France Attractions Alsace

Country Name: French Republic

Capital City: Paris

Population: 60,876,136 (2006)

Population Growth: 0.35% (2006)

Currency: euro (EUR)

Languages: French

Area: 547,030 sq km

Inflation Rate: 1.5% (2006 est.)

Unemployment Rate: 8.7% (December 2006)

Domain extension: .fr

FRANCE ATTRACTIONS BY PROVINCE

Alsace -Alsace Region has an area of 8280 km,2 making it the smallest r?gion of metropolitan France. It contains many forests, primarily in the Vosges and in Bas-Rhin (Haguenau Forest). Several valleys are also found in the r?gion. Its highest point is the ballon de Guebwiller in Haut-Rhin, which reaches a height of 1,426 m. The traditional language of the region is Alsatian, an Alemannic dialect of Upper German.

Alsace Main Attraction province

Strassbourg is an important centre of manufacturing and engineering, as well as of road, rail and river communications. Strasbourg is the seat of the Council of Europe and the European Court of Human Rights and it hosts the new seat of the European Parliament after the asbestos scandal in the 1980s.

Cathedrale Notre-Dame in Strassbourg belongs to the grand history of European cathedrals architectural design.

Petite-France in Strassbourg it is located on the Grande ?le (Main Island), where the river Ill splits up into a number of canals, and cascades through a small area of half-timbered houses. The name "Petit France" was created by the former German inhabitants not for architektonical reasons, but for the great density of prostitutes working there in the middle-age.