FranceFrance (fʁɑ̃s), officially the French Republic (République française ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz), is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean.
SaverneSaverne (Saverne, savɛʁn; Alsatian: Zàwere ˈd̥sɐːvəʁə; Zabern ˈtsaːbɐn) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It is situated on the Rhine-Marne canal at the foot of a pass over the Vosges Mountains, and 45 km (27 mi) northwest of Strasbourg. In 2018, the commune of Saverne had a population of 11,289, and its urban area, of 18,740. Saverne lies on the river Zorn, at the foot of the Vosges Mountains. It is crossed by the Marne–Rhine Canal and the Paris–Strasbourg railway.
LorraineLorraine is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of Lotharingia, which in turn was named after either Emperor Lothair I or King Lothair II. Lorraine later was ruled as the Duchy of Lorraine before the Kingdom of France annexed it in 1766. From 1982 until January 2016, Lorraine was an administrative region of France. In 2016, under a reorganisation, it became part of the new region Grand Est.
AlsaceAlsace (ælˈsæs, USalsoælˈseɪs,_ˈælsæs; alzas; Low Alemannic German/Elsàss ˈɛlsɑs; Elsass ˈɛlzas; Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2023, it had a population of 1,921,014. Alsatian culture is characterized by a blend of Germanic and French influences. Until 1871, Alsace included the area now known as the Territoire de Belfort, which formed its southernmost part.
MoselleThe Moselle (moʊˈzɛl , mɔzɛl; Mosel ˈmoːzl̩; Musel ˈmuzəl) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A small part of Belgium is in its basin as it includes the Sauer and the Our. Its lower course "twists and turns its way between Trier and Koblenz along one of Germany's most beautiful river valleys." In this section the land to the north is the Eifel which stretches into Belgium; to the south lies the Hunsrück.
Black ForestThe Black Forest (Schwarzwald ˈʃvaʁt͡svalt) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is the source of the Danube and Neckar rivers. Its highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of above sea level. Roughly oblong in shape, with a length of and breadth of up to , it has an area of about .
Saar (river)The Saar (zaːɐ̯; Sarre saʁ) is a river in northeastern France and western Germany, and a right tributary of the Moselle. It rises in the Vosges mountains on the border of Alsace and Lorraine and flows northwards into the Moselle near Trier. It has two headstreams (the Sarre Rouge and Sarre Blanche, which join in Lorquin), that both start near Mont Donon, the highest peak of the northern Vosges. After (129 kilometres; 80 miles in France and on the French-German border, and 117 kilometres; 73 miles in Germany) the Saar flows into the Moselle at Konz (Rhineland-Palatinate) between Trier and the Luxembourg border.
Col de SaverneThe Col de Saverne (Pass of Saverne or Saverne Pass, Zaberner Steige) is a natural pass in the north of the Vosges mountains, near Saverne, which permits travel between the départements of Bas-Rhin and Moselle, and therefore between Alsace and Lorraine. Transport routes that traverse the Saverne Pass include national highway RN 4 and A4 autoroute A4, the Paris-Strasbourg railway, as well as the Marne-Rhine Canal. The area is noted for its botanical gardens, especially the Jardin Botanique de Saverne and the Roseraie de Saverne.
Variscan orogenyThe Variscan or Hercynian orogeny was a geologic mountain-building event caused by Late Paleozoic continental collision between Euramerica (Laurussia) and Gondwana to form the supercontinent of Pangaea. The name Variscan, comes from the Medieval Latin name for the district Variscia, the home of a Germanic tribe, the Varisci; Eduard Suess, professor of geology at the University of Vienna, coined the term in 1880. (Variscite, a rare green mineral first discovered in the Vogtland district of Saxony in Germany, which is in the Variscan belt, has the same etymology.
SwabiaSwabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of the German stem duchies, representing the territory of Alemannia, whose inhabitants interchangeably were called Alemanni or Suebi. This territory would include all of the Alemannic German area, but the modern concept of Swabia is more restricted, due to the collapse of the duchy of Swabia in the thirteenth century.
