The Vorarlberg Rhine Valley (), also called the Vorarlberg Oberland and Unterland, is a section of the
Alpine Rhine Valley
The Alpine Rhine Valley () is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the Alpine Rhine ( ), the part of the Rhine between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and Lake Constance. It covers three countries, with se ...
and is divided into the Upper and Lower Rhine Valley (''oberes'' and ''unteres Rheintal'') based on the direction of flow of the river. The Unterland runs from the shore of
Lake Constance
Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...
to the
Kummenberg, the Upper Rhine valley lies south of the Kummenberg. The Unterland covers the whole of the administrative district of
Dornbirn
Dornbirn () is a city in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg. It is the administrative centre for the district of Dornbirn, which also includes the town of Hohenems, and the market town Lustenau.
Dornbirn is the largest city in Vorarlb ...
and all the territories of the district of
Bregenz
Bregenz (; ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost states of Austria, state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switzerland in the wes ...
that lie within the Rhine Valley. In this region, which includes the
urban area
An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...
s of Bregenz and Dornbirn, live about 180,000 people, around half the population of Vorarlberg. The "green lung" of this region is the
Vorarlberg Ried, which is on the border with
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
and is surrounded by the settlements of
Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg ( ; ; , , or ) is the westernmost States of Austria, state () of Austria. It has the second-smallest geographical area after Vienna and, although it also has the second-smallest population, it is the state with the second-highest popu ...
on three sides.
Geographically the Lower Rhine Valley also includes the municipality of
Altach
Altach is a municipality in the district of Feldkirch, in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg.
Neighboring municipalities
Five other municipalities surround Altach: Hohenems in the district of Dornbirn, Götzis and Mäder in the dist ...
. Due to its historical links with the municipality of
Götzis
Götzis is a town in the western Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The Alpine Rhine valley municipality belongs to the district of Feldkirch.
Population
Events
The town is well known for its annual hypo-combined events meeting, the so-called ...
and membership of the district of
Feldkirch, Altach is often considered part of the Oberland.
Regions of Austria
{{Austria-geo-stub