Moselle (department)

**Moselle** is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the Moselle river. The prefecture (capital) of Moselle is Metz.

## History

Moselle is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was divided in nine districts: Metz, Bitche, Boulay, Briey, Longwy, Morhange, Sarreguemines, Sarrelouis and Thionville, with Metz as is capital.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the nine districts were changed into four _arrondissements_: Metz, Briey, Sarreguemines and Thionville.

The Moselle department was eliminated in 1871 when part of the territory became part of Germany; the remaining parts were combined with the Meurthe department to form Meurthe-et-Moselle.

In 1919, a new department of Moselle was formed.

In 2015, several _arrondissements_ were eliminated and their territories passed to the remaining _arrondissements_, and only 5 were kept: Forbach-Boulay-Moselle, Metz, Sarrebourg-Château-Salins, Sarreguemines and Thionville.

## Geography

The Moselle department is in the Grand Est region and borders only 2 departments: Meurthe-et-Moselle to the south and west, and Bas-Rhin to the east. To the north, the department borders Germany and to the northwest with Luxembourg.

Moselle has an area of . Its highest point is ***Grossman*** () in the western part of the department on the border with the Bas-Rhin department; it is  high.

The main rivers in the department are the Moselle, the Saar and the Seille.

### Climate

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

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Metz is . The month with the most precipitation on average is December with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is April with an average of .

The average temperature for the year in Metz 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

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## Administration

Moselle is managed by the _Departmental Council of Moselle_ in Metz. The department is part of the Grand Est region.

### Administrative divisions

There are 5 _arrondissements_ (districts), 27 _cantons_ and 727 _communes_ (municipalities) in Moselle.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width="50px" | Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|573|Forbach-Boulay-Moselle|Forbach|245,222|1,283.3||169|
|575|Sarrebourg-Château-Salins|Sarrebourg|93,481|1,966.9||230|
|576|Sarreguemines|Sarreguemines|99,772|935.9||83|
|577|Thionville|Thionville|264,858|941.5||105|
|579|Metz|Metz|341,821|1,088.7||140|

The following is a list of the 27 cantons of the Moselle department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Algrange <small>(5701)</small>
1. Bitche <small>(5702)</small>
1. Boulay-Moselle <small>(5703)</small>
1. Bouzonville <small>(5704)</small>
1. Les Coteaux de Moselle <small>(5705)</small>
1. Fameck <small>(5706)</small>
1. Faulquemont <small>(5707)</small>
1. Forbach <small>(5708)</small>
1. Freyming-Merlebach <small>(5709)</small>
1. Hayange <small>(5710)</small>
1. Metz-1 <small>(5711)</small>
1. Metz-2 <small>(5712)</small>
1. Metz-3 <small>(5713)</small>
1. Metzervisse <small>(5714)</small>
1. Montigny-lès-Metz <small>(5715)</small>
1. Le Pays Messin <small>(5716)</small>
1. Phalsbourg <small>(5715)</small>
1. Rombas <small>(5718)</small>
1. Saint-Avold <small>(5719)</small>
1. Sarralbe <small>(5720)</small>
1. Sarrebourg <small>(5721)</small>
1. Sarreguemines <small>(5722)</small>
1. Le Saulnois <small>(5723)</small>
1. Le Sillon Mosellan <small>(5724)</small>
1. Stiring-Wendel <small>(5725)</small>
1. Thionville <small>(5726)</small>
1. Yutz <small>(5727)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of the Moselle department are known, in French, as _Mosellans_ or (women: _Mosellanes_),

Moselle had a population, in 2014, of 1,045,154, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Metz, with 341,821 inhabitants, is the _arrondissement_ with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Moselle**

The 10 _communes_ with more inhabitants in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department are:

|City|Population <small>(2015)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Metz|117,492|Metz|
|Thionville|40,665|Thionville|
|Forbach|21,639|Forbach-Boulay-Moselle|
|Montigny-lès-Metz|21,430|Metz|
|Sarreguemines|21,236|Sarreguemines|
|Yutz|16,064|Thionville|
|Saint-Avold|15,748|Forbach-Boulay-Moselle|
|Hayange|15,658|Thionville|
|Creutzwald|13,255|Forbach-Boulay-Moselle|
|Woippy|13,608|Metz|

## Economy

In the 19th century, the economy of was characterized by heavy industry, especially steel and iron factories. After the weakening of these industries at the end of the 20th century, the department has tried to promote new economic activities based on industry and technology.

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Moselle department
- Communes of the Moselle department

## Other websites

- Departmental Council website
- Prefecture of the Moselle department

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Moselle
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Conseil general Metz.jpg
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Moselle department, in Metz
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Moselle department, in Metz
- **image flag**: MoselleFlag.gif
- **flag size**: 125px
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Moselle.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Moselle-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Moselle 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**: Metz
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Château-Salins
- **p2**: Forbach
- **p3**: Sarreguemines
- **p4**: Thionville
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Patrick Weiten
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 6216.3
- **population total**: 1045154
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 5
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 27
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 727
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-57