Convention on the protection of the Alps, convention on the protection and sustainable development of the Carpathians and Balkan Convention Initiative

The Alpine Convention is an international treaty with the aim of the protection and sustainable development of the Alps. It was signed in 1991 by Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and the European Community at Salzburg. Slovenia signed the convention on March the 29th 1993 and Monaco became a party on the basis of a separate additional protocol. The Convention entered into force on March the 6th, 1995. As defined in the Alpine Convention, the region of the Alps is home to some 13 million people. The 191,287 km2, contained within the alpine space comprise the territory of seven countries, 83 regions and about 6,200 communities.