Auvergne Rhone Alpes

Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes or ARA is a place of France created by means of the territorial reform of French Regions in 2014; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhone-Alpes. The new vicinity got here into impact on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections in December 2015. The region covers a place of extra than 69,711 km2, making it the third biggest in metropolitan France, with a populace of 7,695,264, second only to ile-de-France.

The text of the territorial reform law gives period in-between names for maximum of the merged areas, combining the names of their constituent areas separated by hyphens. Permanent names could be proposed by the brand new regional councils and confirmed by way of the Conseil d'Etat by means of 1 October 2016. The meantime call of the brand new administrative place turned into a hyphenated placename, composed of the ancient region of Auvergne, the river Rhone, and the French Alps. The equal name has been chosen because the definitive call, which was officialized by way of the Conseil d'Etat on 28 September 2016.