Haut-Rhin is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the Rhine river that flows along its eastern border. Its name means Upper Rhine. The prefecture (capital) of Haut-Rhin is Colmar.

History
Haut-Rhin is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was divided in three districts: Altkirch, Belfort and Colmar, with Colmar as is capital.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the three districts were changed into five arrondissements: Colmar, Altkirch, Belfort, Delémont and Porrentruy. The arrondissements Delémont and Porrentruy were eliminated in 1814 and transferred to Switzerland.

The subprefecture of Altkirch was moved to Mulhouse in 1857.

The Haut-Rhin department was eliminated in 1871 when the territory became part of Germany except for a part that forms the Territoire de Belfort.

In 1919, Haut-Rhin is again an department when the territory became part of France with the arrondissements Colmar-Ville, Colmar-Campagne, Altkirch, Guebwiller, Mulhouse, Ribeauvillé and Thann. Its capital is Colmar.

The arrondissements Colmar-Ville and Colmar-Campagne were combined in 1934 to form the arrondissement of Colmar.

In 2015, the arrondissements of Guebwiller and Ribeauvillé were eliminated and the name of the arrondissements of Thann and Colmar were changed to Thann-Guebwiller and Colmar-Ribeauvillé.

Geography
Haut-Rhin is the smaller and less populated of the two departments of the former administrative Alsace region. It is in the Grand Est region and borders 3 departments in 2 regionsː
 Grand Est region
 Bas-Rhin
 Vosges
 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
 Territoire de Belfort

To the east, the department borders Germany along the Rhine river, and to the south it borders with Switzerland.

Haut-Rhin has an area of . Its highest point is Grand Ballon () in the Vosges Mountains, in the eastern part of the department; it is  high. The lowest point is  high along the Rhine river.

The main river in the department is the Rhine that forms the eastern border of the department, and of France.

Climate
The area around Colmar, at an altitude of about , is characterized by climates with few extremes of temperature. The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Strasbourg is a "Marine West Coast Climate" and of the subtype "Cfb".

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Strasbourg is . The month with the most precipitation on average is June with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Strasbourg is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

Administration
Haut-Rhin is managed by the Departmental Council of Haut-Rhin in Colmar. The department is part of the Grand Est region.

Administrative divisions
There are 4 arrondissements (districts), 17 cantons and 366 communes (municipalities) in Haut-Rhin.

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Haut-Rhin department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Altkirch (6801)
 Brunstatt (6802)
 Cernay (6803)
 Colmar-1 (6804)
 Colmar-2 (6805)
 Ensisheim (6806)
 Guebwiller (6807)
 Kingersheim (6808)
 Masevaux (6809)
 Mulhouse-1 (6810)
 Mulhouse-2 (6811)
 Mulhouse-3 (6812)
 Rixheim (6813)
 Saint-Louis (6814)
 Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines (6815)
 Wintzenheim (6816)
 Wittenheim (6817)

Demographics
The inhabitants of the Haut-Rhin department are known, in French, as Haut-Rhinois or (women: Haut-Rhinoises),

Haut-Rhin had a population, in 2014, of 760,134, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Mulhouse, with 350,032 inhabitants, is the arrondissement with more inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Haut-Rhin

The 10 communes with more inhabitants in the Haut-Rhin department are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Haut-Rhin department
 Communes of the Haut-Rhin department

References

Other websites

 Departmental Council website 
 Prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department 

Departments in Grand Est
1790 establishments
1790s establishments in France