Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

The text of the territorial reform law gives interim names for most of the merged regions, combining the names of their constituent regions alphabetically, separated by hyphens. Permanent names would be proposed by the new regional councils and confirmed by the Conseil d'État by 1 October 2016.^[10][11]

The interim name of the new administrative region was a hyphenated placename, composed of the historic region of Auvergne, the river Rhône and the French Alps (Alpes). The same name has been chosen as the definitive name, which was officialized by the Conseil d'État on 28 September 2016.^[12]

According to several online polls from Lyon Capitale, the name "Rhône-Alpes-Auvergne" led voting, ahead of "Alpes-Auvergne" and "AURA" (an acronym for Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes),^[13] which was proposed by Jean-Jack Queyranne, former president of the regional council of Rhône-Alpes. Schoolchildren were consulted about the name of the new region in February 2016; residents were consulted in March.^[14]

After adjusting the votes in proportion to the number of inhabitants of the regions (Rhône-Alpes having five times the population of Auvergne) the name "Rhône-Alpes-Auvergne" was still leading, ahead of "Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes" and the acronym "AURA".^[15]

Despite this result, Laurent Wauquiez and his team decided not to follow the preference of the citizens of the new region, and the name Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was put to the vote by the regional council and adopted unanimously on 23 June 2016;^[16][17] it was made official on 28 September 2016 through a decree appearing in the Journal Officiel de la République Française.^[1]

In October 2017, the region was given a coat of arms that combines those of Auvergne, Savoie, Lyonnais and Dauphiné.^[18] The region also has a flag, which initially consisted of the coat of arms on a white background, but was replaced by a heraldic flag in January 2018. On 9 February 2018, the region formalised the flag and the coat of arms on its website, as implemented by Mattieu Casali, a historical scholar.^[19] It was received favourably by the national heraldic commission.^[20]

The blazon is described on the region's website (in French) as "Écartelé : au premier d’or au gonfanon de gueules bordé de sinople (Auvergne); au deuxième de gueules à la croix d’argent (Savoie); au troisième de gueules au lion d’argent (Lyonnais); au quatrième d’or au dauphin d’azur, crêté, barbé, loré, peautré et oreillé de gueules (Dauphiné)," which translates roughly to: "Quartered: the first quarter, with an or (gold) background, containing a gules (red) banner fringed with vert (green), representing Auvergne; the second quarter, with a gules background, containing an argent (silver) cross, representing Savoie; the third quarter, with a gules background, containing an argent lion, representing Lyon; the fourth quarter, with an or background, containing an azure dolphin^[21] with gules details, representing the Dauphiné."^[19]

• 
  Official coat of arms, released in 2017 and officialised in 2018.
• 
  First flag, which appeared at the same time as the coat of arms.
• 
  de facto Flag used since 2018

In Arpitan and in Occitan, two of the three languages that are historically spoken in the region, the name is pronounced:^{[note 3]}

• Arpitan: Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Arpes [o.ˌvɛr.ɲə.rɔn.ˈar.pə];
• Occitan : Auvèrnha-Ròse-Aups [ɔwˈver.ɲə.rɔz(e).ɔwp].

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 270.0 billion euros (327.0 billion dollars) in 2018, accounting for 11.9% of French economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 30,200 euros or 100% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 109% of the EU average.^[22]

The region's main airport is Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport which provides most domestic and international destinations, it handles more than 10 million passengers per year.^[23] Eastern parts of the regions including the city of Annecy are also served by Geneva Airport located 45 km (28 mi) away north of the city, taking advantage of the Schengen Area laws allowing passage in and out of Switzerland.

There are other airports across the region such as Chambéry Airport, Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport and Grenoble Alpes Isère Airport.

The region is governed by the Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, consisting of 204 members. The current regional council was elected in regional elections on 20 and 27 June 2021, with the list of Laurent Wauquiez consisting of The Republicans (LR) and the Union of Democrats and Independents (UDI) securing an absolute majority of 136 seats.^[24]

More information Candidate, List ...

2021 regional elections in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Candidate		List	First round[25]		Second round		Seats	+/-
			Votes	%	Votes	%
	Laurent Wauquiez *	LR-UDI-LMR-VIA	751,375	43.85	960,785	55.20	136	+23
	Fabienne Grébert	EÉLV-G·s-GÉ	248,017	14.47	585,039	33.61	51	-6
	Najat Vallaud-Belkacem	PS-PRG-GRS-CÉ	195,727	11.42
	Cécile Cukierman	PCF-LFI	95,434	5.57
	Andréa Kotarac	RN-LDP	211,178	12.32	194,789	11.19	17	-17
	Bruno Bonnell	MR-LREM-MoDem-Agir	168,292	9.82
	Chantal Gomez	LO	26,742	1.56
	Shella Gill	DIV	11,198	0.65
	Farid Omeir	UDMF	5,684	0.33
Valid votes			1,713,647	97.30	1,740,613	96.57
Blank ballots			30,859	1.75	41,392	2.30
Null Ballots			16,712	0.95	20,502	1.14
Turnout			1,761,218	32.59	1,802,507	33.35	204
Abstentions			3,642,126	67.41	3,602,658	66.65
Registered voters			5,403,344	100	5,405,165	100

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The visual identity of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region was adopted in 2017 following the territorial merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes.^[26][27] The logotype consists of a two-tone pictogram synthesizing the three geographical components of the territory: a peak for the Alps, a crater hollow evoking the volcanoes of Auvergne in the Massif Central, and a horizontal line representing the Rhône river.^[27][28]

• Regions of France