Bas-Rhin (French pronunciation: [bɑ.ʁɛ̃]; Alsatian: Unterelsàss, ‘s Unterlànd or ‘s Ingerlànd; traditional German: Niederrhein; English: Lower Rhine) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the Rhine river that flows along its eastern border. The prefecture (capital) of Bas-Rhin is Strasbourg.

Bas-Rhin means "Lower Rhine", however, geographically speaking it belongs to the Upper Rhine region. This is the last French department to have kept the term Bas, meaning "Lower", in its name. Other departments using this word preferred to change their names.

History
Bas-Rhin is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was divided in four districts: Haguenau, Benfeld, Strasbourg and Wissembourg, with Strasbourg as is capital. Soon, the district of Sarre-Union was created and the name of the district of Benfeld was changed to Sélestat (in its origins, Schlestadt).

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the five districts were changed into four arrondissements: Strasbourg, Barr, Saverne and Wissembourg. The subprefecture of Barr was moved to Schlestadt (Sélestat) in 1806.

The Bas-Rhin department was eliminated in 1871 when the territory became part of Germany.

In 1919, Bas-Rhin is again an department when the territory became part of France with the arrondissements Strasbourg-Ville, Strasbourg-Campagne, Erstein, Haguenau, Molsheim, Saverne, Sélestat and Wissembourg.

The arrondissements Sélestat and Erstein were combined in 1974 to form the arrondissement of Sélestat-Erstein.

In 2015, the arrondissements Strasbourg-Campagne and Wissembourg were eliminated and their territories passed to the remaining arrondissements, and only 5 were kept: Haguenau-Wissembourg, Molsheim, Saverne, Sélestat-Erstein and Strasbourg.

Geography
The Bas-Rhin department is in the Grand Est region and borders 5 departments, all in the Grand Est region: Haut-Rhin to the south, Vosges to the southwest, Meurthe-et-Moselle to the west and Moselle to the northwest. To the north and east, the department borders Germany along the Rhine river.

Bas-Rhin has an area of . Its highest point is Champ de Feu () in the southwestern part of the department; it is  high.

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

Climate
The area around Strasbourg, 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 July 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
Bas-Rhin is managed by the Departmental Council of Bas-Rhin in Strasbourg. The department is part of the Grand Est region.

Administrative divisions
There are 5 arrondissements (districts), 23 cantons and 517 communes (municipalities) in Bas-Rhin.

The following is a list of the 23 cantons of the Bas-Rhin department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Bischwiller (6701)
 Bouxwiller (6702)
 Brumath (6703)
 Erstein (6704)
 Haguenau (6705)
 Hœnheim (6706)
 Illkirch-Graffenstaden (6707)
 Ingwiller (6708)
 Lingolsheim (6709)
 Molsheim (6710)
 Mutzig (6711)
 Obernai (6712)
 Reichshoffen (6713)
 Saverne (6714)
 Schiltigheim (6715)
 Sélestat (6716)
 Strasbourg-1 (6717)
 Strasbourg-2 (6718)
 Strasbourg-3 (6719)
 Strasbourg-4 (6720)
 Strasbourg-5 (6721)
 Strasbourg-6 (6722)
 Wissembourg (6723)

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

Bas-Rhin had a population, in 2014, of 1,112,815, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Strasbourg, with 484,157 inhabitants, is the arrondissement with more inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Bas-Rhin

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

Gallery

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

References

Other websites

 Departmental Council website 
 Prefecture of the Bas-Rhin department 

Departments in Grand Est