P209 - France - Alsatian girl with traditional costumes

Alsatian girl dressed in traditional coustumes, Alsace, France

Alsatian girl dressed in Traditional Costumes.

Alsace is the fourth-smallest of the 26 regions of France in land area (8,280 km²), and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the sixth-most densely populated region in France (third most densely populated region in metropolitan France), with 222 inhabitants per km² (total population in January 2008: 1,836,000). Alsace is located on France's eastern border and on the west bank of the upper Rhine adjacent to Germany and Switzerland. The political, economic and cultural capital as well as largest city of Alsace is Strasbourg. That town being the seat of dozens of international organizations and bodies, Alsace is politically one of the most important regions in the European Union.

The name "Alsace" derives from the Germanic Ell-sass, meaning "Seated on the Ill", a river in Alsace. The region was historically part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was gradually annexed by France in the 17th century under kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV and made one of the provinces of France. Alsace is frequently mentioned in conjunction with Lorraine, because German possession of parts of these two régions (as the province Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen, 1871–1918) was contested in the 19th and 20th centuries, during which Alsace changed hands four times between France and Germany in 75 years.

Although Alsace has been a German dialect speaking region, today Alsatians speak French, the official language of the country they have been a part of for most of the past three centuries. About 39% of the local adult population but probably less than 10% of the children are still fluent in the Alsatian language. The place names used in this article are in French. See this list for the original German place names.

阿尔萨斯小孩穿着传统民族服裝。

阿尔萨斯（亚尔萨斯，法语：Région Alsace，德语：Elsass）是法国东部一个地区的名称，它被莱茵河南北分开成两个部份：北部的下莱茵省和南部的上莱茵省。在17世纪以前属于神圣罗马帝国的领土，以说德语的居民为主，后成为哈布斯堡家族统治的领地，三十年战争后根据威斯特法伦和约割让给法国（首府斯特拉斯堡到路易十四时代才被法国吞并）。长时期里当地居民不断抵制法国统治者强加于他们的语言与习俗。它和洛林都在普法战争后割让给普鲁士，一战结束后属法国领土，二战初期重归纳粹德国，至二战结束再次被法国夺回。阿尔萨斯和洛琳一样都是德国白酒的著名产地，当地生产的白酒都以德国命名方式命名。

References sources : wikipedia