| Territoire de Belfort | |
| Native Name Lang: | fr |
| Type: | Department of France |
| Coordinates: | 47.75°N 7°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | France |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Bourgogne-Franche-Comté |
| Seat Type: | Prefecture |
| Seat: | Belfort |
| Parts Type: | Subprefectures |
| Parts Style: | para |
| P1: | None |
| Leader Party: | LR |
| Leader Title: | President of the Departmental Council |
| Leader Name: | Florian Bouquet[1] |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 609.4 |
| Population Rank: | 99th |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Department number |
| Blank Info Sec1: | 90 |
| Blank Name Sec2: | Arrondissements |
| Blank Info Sec2: | 1 |
| Blank1 Name Sec2: | Cantons |
| Blank1 Info Sec2: | 9 |
| Blank2 Name Sec2: | Communes |
| Blank2 Info Sec2: | 101 |
| Timezone1: | CET |
| Utc Offset1: | +1 |
| Timezone1 Dst: | CEST |
| Utc Offset1 Dst: | +2 |
| Footnotes: | French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2 |
The Territoire de Belfort (pronounced as /fr/; "Territory of Belfort") is a department in the northeastern French region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. In 2020 it had a population of 140,120.[2] The department, which encompasses a relatively small surface area of 609.4 km2 (235.3 sq mi), is located just southwest of the European Collectivity of Alsace. It also shares a border with the Swiss canton of Jura to the southeast. Its prefecture is Belfort.
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:
After retaining its unique status as a French: 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.
When the regions of France were created, Belfort was not included in the region of Alsace, but the adjacent region of Franche-Comté, since January 2016 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
Geographers might contend that Belfort lies on the ridge that divides two regions of France, but before 1870 it was politically part of Alsace. However, in terms of the political regions established in 1982, the Territoire de Belfort has found itself in the Franche-Comté rather than Alsace.
The department has an area of only 609 km2 (235 sq. miles), being the fifth smallest of France (after Paris and its suburbs Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, and Val-de-Marne). It is slightly smaller than Saint Lucia or Jakarta, Indonesia.
The most populous commune is Belfort, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 4 communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants:[2]
| Commune | Population (2019) | |
|---|---|---|
| Belfort | 46,443 | |
| Delle | 5,667 | |
| Valdoie | 5,269 | |
| Beaucourt | 5,010 |
The median net income per household for the department in 2017 was €21,310. The averaged figure for the Territoire de Belfort masked relatively large disparities such as, in particular, that between Belfort itself at €17,920 and Bermont at €26,600.[4]
In 2019 the department recorded a population of 141,318. Of these, slightly more than 46,000 live in the commune of Belfort itself, which accounts more than 32% of the departmental population.
Four principal phases can be identified in the population trends during the two centuries between 1801 and 2000.
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 101 communes.
See also: Departmental Council of Territoire de Belfort.
The president of the Departmental Council is Florian Bouquet, first elected in 2015.
| Constituency | Member[5] | Party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Territoire de Belfort's 1st constituency | Ian Boucard | The Republicans | ||
| Territoire de Belfort's 2nd constituency | Michel Zumkeller | Union of Democrats and Independents | ||