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Lorraine, French Political Geography
Related Category: French Political Geography
Lorraine[lOren´] Pronunciation Key - Economy
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Except for the Vosges Mts. in the southeast and the ridges paralleling the Moselle and Meuse rivers, Lorraine is a slightly rolling plateau with pastures and some agricultural districts. Hops are grown (Lorraine has large breweries), and there are numerous vineyards. In the east salt is mined; some coal is found in the north. The northeastern section of the region has turned into a rustbelt, with its mining and steel industries, once a mainstay of the economy, losing thousands of jobs since the early 1980s as the low-grade iron ore found near the Belgian and Luxembourg borders and near Nancy lost markets to low-cost high-grade iron ore from abroad. Unemployment will increase further if coal operations end by 2005 as predicted. The announcement in the mid-1990s of a new car manufacturing plant at Sarrequemines brought some relief to the region. Lorraine is linked to Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, and Basel by rail.
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