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. 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 .

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 

## 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.

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:

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

## 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/km2. The *arrondissement* of Metz, with 341,821 inhabitants, is the *arrondissement* with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Moselle**

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 bar:2014 at: 1045154 fontsize:S text: 1,045,154 shift:(-18,5)

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

## 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.

## Gallery

File:Cathédrale de Metz (1).jpg|Saint-Étienne cathedral in Metz.
File:Cathedrale Metz Nef pano.jpg|Metz cathedral.
File:Sarreguemines2011.jpg|View of the Saar river and casino, Sarreguemines.
File:Metz Theatre nuit.jpg|The Opera house in Metz.
File:Chateau Volkrange.jpg|*Château de Volkrange*, Thionville.

## Related pages
* Arrondissements of the Moselle department
* Communes of the Moselle department

## References
## Other websites
* Departmental Council website 
* Prefecture of the Moselle department