Population by municipality
The total population of the Upper Rhine region stood at 6.3 million in 2020. The figures presented here are all from that reference year. This analysis is based on a breakdown of the population by municipality. The region comprises 1,720 municipalities, with considerable differences in the distribution of the population across the three countries.
There are five major urban centres, each with a main town or city of over 100,000 inhabitants:
- Karlsruhe (308,436 inhabitants)
- Strasbourg (287,228)
- Freiburg im Breisgau (230,940)
- Basel (173,863)
- Mulhouse (108,312)
The conurbations surrounding these major cities account for 40 % of the region’s total population.
On the French side, the Strasbourg Eurometropolis is home to 511,000 residents (across 33 municipalities).
Mulhouse Urban Area:
274,000 inhabitants (39 municipalities).
Colmar Urban Area:
114,000 inhabitants (20 municipalities).
In Basel, Switzerland, the tri-national conurbation has a population of 881,000 (175 municipalities).
In Germany, the conurbations of Freiburg and Karlsruhe comprise fewer municipalities because the municipal boundaries already correspond to the conurbation structure of neighbouring countries.
The 409 German municipalities are, in general, larger in area than those in Switzerland and France. Consequently, German municipalities are, on the whole, more populous but less densely populated than those in neighbouring countries.
The 443 Swiss municipalities are generally smaller in area than their German counterparts. Generally speaking, they are the most densely populated in the Upper Rhine region.
Within the Upper Rhine region in Switzerland, Basel stands out as an exception, both in terms of population size and population density. Almost all of the most densely populated municipalities are also located within the Basel conurbation.
Among France’s 880 municipalities, there is a significant difference between those linked to major urban areas, where the population density is generally greater than 600 inhabitants/km², and rural municipalities, which are more numerous, smaller in area and have no more than 3,000 inhabitants.
Did you know?
- Haguenau (FR) is the largest municipality in the Upper Rhine region, covering 184 km²!
- Kammersrohr (CH) is the least populated municipality, with just 32 inhabitants!
- Kaiserstuhl (CH) – not to be confused with the famous German mountain – was, in 2020, the smallest village by area, covering 31 hectares. In 2022, it became part of the new municipality of Zurzach!