Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes country France
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; French: [ovɛʁɲ ʁon alp] (listen); Arpitan: Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; Occitan: Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; Italian: Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into effect on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections in December 2015.The region covers an area of 69,711 km2 (26,916 sq mi), making it the third largest in metropolitan France; it had a population of 7,994,459 in 2018, second to Île-de-France. It consists of twelve departments and one territorial collectivity (Lyon Metropolis) with Lyon as the prefecture.
This new region combines diverse geographical, sociological, economic and cultural regions, which was already true of Rhône-Alpes, as well as Auvergne, to a lesser extent. While the old Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne regions each enjoyed a unity defined by axes of communication and the pull of their respective metropoles, the new combination is heterogeneous; it sustained lively opposition from some local officials after its creation.Geography
Location
The Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes administrative region covers an area of 69 711 km2 in the centre and east of the south of France.  It is a collection of regions of diverse topographies, climates, natural resources, cultures, folklore, architecture, and languages.  It is bordered by five other administrative regions: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté to the north, Centre-Val de Loire to the northwest, Nouvelle-Aquitaine to the west, Occitanie to the south-west, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur to the south-east.  It is also bordered by Italy (Aosta Valley and Piedmont) to the east and Switzerland (Cantons of Geneva, Valais, and Vaud) to the north-east.
Nation State Land Territory