Editing Alsace (section)

== Economy ==
According to the ''Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques'' ([[INSEE]]), Alsace had a gross domestic product of 44.3&nbsp;billion euros in 2002. With a GDP per capita of €24,804, it is the second ''région'' of France, after only [[Île-de-France]], and 68% of Alsatian jobs are in the [[Service Sector|services]], and 25% are in industry, which makes Alsace one of France's most industrialised ''régions''.

Alsace is a ''région'' of varied economic activity, including:
* [[viticulture]] (mostly along the ''[[Route des Vins d'Alsace]]'' between [[Marlenheim]] and [[Thann, Haut-Rhin|Thann]])
* [[hops|hop]] harvesting and brewing (half of French beer is produced in Alsace, especially in the vicinity of Strasbourg, notably in [[Schiltigheim]], [[Hochfelden, Bas-Rhin|Hochfelden]], [[Saverne]] and [[Obernai]])
* forestry development
* automobile industry ([[Mulhouse]] and [[Molsheim]], home town of [[Bugatti]] Automobiles) 
* [[life science]]s, as part of the trinational [[BioValley (Europe)|BioValley]]
* tourism
* [[potassium chloride]] (until the late 20th century) and [[potash]] mining

Alsace has many international ties and 35% of firms are foreign companies (notably German, Swiss, American, Japanese, and [[Scandinavia]]n).

===Tourism===
Having been early and always densely populated, Alsace is famous for its high number of picturesque villages, churches and castles and for the various beauties of its three main towns, in spite of severe destructions suffered throughout five centuries of wars between France and Germany.

Alsace is furthermore famous for its vineyards (especially along the 170&nbsp;km of the ''[[Route des Vins d'Alsace]]'' from [[Marlenheim]] to [[Thann, Haut-Rhin|Thann]]) and the [[Vosges mountains]] with their thick and green forests and picturesque lakes.

[[File:Haut-koenigsbourg 02.jpg|thumb|[[Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg]]]]
[[File:Colmar petitevenise.JPG|thumb|Colmar petitevenise]]
[[File:Maginot line 1.jpg|thumb|The main entrance of the [[Ouvrage Schoenenbourg]] from the [[Maginot Line]]]]
* Old towns of [[Strasbourg]], [[Colmar]], [[Sélestat]], [[Guebwiller]], [[Saverne]], [[Obernai]], [[Thann, Haut-Rhin|Thann]]
* Smaller cities and villages: [[Molsheim]], [[Rosheim]], [[Riquewihr]], [[Ribeauvillé]], [[Kaysersberg]], [[Wissembourg]], [[Neuwiller-lès-Saverne]], [[Marmoutier]], [[Rouffach]], [[Soultz-Haut-Rhin]], [[Bergheim, Haut-Rhin|Bergheim]], [[Hunspach]], [[Seebach, Bas-Rhin|Seebach]], [[Turckheim]], [[Eguisheim]], [[Neuf-Brisach]], [[Ferrette]], [[Niedermorschwihr]] and the gardens of the blue house in [[Uttenhoffen]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.belocal.de/uttenhoffen/sights/jardins_de_la_ferme_bleue/seite_1,145814,2,145815.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120719035136/http://www.belocal.de/uttenhoffen/sights/jardins_de_la_ferme_bleue/seite_1,145814,2,145815.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 July 2012 |title=Jardins de la ferme bleue – SehenswĂźrdigkeiten in Uttenhoffen, Elsa |publisher=beLocal.de |date=23 November 2011 |access-date=30 March 2012 }}</ref>
* Churches (as main sights in otherwise less remarkable places): [[Thann, Haut-Rhin|Thann]], [[Andlau]], [[Murbach]], [[Ebersmunster]], [[Niederhaslach]], [[Sigolsheim]], [[Lautenbach, Haut-Rhin|Lautenbach]], [[Epfig]], [[Altorf]], [[Ottmarsheim]], [[Domfessel]], [[Marmoutier]] and the fortified church at [[Hunawihr]]
* [[Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg]]
* [[List of castles in France#Alsace|Other castles]]: Ortenbourg and [[Château de Ramstein (Bas-Rhin)|Ramstein]] (above Sélestat), Hohlandsbourg, [[Château du Fleckenstein|Fleckenstein]], [[Haut-Barr]] (above Saverne), Saint-Ulrich (above Ribeauvillé), Lichtenberg, Wangenbourg, the three Castles of [[Eguisheim]], [[Château de Pflixbourg|Pflixbourg]], Wasigenstein, [[Château d'Andlau|Andlau]], Grand Geroldseck, [[Wasenbourg]]
* [[Cité de l'Automobile]] museum in Mulhouse
* [[Cité du train]] museum in Mulhouse
* The [[Électricité de France|EDF]] museum in Mulhouse
* [[Ungersheim]]'s "''écomusée''" (open-air museum) and "''[[Le Bioscope|Bioscope]]''" (leisure park about the environment, closed since September 2012)
* Musée historique in [[Haguenau]], largest museum in Bas-Rhin outside Strasbourg
* Bibliothèque humaniste in Sélestat, one of the oldest public libraries in the world
* [[Christmas market]]s in Kaysersberg, Strasbourg, Mulhouse and Colmar
* Departmental Centre of the History of Families (CDHF) in Guebwiller
* The [[Maginot Line]]: [[Ouvrage Schoenenbourg]]
* [[Odile of Alsace|Mount Ste Odile]]
* [[Route des Vins d'Alsace]] (Alsace Wine Route)
* [[Alsace-Moselle Memorial|Mémorial d'Alsace–Lorraine]] in [[Schirmeck]]
* [[Natzweiler-Struthof]], the only German [[concentration camp]] on French territory during WWII
* [[Vosges Mountains|Famous mountains]]: Massif du Donon, [[Grand Ballon]], Petit Ballon, [[Ballon d'Alsace]], [[Hohneck (Vosges)|Hohneck]], [[Hartmannswillerkopf]]
* [[National park]]: Parc naturel des Vosges du Nord
* [[Regional park]]: Parc naturel régional des Ballons des Vosges (south of the [[Vosges Mountains|Vosges]])

===Transportation===

====Roads====
[[File:Absolute ponts couverts 02.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ponts Couverts (Strasbourg)|Ponts Couverts]], [[Strasbourg]]]]

Most major car journeys are made on the [[A35 autoroute]], which links Saint-Louis on the Swiss border to Lauterbourg on the German border.

The [[A4 autoroute|A4]] toll road (towards Paris) begins {{Convert|20|km|mi|abbr=on}} northwest of [[Strasbourg]] and the [[A36 autoroute|A36]] toll road towards Lyon, begins {{Convert|10|km|mi|abbr=on}} west from [[Mulhouse]].

Spaghetti junctions (built in the 1970s and 1980s) are prominent in the comprehensive system of motorways in Alsace, especially in the outlying areas of Strasbourg and Mulhouse. These cause a major buildup of traffic and are the main sources of pollution in the towns, notably in Strasbourg where the motorway traffic of the A35 was 170,000 per day in 2002.

At present, plans are being considered for building a new [[dual carriageway]] west of Strasbourg, which would reduce the buildup of traffic in that area by picking up north and southbound vehicles and getting rid of the buildup outside Strasbourg. The line plans to link up the interchange of [[Hœrdt]] to the north of Strasbourg, with [[Innenheim]] in the southwest. The opening is envisaged at the end of 2011, with an average usage of 41,000 vehicles a day. Estimates of the French Works Commissioner however, raised some doubts over the interest of such a project, since it would pick up only about 10% of the traffic of the A35 at Strasbourg. Paradoxically, this reversed the situation of the 1950s. At that time, the French trunk road left of the Rhine not been built, so that traffic would cross into Germany to use the Karlsruhe-Basel Autobahn.

To add to the buildup of traffic, the neighbouring German state of [[Baden-Württemberg]] has imposed a tax on heavy-goods vehicles using their [[Autobahn]]en. Thus, a proportion of the HGVs travelling from north Germany to Switzerland or southern Alsace bypasses the [[Bundesautobahn 5|A5]] on the Alsace-Baden-Württemberg border and uses the untolled French [[A35 autoroute|A35]] instead.

====Trains====
[[File:Place de l Homme de Fer.jpg|thumb|right|Place de l'Homme de Fer Tram Station]]

[[TER Alsace]] is the rail network serving Alsace. Its network is articulated around the city of Strasbourg. It is one of the most developed rail networks in France, financially sustained partly by the French railroad [[SNCF]], and partly by the ''région'' Alsace.

Because the Vosges are surmountable only by the [[Col de Saverne]] and the [[Belfort]] Gap, it has been suggested that Alsace needs to open up and get closer to France in terms of its rail links. Developments already under way or planned include:
* the [[LGV Est|TGV Est]] (Paris – Strasbourg) had its first phase brought into service in June 2007, bringing down the Strasbourg-Paris trip from 4 to 2 hours 20 minutes, and further reducing it to 1h 50m after the completion of the second phase in 2016.
* the [[LGV Rhin-Rhône|TGV Rhin-Rhône]] between [[Dijon]] and Mulhouse (opened in 2011)
* a tram-train system in Mulhouse (2011)
* an interconnection with the German [[InterCityExpress]], as far as [[Kehl]] (expected 2016)

However, the abandoned Maurice-Lemaire tunnel towards [[Saint-Dié-des-Vosges]] was rebuilt as a toll road.

====Waterways====
Port traffic of Alsace exceeds 15&nbsp;million tonnes, of which about three-quarters is centred on Strasbourg, which is the second busiest French fluvial harbour. The enlargement plan of the [[Rhône–Rhine Canal]], intended to link up the [[Mediterranean Sea]] and Central Europe (Rhine, [[Danube]], [[North Sea]] and [[Baltic Sea]]) was abandoned in 1998 for reasons of expense and land erosion, notably in the Doubs valley.

====Air traffic====
There are two [[international airport]]s in Alsace:
* the international airport of Strasbourg in [[Entzheim]]
* the international [[EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg]], which is the seventh largest French airport in terms of traffic

Strasbourg is also two hours away by road from one of the largest European airports, Frankfurt Main, and 2 hours 30 minutes from [[Charles de Gaulle Airport]] through the direct [[TGV]] service, stopping in Terminal 2.

====Cycling network====
Crossed by three [[EuroVelo]] routes
* the EuroVelo 5 ([[Via Francigena]] from London to Rome/[[Brindisi]]),
* the EuroVelo 6 (Véloroute des fleuves from [[Nantes]] to [[Budapest]] (H)) and
* the EuroVelo 15 (Véloroute Rhin / Rhine cycle route from [[Andermatt]] (CH) to [[Rotterdam]] (NL)).
Alsace is the most bicycle-friendly region of France,{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} with {{Convert|2000|km|mi}} of cycle routes. The network is of a very good standard and well signposted. All the towpaths of the canals in Alsace ([[canal des houillères de la Sarre]], [[canal de la Marne au Rhin]], [[canal de la Bruche]], [[canal du Rhône au Rhin]]) are tarred.