What You Need to Know About the Bas-Rhin Department
Here we present to you the department 67 of France, which is part of the northeastern section of the country. Furthermore, it is a department that belongs to the Grand Est region. But in truth, it is not really a department, but rather a kind of administrative district.
So, its prefecture, which is also its capital, is the city of Strasbourg. Its sub-prefectures are called Haguenau, Molsheim, Saverne, Sélestat. It is a department that shares a border with Germany.
Moreover, the inhabitants of the 67 are called Bas-Rhinois; they currently number 1,140,057 inhabitants, and since the area of the department is 4,755 km2, this means the population density is 240 inhabitants per km2. Administratively, the 67 is divided into 5 arrondissements, 9 legislative constituencies, 23 cantons, intercommunalities, and 514 communes.
Which Departments Border the Bas-Rhin Department?
Located in the upper eastern quarter of France, the department 67, namely Bas-Rhin, is bordered by 5 departments and 1 German province called Baden-Württemberg. The 5 neighboring departments of 67 are: the Haut-Rhin department which borders it to the south, the Meurthe-et-Moselle department as well as the Vosges department which borders it to the west-southwest, and finally, there is the Moselle department which borders it to the west.
What Is the Climate Like in the Bas-Rhin Department?
The climate of Bas-Rhin is generally considered to be oceanic, shifting somewhat towards a continental climate. This suggests that one generally experiences harsh winters and scorching summers with thunderstorms.
This results from the protection offered by the Vosges mountain range to the west. Furthermore, annually, temperatures average around 10.4°C in the plains and reach 7°C in the heights. Temperature variations are extremely strong, and there is an annual rainfall of 700mm.
The environment of Bas-Rhin is one of the driest in France, but it does not benefit from the highest number of long sunshine hours each year. This is explained by the fact that Strasbourg holds one of the records for the highest number of foggy days each year (67 days per year).
The breeze blowing from the northeast zone towards the northeast dries the air and offers exceptionally low humidity levels due to its supposed “continental” geological zone. This really means that on a sunny day, the surrounding humidity can drop to as low as 25%, in all seasons, which is much less than the coastal areas of southern France. Certainly, Strasbourg is the city located at less than 180 meters altitude that records the longest stretches of snow each year (29 days per year) in France.
What Are the Most Important Cities in Bas-Rhin?
The best cities to visit in Bas-Rhin, in other words, the best tourist cities are:
- Strasbourg
- Obernai
- Sélestat
- Haguenau
- Villé
- Wissembourg
- Erstein
- Bischeim
- Illkirch-Graffenstaden
- Niederhausbergen
What Are the Most Important Communes in the Bas-Rhin Department?
To make this ranking, we referred to the area of each of the municipalities in Bas-Rhin:
- Haguenau
- Lembach
- Sélestat
- Erstein
- Neuwiller-lès-Saverne
- Strasbourg
- Wissembourg
- Grandfontaine
- Marckolsheim
- Wangenbourg-Engenthal
Regarding this second ranking of the municipalities in the Bas-Rhin department, we grouped them according to the density of inhabitants per km2:
- Strasbourg
- Schiltigheim
- Sélestat
- Lingolsheim
- Saverne
- Haguenau
- Illkirch-Graffenstaden
- Bischheim
- Bischwiller
- Obernai
