bronze Age rock drawings and artefacts have been found there. From the fifth century BC, Gallic tribes invaded and settled in the region, building several cities (including Milan) and ruling the land as far as the Adriatic Sea. From the third century BC the Romans expanded their sphere of influence into the area, and in 194 BC, the whole of what is now Lombardy, became a Roman province called Gallia Cisalpina. The Romans overwhelmed the previous civilisations and Lombardy became one of the richest and best-developed areas in Italy. It was here in 313 AD that the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great issued the famous Edict of Milan that gave freedom of religion to all people in the Roman Empire.
Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, Lombardy was invaded by successive waves of tribes, the last of which was the Germanic Lombards in the late sixth century. Stability followed until 774, when the Frankish king Charlemagne conquered the area and annexed the Kingdom of the Lombards (most of northern and central Italy) to his empire.
Geography.
The province of Cremona is a long, relatively narrow part of the Padana Plain in northern Italy, the outline of which is circumscribed by rivers. The province is orientated from northwest to southeast. To the west of the province lies the Province of Lodi, to the northwest lies the Province of Milan, to the north lies the Province of Bergamo, to the east lies the Province of Brescia, and to the southeast lies the Province of Mantua. The region of Emilia-Romagna lies to the south, Cremona abutting onto the Province of Reggio Emilia, the Province of Parma and the Province of Piacenza.
Several rivers flow across the Lombardy Plain to join the Po which runs along the southern border of the province. The Adda separates Cremona from the Province of Lodi and the Oglio provides the border with the Province of Mantua. Other rivers in the north of the province include the Serio and the Tormo, and the Mella makes up a short stretch of the border with the Province of Brescia. These rivers are linked by a network of canals which have been in place since at least the sixteenth century and are largely used for irrigation. The Muzza Canal takes its water from the river Adda and irrigates the land between that river and the river Ticino, converting the plain into a fertile area with rich meadows and productive agricultural land.
The total area of the province is . Although the province is essentially flat, there are some undulations in the surface formed by the varying courses of the rivers over the millennia. For historical reasons, the province is subdivided into four rural districts, centred on Crema, Soresina, Cremona and Casalmaggiore. In the north, some watercourses emerge from the ground in the "line of springs", a phenomenon of the northern Lombardy Plain, where melt-water from the Alps flows underground through porous gravelly soils before being forced to the surface when it reaches impervious, clayey ground.
The climate is largely uniform throughout the province. The annual rainfall is about with October and November being the wettest months and February and July being the driest. The average temperature is in January and
 in July. There is often fog in winter, especially near the rivers.
Government.
The Province of Cremona is an administrative body of intermediate level between a municipality ("comune") and Lombardy region.
The three main functions devolved to the Province of Cremona are:
As an administrative institution, the Province of Cremona has its own elected bodies. From 1948 to 1995 the President of the Province of Cremona was chosen by the members of the Provincial Council, elected every five years by citizens. From 1995 to 2014, under provisions of the 1993 local administration reform, the President of the Province was chosen by popular election, originally every four, then every five years.
On 3 April 2014, the Italian Chamber of Deputies gave its final approval to the Law n.56/2014 which involves the transformation of the Italian provinces into "institutional bodies of second level". According to the 2014 reform, each province is headed by a President (or Commissioner) assisted by a legislative body, the Provincial Council, and an executive body, the Provincial Executive. President (Commissioner) and members of Council are elected together by mayors and city councilors of each municipality of the province respectively every four and two years. The Executive is chaired by the President (Commissioner) who appoint others members, called "assessori". Since 2015, the President (Commissioner) and other members of the Council do not receive a salary.
In each province, there is also a Prefect ("prefetto"), a representative of the central government who heads an agency called "prefettura-ufficio territoriale del governo". The Questor ("questore") is the head of State's Police ("Polizia di Stato") in the province and his office is called "questura". There is also a province's police force depending from local government, called provincial police ("polizia provinciale").
This is a list of the Presidents of the Province since 1948:
Economy and culture.
The principal economic resources of the province of Cremona are agricultural. Rice is grown with the help of water drawn from canals. Other crops include maize (corn), locally called "Melegot" and barley and to a lesser extent, soya and sugar beet. Grapes are cultivated and wine produced, and there is also a silk industry. The farms in the province are some of the most productive in the country. Other industries are quite developed, mostly in the northern zone, near Crema, where there are textiles, chemical, and mechanical factories.
Beef and dairy cattle are kept in the province. The beef serves as an ingredient for local dishes, and milk from the dairy cows is used to create traditional cheeses as well as producing butter and cream. The area is famous for its food specialities, such as nougat (IItalian: "torrone") and mustard. It is unclear exactly where torrone originated, but the recipe used in Cremona is the best known.
The city of Cremona has a strong musical tradition. The cathedral, built in the twelfth century, provided a focus for musical activity and by the sixteenth century, the town was the musical centre of the region. Even now it attracts people to hear performances by ensembles and attend the many festivals. The Renaissance composer Marc'Antonio Ingegneri taught here, his most illustrious pupil being Claudio Monteverdi. The composer Pierre-Francisque Caroubel was born here and later moved to Wolfenbüttel in Germany to collaborate with Michael Praetorius. The town became renowned for the violins and other musical instruments that were made here (many members of the Stradivari, Amati, Guarneri and Bergonzi families of luthiers were all prominent citizens of Cremona), and was also well known for its concert bands. A band school was started here in 1864 under the auspices of the composer Amilcare Ponchielli. The "traditional violin craftsmanship in Cremona" was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2012.
Municipalities.
Here is a list of the most populated municipalities of the province.
Municipal government.
Here is a list of the municipal government in cities and towns with more than 15,000 inhabitants:


Province of Imperia

The Province of Imperia (, ) is a mountainous and hilly province, in the Liguria region of Italy, situated between France to the north and the west, and the Ligurian Sea, an arm of the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Its capital is the city of Imperia.
Overview.
To the east lies the Italian province of Savona while its western edge forms part of Italy's frontier with France (the département of Alpes-Maritimes) and it shares its northern border with the Piedmontese province of Cuneo. The mountain chain to the north of the province has several peaks above , with some peaks on the French border above such as Monte Saccarello at . Ranges of hills run down to the coast in a generally north-south direction, in effect making the province of Imperia a succession of hills and valleys ending at the coast in rocky headlands and small pebbly bays. Each valley tends to have its own seasonal river or torrential stream and only one valley can lay claim to a year-round river - the River Roia (or Roya in French) whose upper stretches are within France. This coast is in an earthquake zone and the deserted ruins of Baiardo and Bussana Vecchia are reminders of the 1887 earthquake. Bussana has become the haunt of hippies and artists.
Notwithstanding the terrain, the main communications infrastructure runs east-west along the coast. Several international express trains serve this coast while the motorway is characterised by many tunnels and viaducts. The nearest international airport is Nice Côte d'Azur Airport in France.
This stretch of coast shares much sentiment and history with the French coast, which as far as the Var just west of Nice was until 1860 a part of the northern Italian Kingdom of Sardinia and Savoy. Prehistoric cave remains were found near the French border at Balzi Rossi, although there is far more evidence of Roman civilisation. The coast road was the original Roman Via Aurelia and there are remains of a town including a Roman theatre near Ventimiglia. During the early Middle Ages until the 11th or 12th centuries, this part of the Ligurian coast was subject to various local lords such as the Doria and Grimaldi families and the Counts of Ventimiglia and Clavesana. Many hill-top villages date from this period when the coast was subject to raids from Saracen pirates and evidence of Saracen watchtowers can still be seen along the coast. It was only after this feudal period that Savoy and Genoa vied for control over this part of Liguria for over two centuries, in turn being replaced by French and Milanese dominance until the 16th century after which Genoa reasserted its control. During the years of Napoleon's French Empire, this coast became part of the French annexed 'Ligurian Republic'. Indeed, It is believed that Napoleon over-nighted in Imperia during his Italian campaign. The overthrow of Napoleon eventually led to this coast reverting to the House of Savoy and the Kingdom of Sardinia.
With its close proximity to France, the province of Imperia is often viewed as just a continuation of the French Riviera and this stretch of coast is often referred to as the Italian Riviera. However, many historians claim that the Imperia resorts of Sanremo (also referred to incorrectly as San Remo), Bordighera and Ospedaletti (plus Alassio which is found in the adjoining province of Savona) formed the world's first 'Riviera', predating and originally outshining today's far more glitzy Côte d'Azur or French Riviera.
In the 19th Century these resorts became very popular with wealthy Europeans, especially the British who can lay claim to starting the local tourism industry. It is claimed Britain's Queen Victoria once stayed on this coast and at one time there were large communities of resident British and Russian aristocrats who favoured the mild winter climate. Amongst those who lived on this coast are Queen Margherita of Savoy who lived in Bordighera, Alfred Nobel who died in Sanremo, the Russian Tsarina Maria Alexandrovna (Marie of Hesse), Tchaikovsky who wrote his "Eugene Onegin" in Sanremo, Claude Monet who painted around Bordighera and finally Grock the famed Swiss clown who died in Imperia. These resorts remained popular with the British until the mid 20th century when Spain became more favoured.
Today there are few remnants of these communities although traces of its past can be found in the Villa Hanbury (or Giardini Botanici Hanbury) near the French border, famed for its tropical and sub-tropical gardens founded by Sir Thomas Hanbury. Other examples are the Russian Orthodox church in Sanremo and the Villa Grock in Imperia.
Nowadays the term "Italian Riviera" is used for the whole Ligurian coast as far east as La Spezia, so it is more accurate to refer to the coast of the Imperia province as the Riviera dei Fiori (or Riviera of Flowers). It takes this name from the exotic flora and important flower-growing industry centred on the Sanremo and Ventimiglia flower markets.
There are several ports and marinas along the coast including Sanremo and Imperia, although fishing boats have given way to pleasure craft of the rich. Tourism is still very important today, but apart from flower growing, olive cultivation and oil pressing are important mainstays around the city of Imperia. Sanremo is the tourist capital and chic-est and largest resort on this coast. As well as a Casino, Sanremo is home to the Sanremo Music Festival, a TV event in Italy. Bordighera supplies palms to the Vatican for Palm Sunday.
As well as sharing a common history, the local Ligurian language dialect of Imperia province is a mix of French and Italian, the architecture and cuisine also show many Italianate similarities. Pasta, fish, seafood, game, vegetables, herbs, nuts and fruit are all mainstays of the diet. Menton in France and Ventimiglia in Italy claim to be the first international joint-community. This coast even has its own princely version of the French Riviera's Principality of Monaco: Seborga near Ospedaletti claims an unrecognised and much-humoured independence from Italy dating back to those early feudal days.
Although there are few examples of Renaissance or Baroque architecture in this part of Italy, most coastal towns and many hill-top villages still exhibit picturesque old quarters dating from the Middle Ages. There has been much development during the 20th century. In general the coastal strip has become over-populated while inland villages are steadily becoming depopulated.
Largest municipalities (by population).
This is a list of the ten most populous municipalities as of 31 December 2010:


Vratsa Province

Vratsa Province ( "Oblast Vraca", former name Vraca okrug) is a Bulgarian province located in the northwestern part of the country, between Danube river in the north and Stara Planina mountain in the south. It is named after its main town - Vratsa. As of 2016, the province has a population of 170 367 inhabitants, on territory of .
Municipalities.
The Vratsa Province contains ten municipalities (singular: община, "obshtina" - plural: общини, "obshtini"). The following table shows the names of each municipality in English and Cyrillic, the main town (in bold) or village, and the population of each as of 2016.
Population.
The Vratsa province had a population of 243,036 according to a 2001 census, of which were male and were female.
As of the end of 2009, the population of the province, announced by the Bulgarian National Statistical Institute, numbered 196,829 of which are inhabitants aged over 60 years.
The following table represents the change of the population in the province after World War II:
Ethnic groups.
Total population (2011 census): 186 848
Ethnic groups (2011 census):
Identified themselves: 163 035 persons:
A further 23 000 persons in Vratsa Province did not declare their ethnic group at the 2011 census.
Religion.
Religious adherence in the province according to 2001 census:
Infrastructure.
Gas, water, electricity and telecommunications.
The regional road system consists of of the republican road system. Predominating are the 4th class roads. Their maintenance and control are under the responsibilities of the municipalities. The rehabilitation of these roads is a priority of the regional policy. Mezdra is a key railway station connecting the major cities in Bulgaria. The passenger's transport is ensured by 116 buses and 26 trolleys. The telecommunication network consists of 4 regional post stations - Vratsa, Byala Slatina, Mezdra and Kozloduy, and 116 local post offices. They offer universal post services including express mail and international courier services EMS, SKYPAK and DHL. In the town of Vratsa there are branch offices of Mobiltel, Globul and Vivatel. The water supply system was envisaged to be improved and sewerage was mostly built, but there is a program for modernization all over the province, including the smaller villages. The nuclear power plant in Kozloduy, in the northern part of the province, is the major supplier of electricity in Bulgaria.
Roads, railroads and airports.
The administrative capital of the province is Vratsa in the southern parts, about from Sofia. The distance to the major cities is as follows: Vratsa - Varna 414 km, Vratsa - Plovdiv 217 km; Vratsa - Pleven 108 km; Vratsa - Burgas 416 km. The international road E79 passes through the province. The major European port and ferry complex Oryahovo-Bechet, on the river Danube, is situated in Oryahovo municipality.
Workforce.
The economically active population is 48,892, employed as follows: in the services sector - 27,685, in the industry - 19,020, in the agriculture - 2,187. The population has increased since the year 2000, and are mostly in private labour employment. The rate of unemployment is higher than the Bulgarian average, and the aim of the provincial policy is to implement programs to resolve this problem. The labour force distribution in the basic economic sectors is the following - in the industry - 38.9%, in the agriculture - 4.5% and in services - 56.6%. The decrease of the number and relative share of the employees in the public sector is matched by an increase in the private sector. The proportion of workforce in state and private sectors is 44.2% to 55.8%. The higher level of education stipulates a higher employment rate. In the province predominates the number of employees of secondary education. On the labour market, the number of specialists of higher education decreases in favour of those without education. The average salary level for the province is 297 levs.
Current priority industry sectors.
The natural peculiarities of Vratsa Province contribute to the development of agriculture, lumber industry and electricity production. Major companies are the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant, of national importance; Chimco AD - fertilizer factory, Beloizvorski cement - cement factory and brewery; Ledenika AD - joint stock company; Centromet AD - centrifugal casting; Vratitsa LTD - yarns, raw and finished fabrics, sewing articles; OMK Holding - machining and machinery, tooling equipment, foundry, special production; Hemus-M AD - limestone, slabs, tiles, blocks, columns; Sunnytex AD - production of household linen, weaving etc.; Metizi AD - steel wires, ropes and their products, spare parts; Variana LTD - concrete articles, greyiron cast, metal safes; Enemona Holding - civil engineering.
Sectors for development.
The main projects are related to the development of the transport infrastructure, water supply and sewerage, agriculture - vegetables, cattle breeding, silk-worm breeding, mushroom cultivation, development and strengthening of the existing industrial plants, development of alternative forms of tourism - rural, ecotourism, cultural, religious, spaeology, mountaineering, hang gliding etc. The long-term strategy for the regional economy is to promote small and medium enterprises as an alternative way to develop the industry.
Schools, universities and job training.
Because of the close distance to the capital Sofia (site of the main universities in Bulgaria), only one local centre of New Bulgarian University, one pedagogical college - branch of the Veliko Tarnovo University and one medical college exists in the province. The vocational schools have their main disciplines mostly in agricultural techniques, mechanics and electrotechnics, chemical technologies, civil engineering and construction, language school and mathematical secondary school. The total number of primary schools in the province is 54, 14 of them situated in the municipality of Vratsa and all state-owned. There is only one private school, Europe Schools for English Language and Management.
Financial institutions.
At present, there are 15 branches of Bulgarian banks. The insurance companies have their 12 branches in the province.
Hospitals.
The medical services are provided in 6 hospitals - 2 of them in the main city of the province, Vratsa. As a result of the reforms in health care, there are also private medical services available, as well as stomatological services.
Culture, recreation and resources.
Three hotels are available within the province - Valdi Palace, Hotel Tourist in the town and Vratsa, and Hotel Istar in the town of Kozloduy. In the surroundings of Vratsa - 12 kilometres inside the mountain there is a modern centre for recreation with facilities such as sauna, fitness suite and others. Within the territory of the province is the Vrachanski Balkan Natural Park that offers excellent opportunities for recreation; there is Vrachanski Karst reserve, the cave Ledenika of international importance, and the Vratsa Gorge near the town of Vratsa.


Lefkada (regional unit)

Lefkada () is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Ionian Islands. The capital of the regional unit is the town of Lefkada. The regional unit consists of the islands of Lefkada, Meganisi, Kalamos, Kastos and several smaller islands, all in the Ionian Sea.
Administration.
The regional unit Lefkada is subdivided into 2 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):
Prefecture.
As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Lefkada was created out of the former prefecture Lefkada (). The prefecture, created in 1864, had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.


Trakai District Municipality

Trakai District Municipality is one of 60 municipalities in Lithuania. It has significant Polish minority population in Lithuania, with about 30% of the population claiming Polish ethnicity.
History.
The Trakai district became significant early in its history due to the Old Trakai Castle built by the Grand Duke Gediminas in the 13th century. Many other castles were built in the area soon after this one, including the Trakai Peninsula Castle and the Trakai Island Castle. For many years, it has been distinguished from much of the rest of Lithuania in having other ethnic groups such as Karaims, Tatars, Russians and Poles living in the vicinity.
Settlements.
Trakai was an area holding great significance in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Trakai region began to decline politically and economically in the 16th century. During the wars with Russia, Trakai was continually attacked and razed. It has been rebuilt and many celebrations are held there annually once again. The city is often portrayed on Lithuanian stamps because of its beauty and illustrious history. It has become an important district in Lithuania once again.
The biggest city in the district is Lentvaris, not Trakai, its capital. Other settlements include Paluknys, Trakų Vokė, Dusmenys, and Rūdiškės. It borders the Vilnius city municipality in the east.


Halland County

Halland County () is a county ("län") on the western coast of Sweden. It corresponds roughly to the cultural and historical province of Halland. The capital is Halmstad.
It borders the counties of Västra Götaland, Jönköping, Kronoberg, Scania and the sea of the Kattegat.
Heraldry.
The County of Halland inherited its coat of arms from the province of Halland. When it is shown with a royal crown it represents the County Administrative Board.
Province.
Counties mainly serve administrative purposes in Sweden. The culture and history of the area is to be found in its provincial counterpart Halland. The county was designed with virtually the same boundaries as the province. The major exception is a part of Hylte Municipality, which belongs to the province of Småland.
Administration.
The main aim of the County Administrative Board is to fulfil the goals set in national politics by the Riksdag and the Government, to coordinate the interests and promote the development of the county, to establish regional goals and safeguard the due process of law in the handling of each case. The County Administrative Board is a Government Agency headed by a governor. See List of Halland Governors.
Politics.
Among the main responsibilities of the Halland County Council ("Landstinget Halland") are public health care issues.
Municipalities.
Sweden's counties are entities for Sweden's municipalities, responsible for such things as child care, education, street planning, etc. Municipalities in Halland County are, from north to south, with the numbers of inhabitants::
"In Halland Province:"
Localities in order of size.
The five most populous localities of Halland County in 2010:
Demographics.
Foreign background.
SCB have collected statistics on backgrounds of residents since 2002. These tables consist of all who have two foreign-born parents or are born abroad themselves. The chart lists election years and the last year on record alone.
Future.
There is an investigation committee appointed by the government, who investigating the best future division and responsibitites of the counties of Sweden, called Ansvarskommittén. They are working long-term, but their preliminary reports suggest a large reduction of the number of counties in Sweden. Halland county is there proposed to be divided in two halves, both to be combined with neighbouring large counties.


Mersch (canton)

Mersch is a canton in the centre of Luxembourg. It is the only canton, other than Luxembourg, to be entirely surrounded by other cantons, and therefore not to have an international boundary. Its capital is Mersch.
Administrative divisions.
Mersch Canton consists of the following ten communes:


List of municipalities of Estonia by area

This is a listing of the municipalities of Estonia by the land area as of 2005.
The land area is expressed in km², and the density is expressed in inhabitants per km² of land area.


Regions of Italy

The regions of Italy () are the first-level constituent entities of the Italian Republic, constituting its second NUTS administrative level. There are 20 regions, of which five have greater autonomy than the other fifteen. Under the Italian Constitution, each region is an autonomous entity with defined powers. With the exception of the Aosta Valley, each region is divided into a number of provinces.
History.
During the Kingdom of Italy, regions were administrative districts of the central state. Under the Republic, they were granted a measure of political autonomy by the 1948 Italian Constitution. The original draft list comprised the Salento region (which was eventually included in the Apulia). "Friuli" and "Venezia Giulia" were separate regions, and Basilicata was named "Lucania". Abruzzo and Molise were identified as separate regions in the first draft. They were later merged into "Abruzzo e Molise" in the final constitution of 1948. They were separated in 1963.
Implementation of regional autonomy was postponed until the first Regional elections of 1970. The ruling Christian Democracy party did not want the opposition Italian Communist Party to gain power in the regions where it was historically rooted (the "red belt" of Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria and the Marches).
Regions acquired a significant level of autonomy following a constitutional reform in 2001 (brought about by a centre-left government and confirmed by popular referendum), which granted them residual policy competence. A further federalist reform was proposed by the regionalist party Lega Nord and in 2005, the centre-right government led by Silvio Berlusconi proposed a new reform that would have greatly increased the power of regions.
The proposals, which had been particularly associated with Lega Nord, and seen by some as leading the way to a federal state, were rejected in the 2006 Italian constitutional referendum by 61.7% to 38.3%. The results varied considerably among the regions, ranging from 55.3% in favor in Veneto to 82% against in Calabria.
Political control.
Number of regions governed by each coalition since 1995:
Macroregions.
Macroregions are the first-level NUTS of the European Union.()
Status.
Every region has a statute that serves as a regional constitution, determining the form of government and the fundamental principles of the organization and the functioning of the region, as prescribed by the "Constitution of Italy" (). Although all the regions except Tuscany define themselves in various ways as an "autonomous Region" in the first article of their Statutes, fifteen regions have ordinary statutes and five have special statutes, granting them extended autonomy.
Regions with ordinary statute.
These regions, whose statutes are approved by their regional councils, were created in 1970, even though the Italian Constitution dates back to 1948. Since the constitutional reform of 2001 they have had residual legislative powers. "The regions have exclusive legislative power with respect to any matters not expressly reserved to state law" (). Yet their financial autonomy is quite modest: they just keep 20% of all levied taxes, mostly used to finance the region-based healthcare system.
Autonomous regions with special statute.
 of the "Italian Constitution" grants home rule to five regions, namely Sardinia, Sicily, Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, Aosta Valley and Friuli Venezia Giulia, allowing them some legislative, administrative and financial power to a varying extent, depending on their specific statute. These regions became autonomous in order to take into account cultural differences and protect linguistic minorities. Moreover, the government wanted to prevent their secession from Italy after the Second World War.
Institutions.
Each region has an elected parliament, called "Consiglio Regionale" (regional council), or "Assemblea Regionale" (regional assembly) in Sicily, and a government called "Giunta Regionale" (regional committee), headed by a governor called "Presidente della Giunta Regionale" (president of the regional committee) or "Presidente della Regione" (regional president). The latter is directly elected by the citizens of each region, with the exceptions of Aosta Valley and Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol regions where the president is chosen by the regional council.
Under the 1995 electoral law, the winning coalition receives an absolute majority of seats on the council. The president chairs the "giunta", and nominates or dismisses its members, called "assessori". If the directly elected president resigns, new elections are called immediately.
In the Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol region, the regional council is made up of the joint session of the two provincial councils of Trentino and of South Tyrol. The regional president is one of the two provincial commissioners.
Representation in the Senate.
Article 57 of the Constitution of Italy establishes that the Senate of the Italian Republic is elected on a regional basis (excluding 6 senators elected by Italians residing abroad and a small number of senators for life) by Italian citizens aged 25 or older.
The 309 senators are assigned to each region proportionally according to their population. However, Article 57 of the Constitution provides that no region can have fewer than seven senators representing it, except for the Aosta Valley (which has one) and Molise (which has two).


List of city nicknames in Spain

Many cities and towns in Spain are popularly known by various nicknames. This list compiles the aliases, sobriquets and slogans that cities in Spain are known by (or have been known by historically), officially and unofficially.


Military of the Canary Islands

The Canary Islands are an autonomous community of Spain. The following components of the Spanish Armed Forces are based in the Canary Islands.
The headquarters of the Canary Islands military command is located in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, in the Palacio de la Capitanía General de Canarias.
Spanish Army.
Light Infantry Brigade “Canarias” (Santa Cruz de Tenerife)
Spanish Air Force.
Mando Aéreo de Canarias Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Spanish Navy.
Naval Command of the Canary Islands: (With seven local naval commands):
Military Ships:
Patrullero "Centinela"
Patrullero "Arnomendi"
Patrullero "Tagomago"
Patrullero "Medas"
Patrullero "Cazadora"
Patrullero "Vencedora"


Province of Isernia

The province of Isernia () is a province in the region of Molise in Italy. The provincial capital is the city Isernia and the president of the province is Alfredo Ricci. The province of Isernia has an area of and a population of 86,405 inhabitants as of 2016. It contains 52 comunes () in the province, listed at comunes of the Province of Isernia.
History.
Isernia was known as "Samnite Aesernia" until it fell under Roman rule in 263 BC. The territory was later given to Alczeco for his efforts against the Byzantines with his Bulgarian military, by the Duchy of Benevento; most of this territory became Molise County. Throughout the 9th century the area was repeatedly sacked during Muslim invasions and suffered an earthquake in 847; these destroyed the cities of Isernia and Venafro. Despite this, the city was made an episcopal see and was granted the status of county in 964. A 1979 archaeological discovery near the city of Isernia found evidence of a settlement dating back to the Palaeolithic period over 736,000 years ago.
In Molise County, Benedictines formed the San Vincenzo al Volturno monastery in the province of Isernia after Rome fell in 476. When the area was invaded by the Muslims, 500 to 900 monks were decapitated by them and many were taken as slaves; despite this, the monastery continued to function and reached its peak size during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Pope Celestine V was born near Isernia and the province's feast day is on 19 May, the date Celestine V was canonized. An earthquake in 1805 destroyed Isernia's cathedral, which was rebuilt atop the ruins of the destroyed structure in 1837.
The province gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy, as by 15 March it was the only one of Italy's 110 provinces to not have a single confirmed case of the COVID-19 virus.
Geography.
The province of Isernia is a largely mountainous area of south-central Italy, part of the region of Molise. To the southwest the mountains decrease in height and the wooded hills give way to the plains around Venafro. To the northeast is the Province of Campobasso, also part of Molise, and to the north the Provinces of L'Aquila and Chieti, both in the region of Abruzzo. To the west is the Province of Frosinone in Lazio and to the south the Province of Caserta in Campania.
There are four mountain ranges in the province and the Abruzzo National Park straddles the border with Abruzzo. The highest peak in the province is Monte Mare, . The main rivers are the Volturno which flows into the Tyrrhenian and the Trigno which flows into the Adriatic. The lake of Castel San Vincenzo is a man-made reservoir built to power a hydroelectric scheme.
The economy of the region has been traditionally based on agriculture. The holdings are mostly small and produce grapes, cereals, olives, vegetables, fruit and dairy products. Traditional products grown in the province include grass peas ("Lathyrus sativus") and farro, which is made from a specialist form of wheat. Tintilia grapes are grown for the production of the region's red wine, the "Tintilia del Molise".


Arcadia (regional unit)

Arcadia ( ) is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the administrative region of Peloponnese. It is in the central and eastern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. It takes its name from the mythological figure Arcas. In Greek mythology, it was the home of the god Pan. In European Renaissance arts, Arcadia was celebrated as an unspoiled, harmonious wilderness.
Geography.
Arcadia is a rural, mountainous regional unit comprising about 18% of the land area of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is the peninsula's largest regional unit. According to the 2011 census, it has about 86,000 inhabitants; its capital, Tripoli, has about 30,000 residents in the city proper, and about 47,500 total in the greater metropolitan area.
Arcadia consists partly of farmland, and to a larger extent grassland and degenerated shrubland. It also has three mountain ranges, with forestation mainly at altitudes above 1000 meters: Mainalo, a winter ski resort, situated in the central north; Parnon in the central south; and Mount Lykaion, famous for the ancient history and myths associated with it, in the southwest.
Its climate features hot summers and mild winters in the east, the south, and those parts of the central area that are less than 1000 meters above sea level. Fall and winter are mostly rainy, except in the mountains to the west and north, Taygetus and Mainalo, which are snowy in winter.
Geology and Hydrogeology.
Arcadia is almost totally mountainous and part of the "carbonate platform" (calcareous or limestone deposits) of the Peloponnese. The whole peninsula was formed by intense tectonics (faults, overthrusts and regional metamorphism). In Arcadia's central part around the Tripoli region developed a special form of topography, a geologically fascinating phenomenon: There are several plains and "intra mountainous basins", even "closed basins": The 30 km long "Tripoli-Plateau", "Argon Pedion", Basin of Levidi, Basin of Vlacherna Arcadia/Hotoussa/Kandila.
The peculiarity of the plains and basins is a result of intensive karstification: Water seeps into the underground, rather than eroding and draining the topography by surface waterways. All drainage runs through ponors (in Greek: καταβόθρες) and subterranean waterways. The additional problem for rural activities in the basins: When winter rains are heavy, the ground is flooded or temporary lakes arise, even today, as drainage through katavothres is often too slow to start cultivation in due time.
History.
Medieval history.
After the collapse of the Roman power in the west, Arcadia remained as part of the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire. Arcadia remained a beautiful, secluded area, and its inhabitants became proverbial as herdsmen leading simple pastoral unsophisticated yet happy lives, to the point that "Arcadia" may refer to some imaginary idyllic paradise, immortalized by Virgil's Eclogues, and later by Jacopo Sannazaro in his pastoral masterpiece, "Arcadia" (1504); see also Arcadia (utopia).
After the Fourth Crusade, the area became a part of the Principality of Achaea, but was progressively recovered by the Byzantine Greeks of the Despotate of the Morea from the 1260s on, a process that was completed in 1320. The region fell into the hands of the Ottoman Turks in 1460. With the exception of a period of Venetian rule in 1687–1715, the region remained under Turkish control until 1821.
The Latin phrase "Et in Arcadia ego", which is usually interpreted to mean "Even in Arcadia there am I", is an example of "memento mori", a cautionary reminder of the transitory nature of life and the inevitability of death. The phrase is most often associated with a 1647 painting by Nicolas Poussin, also known as "The Arcadian Shepherds". In the painting the phrase appears as an inscription on a tomb discovered by youthful figures in classical garb.
Modern history.
Arcadia was one of the centres of the Greek War of Independence which saw victories in their battles including one in Tripoli. After a victorious revolutionary war, Arcadia was finally incorporated into the newly created Greek state. Arcadia saw economic growth and small emigration.
In the 20th century, Arcadia experienced extensive population loss through emigration, mostly to the Americas. Many Arcadian villages lost half their inhabitants, and fears arose that they would turn into ghost towns. Arcadia now has a smaller population than Corinthia. Demographers expected that its population would halve between 1951 and the early 21st century. The population has fallen to 87,000 in 2011.
An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter magnitude scale shook Megalopoli and the surrounding area in 1965. Large numbers of buildings were destroyed, leaving people homeless. Within a couple of years, the buildings were rebuilt anti-seismically. This earthquake revealed an underground source of lignite in the area, and in 1967 construction began on the Megalopoli Power Plant, which began operating in 1970. The mining area south of the plant is the largest mining area in the peninsula and continues to the present day with one settlement moved.
In July and August 2007 forest fires caused damage in Arcadia, notably in the mountains.
In 2008, a theory proposed by classicist Christos Mergoupis suggested that the mummified remains of Alexander the Great (not his actual tomb), may in fact be located in Gortynia-Arkadia, in the Peloponnese of Greece. Since 2008, this research is ongoing and currently being conducted in Greece. The research was first mentioned on CNN International in May 2008.
Language.
When, during the Greek Dark Ages (c. 1200 BC–800 BC), Doric Greek was introduced to the Peloponnese, the older Arcadocypriot Greek language apparently survived in Arcadia. Arcadocypriot never became a literary dialect, but it is known from inscriptions. Tsan is a letter of the Greek alphabet occurring only in Arcadia, shaped like Cyrillic И; it represents an affricate that developed from labiovelars in context where they became "t" in other dialects.
The Tsakonian language, still spoken on the coast of modern Arcadia (but in the Classical period considered the southern Argolid coast immediately adjoining Arcadia), is a descendant of Doric Greek, and as such is an extraordinary example of a surviving regional dialect of Greek. The principal cities of Tsakonia are the Arcadian coastal towns of Leonidio and Tyros.
Administration.
The regional unit Arcadia is subdivided into 5 municipalities. These are (number as in the map in the infobox):
Prefecture.
As a part of the 2011 Kallikratis government reform, the regional unit Arcadia was created out of the former prefecture Arcadia (). The prefecture had the same territory as the present regional unit. At the same time, the municipalities were reorganised, according to the table below.
Provinces.
Arcadia was divided into four provinces:
"Note:" Provinces no longer hold any legal status in Greece.
Ancient and modern towns and cities.
The main towns in modern Arcadia are Tripoli, Astros, Vytina, Dimitsana, Lagkadia, Tyros, Leonidio, Levidi, Megalopoli and Stemnitsa.
Ancient cities include Acacesium, Asea, Astros, Athinaio, Daseae, Falaisia (Phalesia), Gortys, Hypsus (Stemnitsa), Heraia, Lusi, Lykaio, Lycosura, Mantineia, Megalopolis, Orchomenus (Orchomenos), Tegea, Thoknia, Trapezus, Trikolonoi, Tropaia, Tripoli, Tyros, other cities includes Basilis, Caphyae, Charisia, Ellison, Enispe, Kaous, Karyes, Methydrio, Melangeia, Oryx, Paroria, Pelagos, Rhipe, Stratia, Teuthis and several more. Cities which once belonged in Arcadia include Alea (now in Argolis), Amilos (now in Achaia), and Phigalia (now in Elis).
Economy.
A thermoelectric power station which produces electricity for most of southern Greece, operates to the south of Megalopolis, along with a coal mine.
In agriculture, potato farms (dominant in central and northcentral Arcadia), mixed farming, olive groves, and pasture dominate the plains of Arcadia, especially in the area around Megalopolis and between Tripoli and Levidi.
Transportation.
The Moreas Motorway (A7, E65) highway connects Tripoli with Corinth and Athens. It is being extended further southwest to Megalopoli and Kalamata.
Arcadia has two tunnels. The Artemisio Tunnel opened first, followed by the tunnel east of Megalopolis; both serve traffic flowing between Messenia and Athens.


Chalkidiki

Chalkidiki (; , ) also spelled "Chalkidike", "Chalcidice", "Khalkidhiki", or "Halkidiki", is a peninsula and regional unit of Greece, part of the region of Central Macedonia, in the geographic region of Macedonia in Northern Greece. The autonomous Mount Athos region constitutes the easternmost part of the peninsula, but not of the regional unit.
The capital of Chalkidiki is the main town of Polygyros, located in the centre of the peninsula. Chalkidiki is a popular summer tourist destination.
Geography.
The Cholomontas mountains lie in the north-central part of Chalkidiki. Chalkidiki consists of a large peninsula in the northwestern Aegean Sea, resembling a hand with three 'fingers' (though in Greek these peninsulas are often referred to as 'legs'). From west to east, these are Kassandra, Sithonia, and Mount Athos, a special polity within Greece known for its monasteries. These "fingers" are separated by two gulfs, the Toronean Gulf and the Singitic Gulf. The Chalkidiki borders on the regional unit of Thessaloniki to the north, and is bounded by the Thermaic Gulf on the west and the Strymonian Gulf on the east.
Its largest towns are Nea Moudania (), Nea Kallikrateia () and the capital town of Polygyros ().
There are several summer resorts on the beaches of all three fingers where other minor towns and villages are located, such as at Yerakini (Gerakina Beach) and Psakoudia in central Chalkidiki, Kallithea, Chanioti and Pefkochori in the Kassandra peninsula, Nikiti and Neos Marmaras (Porto Carras) in the Sithonia peninsula, and Ouranoupolis at Mount Athos.
Name.
"Chalkidiki" () or "Chalcidice" () was the name given to this peninsula after Chalkida. In ancient times, the area was a colony () of the ancient Ionian Greek city-state of Chalkis.
History.
The first Greek settlers in this area came from Chalcis and Eretria, ancient ionian cities in Euboea, around the 8th century BC who founded cities such as Mende, Toroni and Scione a second wave came from Andros in the 6th century BC who founded cities such as Akanthos. The ancient city of Stageira was the birthplace of the great philosopher Aristotle. Chalkidiki was an important theatre of war during the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta. Later, the Greek colonies of the peninsula were conquered by Philip II of Macedon and Chalkidiki became part of Macedonia (ancient kingdom). After the end of the wars between the Macedonians and the Romans, the region became part of the Roman Empire, along with the rest of Greece. At the end of the Roman Republic (in 43 BC) a Roman colony was settled in Cassandreia, which was later (in 30 BC) resettled by Augustus.
During the following centuries, Chalkidiki was part of the Byzantine Empire (East Roman Empire). On a chrysobull of Emperor Basil I, dated 885, the "Holy Mountain" (Mount Athos) was proclaimed a place of monks, and no laymen or farmers or cattle-breeders were allowed to be settled there. With the support of Nikephoros II Phokas, the Great Lavra monastery was founded soon afterwards. Today, over 2,000 monks from Greece and many other Eastern Orthodox countries, such as Romania, Moldova, Georgia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Russia, live an ascetic life in Athos, isolated from the rest of the world. Athos with its monasteries has been self-governing ever since.
After a short period of domination by the Latin Kingdom of Thessalonica, the area became again Byzantine until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1430. During the Ottoman period, the peninsula was important for its gold mining. In 1821, the Greek War of Independence started and the Greeks of Chalkidiki revolted under the command of Emmanouel Pappas, a member of Filiki Eteria, and other local fighters. The revolt was progressing slowly and unsystematically. The insurrection was confined to the peninsulas of Mount Athos and Kassandra. One of the main goals was to restrain and detain the coming of the Ottoman army from Istanbul, until the revolution in the south (mainly Peloponnese) became stable. Finally, the revolt resulted in a decisive Ottoman victory at Kassandra. The survivors, among them Papas, were rescued by the Psarian fleet, which took them mainly to Skiathos, Skopelos and Skyros. The Ottomans proceeded in retaliation and many villages were burnt.
Finally, the peninsula was incorporated into the Greek Kingdom in 1912 after the Balkan Wars. Many Greek refugees from East Thrace and Anatolia (modern Turkey) were settled in parts of Chalkidiki after the 1922 Greco-Turkish war, adding to the indigenous Greek population.
In the 1980s, a tourism boom came to Chalkidiki and took over agriculture as the primary industry. In June 2003, at the holiday resort of Porto Carras located in Neos Marmaras, Sithonia, leaders of the European Union presented the first draft of the European Constitution (see History of the European Constitution for developments after this point).
Economy.
Agriculture.
The peninsula is notable for its olive oil and its green olives production. Also various types of honey and wine are produced.
Tourism.
Chalkidiki has been a popular summer tourist destination since the late 1950s when people from Thessaloniki started spending their summer holidays in the coastal villages. In the beginning tourists rented rooms in the houses of locals. By the 1960s, tourists from Austria and Germany started to visit Chalkidiki more frequently. Since the start of the big tourist boom in the 1970s, the whole region has been captured by tourism. In the region there is a golf course, with plans for four others in the future.
Mining.
Gold was mined in the region during antiquity by Philip II of Macedon and the next rulers. Since 2013, a revival of mining for gold and other minerals has occurred, and a number of concessions have been granted to Eldorado Gold of Canada. Critics claim that mining adversely affects tourism and the environment.
Administration.
The Chalkidiki regional unit is subdivided into five municipalities (numbered as in the infobox map):
Prefecture.
As a part of Greece's 2011 local government reform, the Chalkidiki regional unit (, ) was created out of the former Chalkidiki prefecture (, ); the regional unit has the same territory as the former prefecture. As par of the reforms, Chalkidiki's five municipalities (, ) were created by combining former municipalities, which were in turn demoted to municipal units (, ), according to the table below.
Provinces.
Before the abolishment of the provinces of Greece in 2006, the Serres prefecture was subdivided into the following provinces:
Population.
As of the 2011 census, the regional unit had a population of 105,908 inhabitants, up from 96,849 inhabitants in the 2001 census. The autonomous monastic state of Mount Athos which is often considered to be geographically part of Chalkidiki recorded an additional 1,811 people in the 2011 census. The population is mostly Eastern Orthodox monks.
Transport.
In September 2018 it was announced that Line 2 of the Thessaloniki Metro could be extended in the future in order to serve commuters to and from some areas of Chalkidiki.


Raasiku Parish

Raasiku Parish () in Harju County is located in the south-eastern direction from the city of Tallinn. The main road leading through the parish is Jüri - Aruküla - Raasiku - Jägala road. The Tallinn - Tapa Railway goes through the northern border of the parish.
As for neighbouring administrative divisions, the parish is surrounded by Jõelähtme in the north, by Anija in the east, by Kose in the south and by Rae parish in the west.
2 small towns: Aruküla, Raasiku
13 villages: Härma, Igavere, Järsi, Kalesi, Kiviloo, Kulli, Kurgla, Mallavere, Peningi, Perila, Pikavere, Rätla, Tõhelgi.
Symbolics.
Both the municipal flag and coat of arms have been in use since 1995.
The coat of arms of the municipality symbolizes the beautiful pine forest of Aruküla, pine-like perseverance that helps people promote the economy and spiritual life of their home region. The green diagonal area resembles the other biggest small borough Raasiku with its small drumlins surrounding the small borough. Green resembles nature and silver hope and purity.
Administration.
Local government bodies.
As of 1 March 2020, the Government structure is as follows:
People.
Raasiku is the birthplace of chess player Aino Kukk (1930-2006), who won the Estonian Women's Chess Championship in 1955.


Saku Parish

Saku Parish () is a rural municipality in Harju County, north-western Estonia.
The administrative centre of Saku Parish is Saku; a small town with population of 4,618 (as of 2005). It is situated 10 km south of Estonia's capital, Tallinn.
History.
Established in 1866.
Awarded the Japanese Foreign Minister’s Commendation for their contributions to promotion of mutual understanding between Estonia and Japan on December 1, 2020.
Local government.
Current chairman of the council (est: "volikogu esimees") is Marianne Rande.
As of 2018, the mayor (est: "vallavanem") is Marti Rehemaa.
Geography.
Populated places.
There are 2 small towns (est: "alevikud", sg. "alevik") and 19 villages (est: "külad", sg. "küla") in Saku Parish.
Small towns: Kiisa, Saku.
Villages: Jälgimäe, Juuliku, Kajamaa, Kasemetsa, Kirdalu, Kurtna, Lokuti, Männiku, Metsanurme, Rahula, Roobuka, Saue, Saustinõmme, Sookaera-Metsanurga, Tänassilma, Tagadi, Tammejärve, Tammemäe, Tõdva, Üksnurme.
Sport.
Kurtna is home to Bandy Federation of Estonia:


Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities

This article includes several ranked indicators for Spain's municipalities.
By population.
100 most populated municipalities in Spain as of 1 January 2019, from the revision of the "padrón continuo" provided by the INE.
By population density.
The 100 most densely populated Spanish municipalities (2019).
By surface area.
The 100 largest municipalities by area.