Commune of Belfort
View of the western part of Belfort
Location
Coordinates	47°38′30″N 6°51′00″E / 47.64167, 6.85
Administration
Country	France
Region	Franche-Comté
Department	Territoire de Belfort (préfecture)
Arrondissement	Belfort
Canton	Chief town of 5 cantons
Intercommunality	Communauté de l'Agglomération Belfortaine
Mayor	Etienne Butzbach (2001-2008)
Statistics
Elevation	354 m–650 m (avg. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. Wikipedia talkFeatured lists for an explanation of this and other inclusion tags below -->This list of countries, arranged alphabetically This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, Franche-Comté ( Franc-Comtois: Fràntche-Comté; Franco-Provençal: Franche-Comtât) the former "Free County" of Burgundy In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division The Territoire de Belfort is a department in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. A prefecture ( préfecture) in France can refer to: the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a ''département'' The 100 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts. The arrondissement of Belfort is an arrondissement in the Franche-Comté région of France The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 341 arrondissements and 100 departments. The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. A mayor (from the Latin māior, meaning "greater" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government The elevation of a Geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point often the mean sea level. 358 m)
Land area¹	17. 10 km²
Population² (1999)	50,417
- Density	2,948/km² (1999)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	90010/ 90000
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0. As of January 1, 2008, 64473140 people live in the French Republic. Population density (in agriculture standing stock and Standing crop) is a measurement of Population per unit area or unit volume The INSEE code is a numerical indexing code used by the French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE to identify various entities including communes Postal codes were introduced in France in 1972, when La Poste introduced automated sorting. Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of 386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel) only counted once. C D E

Belfort (French for beautiful fortification, German: Beffert) is a town and commune of northeastern France, préfecture (capital) of the Territoire de Belfort département in the Franche-Comté région. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Fortifications are Military Constructions and Buildings designed for defense in Warfare Humans have constructed defensive works for The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. A prefecture ( préfecture) in France can refer to: the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a ''département'' The Territoire de Belfort is a department in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division Franche-Comté ( Franc-Comtois: Fràntche-Comté; Franco-Provençal: Franche-Comtât) the former "Free County" of Burgundy France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, Population (1999): 50,417. Approximately 80,000 including suburbs. South San Jose (cropjpg||thumb|A suburban development in San Jose California.

It is located on the Savoureuse, on the strategically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhône - the Belfort Gap (Trouée de Belfort) or Burgundian Gate (Porte de Bourgogne). The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge The Rhone, or the Rhône is one of the major Rivers of Europe, running through Switzerland and France.

History

Belfort's strategic location, in a natural gap between the Vosges and the Jura, on a route linking the Rhine and the Rhône, has attracted human settlement and made it a target for armies. Vosges (voːʒ is a French department, named after the Vosges mountain range. The Jura Mountains are a small Mountain range located north of the Alps, separating the Rhine and Rhone rivers and forming part of

The site of Belfort was inhabited in Gallo-Roman times and was subsequently recorded in the 13th century as a possession of the counts of Montbéliard, who granted it a charter in 1307. This article covers the culture of Romanized areas of Gaul. For the political history of the brief "Gallic Empire" of the 3rd century see Gallic Empire Montbéliard (archaic Mömpelgard is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France

Previously an Austrian possession, Belfort was transferred to France by the Treaty of Westphalia (1648), that ended the Thirty Years' War. The term Peace of Westphalia refers to the two peace treaties of Osnabrück and Münster, signed on May 15 and October 24 of For the Mauritanian Thirty Years' War see Char Bouba war. For the band see The 30 Years War. The town's fortifications were extended and developed by the military architect Vauban for Louis XIV. Sébastien Le Prestre Seigneur de Vauban and later Marquis de Vauban ( May 15, 1633 – March 30, 1707) commonly referred to Early years Birth and ancestry Louis XIV was born in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 5 1638 and bore the Heir apparent

Until 1871, Belfort was part of the département of Haut-Rhin, in Alsace. In the Terminology of Political geography and Historiography a National department (département departamento is an administrative Haut-Rhin is a ''département'' of France named after the Rhine river Alsace (Alsace alzas Alsatian and Elsass pre-1996 German: Elsaß; Alsatia is one of the 26 Regions of France, located on the eastern The Siege of Belfort, between November 3, 1870 and February 18, 1871, was successfully resisted until the garrison was ordered to surrender 21 days after the armistice between France and Prussia. The Siege of Belfort was a lengthy siege during the Franco-Prussian War. Events 644 - Umar ibn al-Khattab, the second Muslim Caliph, is killed by a Persian slave in Medina. Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 3102 BC - Epoch (origin of the Kali Yuga. 1229 - The Sixth Crusade: Frederick II Holy Year 1871 ( MDCCCLXXI) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Prussia ( Latin: Borussia, Prutenia; Prūsija Prūsija Prusy Old Prussian: Prūsa) was most recently a historic state As a mark of respect for their tenacity, the area around Belfort was excluded from the annexation of Alsace and Lorraine by the Prussians. It formed, as it still does, the Territoire de Belfort. The Territoire de Belfort is a department in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France. The siege is commemorated by a huge statue, The Lion of Belfort, by Frédéric Bartholdi. The Lion of Belfort is a sculpture by Frédéric Bartholdi, architect of the Statue of Liberty in New York, located in Belfort Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi ( August 2, 1834 – October 4, 1904) was a French sculptor.

Alsatians who sought a new French home in Belfort made a significant contribution to its industry.

The town was bombarded by the Germans in World War I and occupied by them in World War II. In November 1944 the retreating German army held the French First Army before the town until French Commandos made a successful night attack on the Salbert Fort. The First Army (Ire Armée was a field Army of France that fought during World War I and World War II. Belfort was liberated on 22 November. Events 498 - Kofi Aseidu- After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran

Industry

Belfort is a trading centre for wine and grain and its industries include chemicals, engineering, plastics and textiles. Belfort is also the hometown of Alstom where the first TGVs (Trains Grande Vitesse) were produced. Alstom ( is a large French multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and Transport markets As well as GE Energy Gas turbine division.

Sights

• Belfort is the home of The Lion of Belfort, a sculpture by Frédéric Bartholdi expressing people's resistance against the siege in the Franco-Prussian War (1870) - who shortly afterwards built the statue of liberty in New York. The Lion of Belfort is a sculpture by Frédéric Bartholdi, architect of the Statue of Liberty in New York, located in Belfort Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi ( August 2, 1834 – October 4, 1904) was a French sculptor. The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War ( 19 July, 1870 — 10 May, 1871

Belfort Cathedral

• There are also plenty of other things to see in a city that is trying and showing better its heritage, mainly the citadel, the old town and its museographic riches:
  - In 2007, the Belfort city museums are to be completely restructured within three main poles: history (from archeology to military) in the old barracks on the top of the citadel, arts (mainly from 16th to 19th century) in the Tour 41 and modern arts in the Donation Jardot.
  - Since July of the same year, a new touristic sight of the citadel has been opened to the public - with a sound-, video- and light-animated trail in the ditches and the big underpass of the citadel. Its name: "La Citadelle de la Liberté" (Citadel of Liberty)

FIMU

Belfort is also well known for organizing a large-scale music festival in May each year. The Festival International de Musique Universitaire (FIMU) is home to nearly 2500 musicians, most of them students, from many different countries. The musicians give more than 250 concerts in the course of the 3-day festival in a wide variety of styles (classical, jazz, traditional, experimental, etc. ). All of the concerts are free of charge and are performed at 14 different locations in the old city (the vieille ville) of Belfort. In 2004 more than 60,000 people attended the festival. In 2005 the festival was held on 14–16th May.

Miscellaneous

Births

Belfort was the birthplace of:

• François Joseph Heim (1787-1865), painter
• Jules Brunet (1838-1911), a member of the first French Military Mission to Japan in order to help modernize the armies of the shogunate
• Louis-Gabriel-Charles Vicaire (1848-1900), poet
• Jean-Pierre Chevènement (born 1939), politician
• Gérard Grisey (born 1946-1998), composer

Twin towns

Belfort is twinned with:

• Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine
• Leonberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
• Lobenstein, Thuringia, Germany
• Skikda, Algeria
• Stafford, UK
• Delémont, Switzerland
• New Belgrade, Serbia

See also

• Communes of the Territoire de Belfort department

External links

• City council website (in French)
• Tourist office website
• FIMU Music festival, Belfort
• Belfort Tourism Information
• Visiting Belfort
• Webpage about the fortifications
• La Citadelle de la Liberté, a new way of visiting Belfort's magnificent citadel