Strasbourg

Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in northeastern France, with approximately 650,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 1999. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the préfecture (capital) of the Bas-Rhin département. Strasbourg is the seat of, among other things, the Council of Europe, the European Court of Human Rights, the European Ombudsman, the Eurocorps, the European Audiovisual Observatory, and, most famously, the European Parliament's plenary sessions, although sessions are also held in Brussels. Strasbourg is an important center of manufacturing and engineering, as well as of road, rail, and river communications. The port of Strasbourg is the second largest on the Rhine after Duisburg, Germany. The city is the seat of the Central Commission for Navigation on the Rhine. Strasbourg's historic center, the Grande Île ("Grand Island"), was classified a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1988, the first time such an honor was placed on an entire city center.