Saar

geographical name

\ ˈsär

, ˈzär\

Definition of Saar

1 or French Sarre \ ˈsär

\ river about 150 miles (241 kilometers) long in Europe flowing from the Vosges Mountains in France north to the Moselle River in western Germany

2 or Saarland \ ˈsär-ˌland

, ˈzär- \ historical region in western Europe in the basin of the Saar River between France and Germany — see also saarland

Note: This region has passed back and forth between French and German hands multiple times during the past several centuries. At the start of World War I it was part of Germany, but after the war its coal mines were awarded to France and the region itself was administered by the League of Nations from 1919 until 1935, when the vast majority of its inhabitants voted by plebiscite to rejoin Germany. After World War II, it again came under the control of France but then passed to West Germany following a 1957 plebiscite.