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.

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:

{| class=wikitable

! Commune

! Population (2023)

|-

| Nancy

| style="text-align: center;" | 103,671

|-

| Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy

| style="text-align: center;" | 29,942

|-

| Lunéville

| style="text-align: center;" | 18,262

|-

| Toul

| style="text-align: center;" | 15,768

|-

| Longwy

| style="text-align: center;" | 15,679

|-

| Laxou

| style="text-align: center;" | 14,771

|-

| Villers-lès-Nancy

| style="text-align: center;" | 14,718

|-

| Pont-à-Mousson

| style="text-align: center;" | 14,190

|-

| Villerupt

| style="text-align: center;" | 10,102

|-

| Maxéville

| style="text-align: center;" | 10,090

|}

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Chaynesse Khirouni, elected in July 2021.

Presidential elections 2nd round

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!colspan="2"|Election!!Winning candidate!!Party!!%!!2nd place candidate!!Party!!%

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| 2022

| Emmanuel Macron

| LREM

| 54.42

| Marine Le Pen

| FN

| 45.58

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| 2017

| Emmanuel Macron

| LREM

| 60.66

| Marine Le Pen

| FN

| 39.34

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| 2012

| François Hollande

| PS

| 53.06

| Nicolas Sarkozy

| UMP

| 46.94

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| 2007

| Nicolas Sarkozy

| UMP

| 51.12

| Ségolène Royal

| PS

| 48.88

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| 2002

| Lionel Jospin

| PS

| 51.99

| Jacques Chirac

| RPR

| 48.01

|}

Current National Assembly Representatives

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!colspan="2"|Constituency!!Member!!Party

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 1st constituency

| Estelle Mercier

| Socialist Party

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 2nd constituency

| Stéphane Hablot

|Socialist Party

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 3rd constituency

| Martine Étienne

| La France Insoumise

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 4th constituency

| Thibault Bazin

| The Republicans

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 5th constituency

| Dominique Potier

| Miscellaneous left

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Meurthe-et-Moselle's 6th constituency

| Anthony Boulogne

| National Rally

|}

Tourism

<gallery>

File:Fontaine - Place Stanislas - Nancy - P1300648-P1300665 fused.jpg|Detail of the Place Stanislas in Nancy, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

File:Fossé de la ceinture fortifiée de Toul.jpg|Walls and cathedral of Toul

File:Porte interieur chateau Preny.jpg|House near the château of Prény

File:LaSalle monument Château de Lunéville, Lunéville, France 09.JPG|General Lasalle monument in Lunéville

File:Musel bei Pont-a-Mousson w.jpg|The river Moselle near Pont-à-Mousson

</gallery>

See also

  • Arrondissements of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department
  • Cantons of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department
  • Communes of the Meurthe-et-Moselle department

References

  • Prefecture website
  • Departmental council website
  • Tourism website