Geographically the Alpine Space Programme cooperation area comprises the Alpine core area, the surrounding foothills and lowlands of the "peri-Alpine belt", a small part of the Mediterranean coastal area including the Adriatic and parts of the great river valleys of Danube, Po, Adige, Rhône and Rhine.
In the cooperation area live about 70 million inhabitants on a surface of approximately 450.000 km2 [REF].