Meurthe-et-Moselle (, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. Its prefecture and largest city is Nancy and it borders the departments of Meuse to the west, Vosges to the south, and Moselle and Bas-Rhin to the east, and it also borders the Belgian province of Luxembourg and the country of Luxembourg by the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette to the north. It had a population of 732,236 in 2023.
History
Meurthe-et-Moselle was created in 1871 at the end of the Franco-Prussian War from the parts of the former departments of Moselle and Meurthe which remained French territory.
The current boundary between Meurthe-et-Moselle and Moselle was the border between France and Germany from 1871 to 1919 and again between 1940 and 1944. The only subsequent change took place in 1997 and involved the incorporation, for administrative reasons, of the little commune of Han-devant-Pierrepont which had previously fallen within the Meuse department.Décret no 96-709 du 7 août 1996 portant modification des limites territoriales de départements, d'arrondissements et de cantons, Légifrance
Geography
Meurthe-et-Moselle is part of the administrative region of Grand Est and the traditional region of Lorraine and is surrounded by the departments of Meuse, Vosges, Bas-Rhin, and Moselle, and by the nations of Luxembourg and Belgium by the salient of the arrondissement of Val-de-Briey. It is one of two departments in France which border with Luxembourg. Parts of Meurthe-et-Moselle belong to the Lorraine Regional Natural Park.
The department extends for 130 km from north to south and is between 7 and 103 km wide.
Its chief rivers are the Moselle, the Meurthe, the Chiers, and the Vezouze.
Economy The economy was highly dependent on mining until the 1960s. There are iron, salt, and lime extraction sites. The urban area around Nancy has an economy based largely on services, research, and higher education.
Transport The department is served by Metz–Nancy–Lorraine Airport which provides scheduled air service to several cities in France and some North African countries. However, other airports such as Luxembourg Airport and Strasbourg Airport are also used by air travellers from the department.
Demographics The inhabitants of the department are known as Meurthe-et-Mosellans. The area around Nancy has become highly urbanized, whereas the Saintois in the south is quite rural.
Population development since 1801:
Principal towns
The most populous commune is Nancy, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are 10 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:Populations de référence 2023: 54 Meurthe-et-Moselle, INSEE
Commune Population (2023) Nancy 103,671 Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy 29,942 Lunéville 18,262 Toul 15,768 Longwy 15,679 Laxou 14,771 Villers-lès-Nancy 14,718 Pont-à-Mousson 14,190 Villerupt 10,102 Maxéville 10,090
Politics
The president of the Departmental Council is Chaynesse Khirouni, elected in July 2021.
Presidential elections 2nd round ElectionWinning candidateParty%2nd place candidateParty% 2022 Emmanuel Macron LREM 54.42 Marine Le Pen FN 45.58 2017 Emmanuel Macron LREM 60.66 Marine Le Pen FN 39.34 2012 François Hollande PS 53.06 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 46.94 2007 Nicolas Sarkozy UMP 51.12 Ségolène Royal PS 48.88 2002 Jacques Chirac RPR 81.72 Jean-Marie Le Pen FN 18.28 1995 Lionel Jospin PS 51.99 Jacques Chirac RPR 48.01
Current National Assembly Representatives
ConstituencyMemberParty Meurthe-et-Moselle's 1st constituency Estelle Mercier Socialist Party Meurthe-et-Moselle's 2nd constituency Stéphane HablotSocialist Party Meurthe-et-Moselle's 3rd constituency Martine Étienne La France Insoumise Meurthe-et-Moselle's 4th constituency Thibault Bazin The Republicans Meurthe-et-Moselle's 5th constituency Dominique Potier Miscellaneous left Meurthe-et-Moselle's 6th constituency Anthony Boulogne National Rally
Tourism
See also Arrondissements of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department Cantons of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department
References
External links
Prefecture website Departmental council website Tourism website