# Meurthe-et-Moselle

Meurthe-et-Moselle (French pronunciation: ) is a département in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, Moselle and Bas-Rhin and it borders the Belgian province of Luxembourg and the country of Luxembourg by the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette to the north. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.

## History

Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of Moselle and Meurthe which remained French territory.
The current boundary between Meurthe-et-Moselle and Moselle was the border between France and Germany from 1871 to 1919 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 Han-devant-Pierrepont which had previously fallen within the Meuse department.

## Geography

Meurthe-et-Moselle is part of the administrative region of Grand Est and the traditional region of Lorraine and is surrounded by the departments of Meuse, Vosges, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle, and by the nations of Luxembourg and Belgium by the salient of the arrondissement of Val-de-Briey. 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 Meurthe, the Chiers, and the Vezouze.

## 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:
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1801 | 338,115 | — |
| 1831 | 415,568 | +0.69% |
| 1841 | 444,603 | +0.68% |
| 1851 | 450,423 | +0.13% |
| 1861 | 428,643 | −0.49% |
| 1872 | 365,137 | −1.45% |
| 1881 | 419,317 | +1.55% |
| 1891 | 444,150 | +0.58% |
| 1901 | 484,722 | +0.88% |
| 1911 | 564,730 | +1.54% |
| 1921 | 503,810 | −1.13% |
| 1931 | 592,632 | +1.64% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1936 | 576,041 | −0.57% |
| 1946 | 528,805 | −0.85% |
| 1954 | 607,022 | +1.74% |
| 1962 | 678,078 | +1.39% |
| 1968 | 705,413 | +0.66% |
| 1975 | 722,588 | +0.34% |
| 1982 | 716,846 | −0.11% |
| 1990 | 711,822 | −0.09% |
| 1999 | 713,779 | +0.03% |
| 2006 | 725,303 | +0.23% |
| 2011 | 733,124 | +0.21% |
| 2016 | 733,821 | +0.02% |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. :
Figures before 1872 refer to the Meurthe department. Sources: :

### Principal towns

The most populous commune is Nancy, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 10 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:
| Commune | Population (2019) |
| Nancy | 105,058 |
| Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy | 29,942 |
| Lunéville | 17,867 |
| Toul | 15,633 |
| Longwy | 14,774 |
| Villers-lès-Nancy | 14,525 |
| Pont-à-Mousson | 14,497 |
| Laxou | 14,366 |
| Saint-Max | 10,019 |
| Villerupt | 10,003 |

## Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Chaynesse Khirouni, elected in July 2021.

### Presidential elections 2nd round

| Election | Winning Candidate | Party | % | 2nd Place Candidate | Party | % |
| 2022 | Emmanuel Macron | LREM | 54.42 | Marine Le Pen | FN | 45.58 |
| 2017 | Emmanuel Macron | LREM | 60.66 | Marine Le Pen | FN | 39.34 |
| 2012 | François Hollande | PS | 53.06 | Nicolas Sarkozy | UMP | 46.94 |
| 2007 | Nicolas Sarkozy | UMP | 51.12 | Ségolène Royal | PS | 48.88 |
| 2002 | Jacques Chirac | RPR | 81.72 | Jean-Marie Le Pen | FN | 18.28 |
| 1995 | Lionel Jospin | PS | 51.99 | Jacques Chirac | RPR | 48.01 |

### Current National Assembly Representatives

| Constituency | Member | Party |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 1st constituency | Carole Grandjean | La République En Marche! |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 2nd constituency | Laurent Garcia | MoDem |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 3rd constituency | Xavier Paluszkiewicz | La République En Marche! |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 4th constituency | Thibault Bazin | The Republicans |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 5th constituency | Dominique Potier | Socialist Party |
| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 6th constituency | Caroline Fiat | La France Insoumise |

## Tourism

* Detail of the Place Stanislas in Nancy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
* Walls and cathedral of Toul
* House near the château of Prény
* General Lasalle monument in Lunéville
* The river Moselle near Pont-à-Mousson