Mulhouse is a commune in Alsace in north-eastern France, in the Haut-Rhin department, of which it is a subprefecture. It is in the Grand Est region.

The commune is in the historical and cultural region of Alsace, close to the Swiss and German borders.

History 
Mulhouse dates back to the XIIth century.
Medieval Mulhouse consists of an upper and a lower town.
 The upper town developed from the 18th century on. 
 The lower town used to be the quarter of merchants and craftsmen. It developed around the Place de la Réunion (which commemorates its reunion with France). Nowadays this area is for pedestrians.

Geography
Mulhouse is in the southern part of the plain of Alsace in the Haut-Rhin department. Two rivers run through Mulhouse, the Doller and the Ill, both tributaries of the Rhine.

It has an area of . Its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .

The distances from Mulhouse to other cities are:
 Paris, the national capital - ;
 Strasbourg, the regional capital - ;
 Marseille - ;
 Lyon - ;
 Reims - ;
 Bordeaux - ;
 Toulouse - ;
 Montpellier - ;
 Nice - .

The commune of Mulhouse is surrounded by the communes Riedisheim, Rixheim, Morschwiller-le-Bas and Pfastatt.

Climate
The area around Mulhouse, 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 Mulhouse is . The month with the most precipitation on average is June with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is January with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Mulhouse 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 .

Population

The inhabitants of Mulhouse are known, in French, as Mulhousiens (women: Mulhousiennes).

With a population of 111,167, Mulhouse has a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

Evolution of the population in Mulhouse

Mulhouse forms, together with 19 other communes, the urban area of Mulhouse with a population of 246,693 inhabitants (2014) and an area of . This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Mulhouse, formed by 60 communes with a population of 285,603 inhabitants and an area of .

Administration
Mulhouse is a subprefecture of the Haut-Rhin department since 1857. It is the capital of the Mulhouse arrondissement and is also the administrative centre () of 3 cantons:
 Mulhouse-1, formed with a part of Mulhouse, with 40,752 inhabitants (2014).
 Mulhouse-2, formed with a part of Mulhouse, with 42,558 inhabitants (2014).
 Mulhouse-3, formed with a part of Mulhouse and the commune Illzach, with 42,305 inhabitants (2014).

It is part of the intercommunality Mulhouse Alsace Agglomération.

Twin towns 
Mulhouse is twinned with:
 Walsall, England, since 1953
 Antwerp, Belgium, since 1956
 Kassel, Germany, since 1965
 Bergamo, Italy, since 1989
 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States of America
 Chemnitz, Germany, since 1990
 Giv'atayim, Israel, since 1991
 Timişoara, Romania, since 1991 (Coopération décentralisée)
 Arkhangelsk, Russia, since 1992
 El Khroub, Algeria, since 1999 (Coopération décentralisée)
 Sofara, Mali, since 2003 (Coopération décentralisée)

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissement of Mulhouse
 Communes of the Haut-Rhin department

References

Other websites

 Ville de Mulhouse - Official site 
 Official website of the Tourist Office of Mulhouse and its region

Subprefectures in France