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Home > Travel France > France Destinations > Belfort
Belfort
France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe and comprises various overseas islands and territories which are located in other regions. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. At 674,843 square kilometers, France is the world's 40th-largest country after Myanmar. France is a member of The European Union and Paris is the capital of this nation. The sole official language of France is French. Since prehistoric times, France has been a crossroads of trade, migrations, and invasions.
Belfort is a town and commune of northeastern France, capital of the Territoire de Belfort departement in the Franche-Comte region. In 1999 census, Belfort had a population 50,417. It is located on the Savoureuse, on the stregically important natural route between the Rhine and the Rhone - the Belfort Gap or Burgundian Gate.
Belfort is a trading centre for wine and grain and its industries include chemicals, engineering, plastics and textiles. Belfort is the home of The Lion of Belfort, a sculpture by Frederic Bartholdi expressing people's resistance against the siege in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.
Belfort is also well known for organizing a large-scale music festival in May each year. FIMU, The Festival International de Musique University is home to nearly 2500 musicians, most of them students, from many different countries. The musicians give more than 250 concerts in the course of the 3-day festival in a wide variety of styles like classical, jazz, traditional, experimental, etc. All of the concerts are free of charge and are performed at 14 different locations in the old city of Belfort. In 2004 more than 60,000 people attended the festival. In 2005 the festival was held on 14th to 16th May. It enjoys a very positive reputation with worldwide travelers.
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