Editing Communes of France (section)

=== Example: Alsace ===
[[Alsace]], with an area of {{convert|8,280|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}, and now part of the Région Grand Est, used to be the smallest of the [[regions of France|regions]] of [[metropolitan France]], and still has no fewer than 904 communes. This high number is typical of metropolitan France but is atypical when compared with other European countries. It shows the distinctive nature of the French commune as a geo-political or administrative entity.

With its 904 communes, Alsace has three times as many municipalities as [[Sweden]], which has a much larger territory covering {{convert|449,964|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}} and yet is divided into only 290 municipalities ([[Municipalities of Sweden|''kommuner'']]). Alsace has more than double the total number of municipalities of the [[Netherlands]] which, in spite of having a population nine times larger and a land area four times larger than Alsace, is divided into just 390 municipalities ({{Lang|nl|[[Municipalities of the Netherlands|gemeenten]]}}).

Most of the communes in Alsace, along with those in other regions of France, have rejected the central government's calls for mergers and rationalization. By way of contrast, in the [[States of Germany|German states]] bordering Alsace, the geo-political and administrative areas have been subject to various re-organizations from the 1960s onward. In the state of [[Baden-Württemberg]], the number of ''Gemeinden'' or communities was reduced from 3,378 in 1968<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.landtag-bw.de/wp12/drucksachen/5000/12_5490_d.pdf |title=25 Jahre Gemeindereform Baden-Württemberg; hier: Neuordnung der Gemeinden |author=Parliament (Landtag) of Baden-Württemberg |access-date=2007-11-25 |language=de |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071128211923/http://www.landtag-bw.de/wp12/drucksachen/5000/12_5490_d.pdf |archive-date=28 November 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> to 1,108 in September 2007.<ref name=German_Gemeinden>{{cite web |url=http://www.gemeindeverzeichnis.de/dtland/dtland.htm |title=Gemeinden in Deutschland |author=gemeindeverzeichnis.de |access-date=2008-06-27 |language=de |archive-date=16 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016132547/http://www.gemeindeverzeichnis.de/dtland/dtland.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In comparison, the number of communes in Alsace was only reduced from 946 in 1971<ref>{{cite web |url=http://splaf.free.fr/67his.html |title=Historique du Bas-Rhin |author=SPLAF |access-date=2007-11-25 |language=fr |archive-date=22 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722175315/http://splaf.free.fr/67his.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://splaf.free.fr/68his.html |title=Historique du Haut-Rhin |author=SPLAF |access-date=2007-11-25 |language=fr |archive-date=22 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722175320/http://splaf.free.fr/68his.html |url-status=live }}</ref> (just before the Marcellin law aimed at encouraging French communes to merge with each other was passed, see [[Communes of France#Current debate|Current debate]] section below) to 904 in January 2007. Consequently, the Alsace region—despite having a land area only one-fifth the size and a total population only one-sixth of that of its neighbor Baden-Württemberg—has almost as many municipalities. The small Alsace region has more than double the number of municipalities compared to the large and populous state of [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] (396 ''Gemeinden'' in September 2007).