Geography


Area of the Vosges department:
5,874 km² of which 280,000 hectares are forests

Uses of the surface area:
Woodlands and forests: 47 % ONF
Agricultural area in use: 38 % Chamber of Agriculture
Other: 13 %

Highest points:
Vosges Mountain range: LE GRAND BALLON (1424 m)
Vosges Department: LE HOHNECK (1366 m), LE DRUMONT (1260 m), LE BALLON D’ALSACE (1247 m)



Population


Departmental Council: www.vosges.fr

380,952 inhabitants (1999 census)
Urban population: 70 %
Rural population: 30 %
Density: 65 inhabitants/km2
515 « communes » (villages or towns) of which 242 are rural
31 cantons
Towns with the largest populations:

	Epinal ..........................................	35,794 inhabitants
	Saint-Dié-des-Vosges ...............	22,569 inabitants
	Gérardmer ..................................	8,845 inhabitants
	Remiremont ................................	8,538 inhabitants
	Neufchâteau ..............................	7,533 inhabitants
	Vittel ...........................................	6,117 inhabitants

Economy


CAPEV: www.vosges.com
CCI: www.vosges.cci.fr

Working population: 148,239 (RGP INSEE 1999)(French national statistics institute 1999)

The industry sectors:

- Textiles/clothing/shoes (made-to-measure, off-the-peg, spinning, weaving: Linvosges, Garnier-Thiébaut…) - Wood (forest management and woodcutting, sawmills, wood processing…): a research centre for the wood industries and an engineering school, ENSTIB. - Furniture (mainly in the areas around Neufchâteau and Liffol-le-Grand), Lorraine centre for wooden furniture -Paper/cardboard/printing/newspapers (leading French department in the paper/cardboard sector: Norske Skog, Mougeot paper mills, Clairefontaine, Velin d’Arches….) - Processing of metals/ manufacture of mechanical, electrical and electronic equipment/ motor industry - Food processing industries: dairy products industry, mineral waters (Vittel and Contrexéville), meat industry, ice creams (Thiriet SA). Chamber of agriculture - Chemical industry/plastics/rubber - Crafts. Chamber of Trades and Crafts

A considerable number of non-French businesses have decided to set up in the VOSGES department, often assisted by the CAPEV, Comité d’Aménagement, de Promotion et d’Expansion des Vosges (The Vosges Development, Promotion and Economic Expansion Board) .
This team, which prospects for and promotes the Vosges department, offers a wide range of consultancy services and types of assistance in the industrial sector (looking for suitable industrial sites, forming links with financial or industrial partners, supplying information on the region’s potential, taking into account the existing industrial fabric…).