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Territoire-de-Belfort

Territoire de Belfort
Department
Flag of Territoire de Belfort
Flag
Coat of arms of Territoire de Belfort
Coat of arms
Location of Territoire de Belfort in France
Location of Territoire de Belfort in France
Coordinates: 47°45′N 7°00′E / 47.750°N 7.000°E / 47.750; 7.000Coordinates: 47°45′N 7°00′E / 47.750°N 7.000°E / 47.750; 7.000
Country France
Region Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Prefecture Belfort
Subprefectures (none)
Government
 • President of the General Council Florian Bouquet (UMP)
Area
 • Total 609.4 km2 (235.3 sq mi)
Population (2013)
 • Total 144,318
 • Rank 98th
 • Density 240/km2 (610/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Department number 90
Arrondissements 1
Cantons 9
Communes 102
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

The Territoire de Belfort (French pronunciation: ​[tɛʁitwaʁ də bɛlfɔʁ]) is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of eastern France.

Its departmental code is 90, and its prefecture (capital) is Belfort. There is a single arrondissement (Belfort), which is subdivided into 9 cantons and thence into 102 communes.

The administrative district Territoire de Belfort was created under the terms of the 1871 Treaty of Frankfurt. The German Empire annexed almost all of Alsace, but the French were able to negotiate retention of the Territoire de Belfort which thereby was separated from the rest of Alsace (where it had been part of the department of Haut-Rhin). There were three principal reasons for this exceptional treatment:

The Germans agreed primarily because the Prussian military officiers indicated that leaving it in France would give Germany a more defensible border.

After retaining its unique status as a territoire for just over half a century, Belfort was officially recognized as France's 90th department in 1922. France had recovered Alsace three years earlier, but the decision was taken not to reintegrate Belfort into its former department. There was talk of giving it a new departmental name, with suggestions that included "Savoureuse" (after the main river of the new department) or "Mont-Terrible" (the name of a former Napoleonic department embracing parts of Switzerland), but there was no consensus for a name change and the department continues to be known as the Territoire de Belfort.


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