Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; French: [ovɛʁɲ ʁon‿alp] (listen); Arpitan: Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; Occitan: Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; Italian: Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the territorial reform of French Regions in 2015; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into effect on 1 January 2016, after the regional elections in December 2015.The region covers an area of more than 69,711 km2 (26,916 sq mi), making it the third largest in metropolitan France, and has a population of 7,877,698, second only to Île-de-France. It consists of 12 departments and one territorial collectivity. Lyon is the chef-lieu of the region.
This new region combines diverse geographical, sociological, economic, and cultural regions, which was already true of Rhône-Alpes, as well as Auvergne, to a lesser extent. While the old Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne regions each enjoyed a unity defined by axes of communication and the pull of their respective metropoles, the new combination is heterogeneous, and sustained lively opposition from some local officials after its creation.... Wikipedia ()
