department
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
and Meurthe which remained French territory.
The current boundary between Meurthe-et-Moselle and Moselle was the border between France and Germany from 1871 to 1919 and again between 1940 and 1944. The only subsequent change took place in 1997 and involved the incorporation, for administrative reasons, of the little commune of
administrative region
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
Arrondissement of Briey
The arrondissement of Briey is an arrondissement of France in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in the Grand Est region. It has 128 communes. Its population is 166,309 (2016), and its area is .
Composition
The communes of the arrondissement of ...
. It is one of two departments in France which border with Luxembourg. Parts of Meurthe-et-Moselle belong to the Lorraine Regional Natural Park.
The department extends for 130 km from north to south and is between 7 and 103 km wide.
Its chief rivers are the
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
Vezouze
The Vezouze () is a river in north-eastern France, right tributary to the river Meurthe. Its source is on Mont Donon in the Vosges ''département''. It is long.
The river joins the Meurthe on the northern edge of Lunéville, France, the former ...
.
Economy
The economy was highly dependent on mining until the 1960s. There are iron, salt, and lime extraction sites. The urban area around Nancy has an economy based largely on services, research, and higher education.
Demographics
The inhabitants of the department are known as ''Meurthe-et-Mosellans''. The area around Nancy has become highly urbanized, whereas the Saintois in the south is quite rural.
Population development since 1801:
Principal towns
The most populous commune is Nancy, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 10 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:
Politics
The president of the Departmental Council is Chaynesse Khirouni, elected in July 2021.
Presidential elections 2nd round
Current National Assembly Representatives
Tourism
File:Fontaine - Place Stanislas - Nancy - P1300648-P1300665 fused.jpg, Detail of the
Place Stanislas
Place Stanislas is a large pedestrianised square in the French city of Nancy, in the Lorraine historic region. Built between 1752 and 1756 on the orders of Stanisław Leszczyński, the square is one of oldest examples of an architecturally consis ...
in Nancy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
File:Fossé de la ceinture fortifiée de Toul.jpg, Walls and cathedral of Toul
File:Porte interieur chateau Preny.jpg, House near the château of Prény
File:LaSalle monument Château de Lunéville, Lunéville, France 09.JPG, General Lasalle monument in
Lunéville
Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle.
It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze.
History
Lun ...
File:Musel bei Pont-a-Mousson w.jpg, The river
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...