Rhône-Alpes is one of the 26 regions of France, located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the Rhône River and the Alps mountain range. Its capital, Lyon, is the second-largest metropolitan area in France after Paris.

Rhône-Alpes is located in the east of France. To the north are the French regions of Bourgogne (Burgundy) and Franche-Comté, to the west it borders the region Auvergne, to the south it borders Languedoc-Roussillon and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The east of the region contains the western part of the Alps and borders Switzerland and Italy. The highest peak is Mont Blanc. The central part of the region is taken up with the valley of the Rhône and the Saône. The confluence of these two rivers is at Lyon. The western part of the region contains the start of the Massif Central mountain range. The region also borders or contains major lakes such as Lake Geneva (Lac Léman) and Lake Annecy. The Ardèche is home to the deepest gorge in Europe.

As with the rest of France, French is the only official language of the region. Many of the inhabitants of the south spoke varieties of Occitan although it is in steep decline in this region. There are large immigrant populations from Poland, Italy, Portugal and North Africa, amongst other places.

Economy : -----------------------------

Rhône-Alpes is a prosperous région, its economy second in size only to Île-de-France in France. This can be attributed to the diversity of the production in different sectors.

Industry, in particular:
Light engineering and high-tech
Services, in particular:
High-tech industries, especially in Lyon and Grenoble
Tourism with the Alps (for skiing), Lyon (for culture) and the Ardèche (adventure sports/camping) particularly popular
Education, with major universities at Lyon and Grenoble
In the past mining, especially coal mining was an important sector, particularly around Saint Etienne, although this has declined.

It should be noted that the area of the region that lies close to Switzerland has an economy linked to that of Geneva. Indeed, this area forms a hinterland for the Geneva hub.