Sélestat is a commune in north-eastern France, in the Bas-Rhin department, of which it is a subprefecture. It is in the Grand Est region.
The commmune is in the historical and cultural region of Alsace.
Geography
Sélestat is at the very centre of Alsace, near the limit separating the Bas-Rhin and Haut-Rhin departments. The commune is on the Alsace plains, a narrow, very fertile area that stretches between the Rhine and the Vosges mountains.
The Ill river flows parallel to the Rhine and crosses the town of Sélestat. Another river in the commune is the Giessen, a left tributary of the Ill and that runs through the commune from west to east.
The commune has an area of . Its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .
The distances from Sélestat to other cities are: Paris, the national capital - ; Strasbourg, the regional capital - ; Marseille - ; Lyon - ; Reims - ; Bordeaux - ; Toulouse - ; Montpellier - ; Nice - .
The commune of Sélestat is surrounded by the following communes:
Climate
The climate of Sélestat, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with template summers.
Population
The inhabitants of Sélestat are known, in French, as Sélestadiens (women: Sélestadiennes).
With a population of 19,546, Sélestat has a population density of inhabitants/km2.
Evolution of the population in Sélestat
Administration
Sélestat is a subprefecture in the Bas-Rhin department since 1806. It is the capital of the Sélestat-Erstein arrondissement and is also the administrative centre () of the canton of Sélestat formed by 29 communes, with 55,877 inhabitants (2014).
Twin towns
Sélestat is twinned withː
Montignies-sur-Sambre, Belgium, since 1959 (merged with Charleroi in 1977) Waldkirch, Germany, since 1966 Grenchen, Switzerland, since 1988 Dornbirn, Austria, since 2006