Haut-Rhin

**Haut-Rhin** is a department in the Grand Est region of France. Its name means _Upper Rhine_. The Rhine river is Haut-Rhin's eastern border.  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 has 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 was again designated as a 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. It is next to 3 departments in 2 regionsː
- Grand Est region
    - Bas-Rhin
    - Vosges
- Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
    - Territoire de Belfort

To the east, the Haut-Rhin is next to Germany along the Rhine river, and to the south it is next to Switzerland.

Haut-Rhin's area is . 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 , 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.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population (2014) !! width="50px" | Area (km²) !! Density (Inh./km²) !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|681|Altkirch|Altkirch|69,645|663.1||108|
|682|Colmar-Ribeauvillé|Colmar|200,243|1,127.3||98|
|684|Mulhouse|Mulhouse|350,032|707.1||79|
|686|Thann-Guebwiller|Thann|140,214|1,027.7||81|

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:

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

## People

The people in 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/km<sup>2</sup>. 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:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Mulhouse|111,167|Mulhouse|
|Colmar|68,784|Colmar-Ribeauvillé|
|Saint-Louis|20,228|Mulhouse|
|Wittenheim|14,713|Mulhouse|
|Illzach|14,448|Mulhouse|
|Rixheim|13,773|Mulhouse|
|Kingersheim|12,918|Mulhouse|
|Riedisheim|12,102|Mulhouse|
|Cernay|11,723|Thann-Guebwiller|
|Guebwiller|11,297|Thann-Guebwiller|

## Related pages

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

## Other websites

- Departmental Council website
- Prefecture of the Haut-Rhin department

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Haut-Rhin
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Colmar Prefecture.JPG
- **image alt**: Prefecture]building of the Haut-Rhin department, in Colmar
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Haut-Rhin department, in Colmar
- **image flag**: Flag of Haute-Alsace.svg
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Haut-Rhin.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Haut-Rhin-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Haut-Rhin in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Grand Est
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Colmar
- **parts type**: Subprefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Altkirch
- **p2**: Mulhouse
- **p3**: Thann, Haut-Rhin, Thann
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Brigitte Klinkert
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 3525.2
- **population total**: 760134
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Haut-Rhinois
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 4
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 17
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 366
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-68