Rhône-Alpes

Rhône-Alpes (; Arpitan: Rôno-Arpes; ) wis a admeenistrative region o Fraunce, locatit on the eastren border o the kintra, towards the sooth. The region wis named efter the Rhône River an the Alps muntain range. Its caipital, Lyon, is the seicont-lairgest metropolitan aurie in Fraunce efter Paris. Rhône-Alpes haes the saxt-lairgest economy o ony European region.

 Geography 
Rhône-Alpes is locatit in the east o Fraunce.  Tae the north are the French regions o Bourgogne (Burgundy) an Franche-Comté, tae the wast it borders the region Auvergne, tae the sooth it borders Languedoc-Roussillon an Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The east o the region contains the wastmaist pairt o the Alps an borders Swisserland an Italy.  The heichest peak is Mont Blanc, on the French-Italian border.  The central pairt o the region comprises the river valleys o the Rhône an the Saône. The confluence o these twa rivers is at Lyon. The wastren pairt o the region contains the stairt o the Massif Central muntain range.  The region an aw borders or contains major lakes such as Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) an Lake Annecy.  The Ardèche River flows through the soothwast portion o the region, whaur it haes carved the deepest gorge in Europe.

As wi the rest o Fraunce, French is the anerlie offeecial leid o the region. Till the mid-20t century, Arpitan wis widely spaken in the whole region, while mony o the inhabitants o the sooth spoke varieties o Occitan; baith are in steep decline in this region. There are immigrant populations frae Armenie, Italy, North Africae, Poland an Portugal amangst ither places.

Rhône-Alpes is made up o the follaein départements:
 Ain (01). Caipital: Bourg-en-Bresse
 Ardèche (07). Caipital: Privas
 Drôme (26). Caipital: Valence
 Isère (38). Caipital: Grenoble
 Loire (42). Caipital: Saint-Étienne
 Rhône (69). Caipital: Lyon
 Savoie (73). Caipital: Chambéry
 Haute-Savoie (74). Caipital: Annecy

 Population 

Rhône-Alpes contains 3 major ceeties in Fraunce. It forms the triangle Lyon - Grenoble - Saint-Étienne. This triangle is the economic core o the region. These three urban auries are vera complementary, an hae smawer ceeties aroond, like satellites.

 Lyon aurie : 1,798,395 inhabitants (2008)
 Grenoble aurie : 560,453 inhabitants (2008)
 Saint-Étienne aurie : 321,703 inhabitants (1999)
 Valence aurie : 164,334 inhabitants (2008)

 Prefecturs 
This leet is frae biggest agglomeration tae the smawest:
 Lyon (Rhône)
 Grenoble (Isère)
 Saint-Étienne (Loire)
 Valence (Drôme)
 Chambéry (Savoie)
 Annecy (Haute-Savoie)
 Bourg-en-Bresse (Ain)
 Privas (Ardèche)

Major ceeties
 AnnecySaint-Chamond Bourg-en-BresseSaint-Étienne BronSaint-Martin-d'Hères ChambéryThonon-les-Bains GrenobleValence LyonVaulx-en-Velin RoanneVénissieux MontélimarVilleurbanne 

Sport
Fitbaa

Rhône-Alpes is the hame o several successful fitbaa teams, includin Olympique Lyonnais an AS Saint-Étienne (ane o the umwhile clubs o Michel Platini). Anither team joined the french top-level in 2008 : Grenoble Foot 38.

Winter Olympics
Rhône-Alpes region haes hostit the Winter Olympics three times; in 1924 at Chamonix, 1968 at Grenoble, an 1992 at Albertville. Annecy tried tae be 4th ceety, but it failed due tae Pyeongchang.

Lakes
There are sax main lakes in Rhône-Alpes
 Lac de Paladru
 Lac d'Aiguebelette
 Lac du Bourget
 Lac d'Annecy
 Lac de Nantua
 Lac Léman

 See also 
Transport in Rhône-Alpes

External links

Rhône-Alpes sur the French Blend :  Français d'un Kiwi
Rhône-Alpes Enterprise Europe Network : Innovation, technologies transfer and partnership in Europe 
Rhône-Alpes Official Travel Information 
Espace Innovation des CCI de Rhône-Alpes: news, agenda, services
 Aerospace Cluster in Rhône-Alpes  - Network of Aerospace SMEs from the Rhône-Alpes Region, supported by the Regional Council
Airport transfers in the Rhône-Alpes 

References

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Category:Umwhile regions o Fraunce