Bellegarde-sur-Valserine

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine is a former commune in the Ain department in eastern France. On 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune of Valserhône.[2]

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
Part of Valserhône
Coat of arms
Location of Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
Bellegarde-sur-Valserine
Coordinates: 46°06′30″N 5°49′36″E
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
DepartmentAin
ArrondissementNantua
CantonBellegarde-sur-Valserine
CommuneValserhône
Area
1
15 km2 (6 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)[1]
11,675
 • Density780/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal code
01200
Elevation330–1,542 m (1,083–5,059 ft)
(avg. 485 m or 1,591 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Geography
The Valserine in winter

Bellegarde is located at the confluence of the Valserine and the Rhone.

At this spot, the water of the two rivers runs underground, and it was possible to cross both of them easily. Since the building of the Génissiat dam at Injoux-Génissiat, the level of the Rhône was raised several meters but the pertes de la Valserine are still visible.

Bellegarde lies in a valley dominated by the plateau of Retord on the west and the massif of the Grand Crêt d'Eau and the Vuache on the east. The passage created by the Rhône is the principal access to the area around Gex and the north of Lake Geneva. Since 1st January 2019, Bellegarde belongs to a new commune, with Lancrans and Chatillon-en-Michaille, named Valserhône.

Traffic

Bellegarde is the transfer station to the Swiss Jura Foot Railway.

Population
Historical population
YearPop.±%
200611,497—    
200711,367−1.1%
200811,404+0.3%
200911,679+2.4%
201011,790+1.0%
201111,630−1.4%
201211,590−0.3%
201311,644+0.5%
201411,745+0.9%
201511,809+0.5%
201611,666−1.2%

Twin towns — sister cities

Bellegarde-sur-Valserine is twinned with:

gollark: Ones which can last for a long time apparently.
gollark: There are a bunch of weird glitches in human visual processing which *might* count.
gollark: There might not be any in <#730494741460025374>.
gollark: That's not really hazardous. You might get annoyed/frustrated but that's the worst of it.
gollark: Approximately, some sort of thing which is hazardous if you think about/mentally process it.

References
  1. Téléchargement du fichier d'ensemble des populations légales en 2017, INSEE
  2. Arrêté préfectoral, 22 October 2018 (in French)
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