Alsace Alsace (, ; Alsatian and , pre-1996 German:Elsaß; ) is the fourth-smallest of the 26 regions of France in land area (8,280metropolitan France. It is also the sixth-most densely populated region in France (third most densely populated region in metropolitan France), with 222 inhabitants per km² (total population in January 2008France's eastern border and on the west bank of the upper Rhine adjacent to Germany and Switzerland.