Built around the valleys of the Saône and the Rhône, the Rhône-Alpes region extends over a vast territory, 200 km long from north to south and almost 180 km from west to east. A region full of contrasts, it contains both areas of flat plains and areas of medium and high mountains. To the west, the foothills of the Massif Central along with the Forez mountains, the Vivarais mountains and the Cévennes form an area of medium-sized mountains where the Loire has its source. In the middle, the Saône-Rhône axis crosses other typical landscapes such as the plains of Bresse or the Drôme provençale. To the east, the Alps, with an undulating relief, remain highly accessible due to the numerous valleys forged by great watercourses, streams and rivers (the Rhône and the Isère). It is both an area of medium-sized mountains (the Pre-Alps, from the Diois to Chablais) and high mountains (from Mont Blanc to the Ecrins). The region also has some large lakes, including Lake Bourget (the largest in France), Lake Annecy and Lake Léman. Rhône-Alpes, the second largest region in France in terms of area (43'700 km2, or 8 % of the National Territory) and its population (5.65 million inhabitants in 1999, or almost 10 % of the national population) ranks it among the largest regions in Europe. It consists of 8 administrative departments. Ain, Ardèche, Drôme, Isère, Loire, Rhône, Savoie, Haute-Savoie.   Source : Rhône-Alpes region