# Indre-et-Loire

Indre-et-Loire (French pronunciation: ) is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079. Sometimes referred to as Touraine, the name of the historic region, it is nowadays part of the Centre-Val de Loire region. Its prefecture is Tours and subprefectures are Chinon and Loches. Indre-et-Loire is a touristic destination for its numerous monuments that are part of the Châteaux of the Loire Valley.

## History
### Early times

Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments established during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of Touraine and of small portions of Orléanais, Anjou and Poitou. Its prefecture, Tours, was a centre of learning in the Early Middle Ages, having been a key focus of Christian evangelisation since St Martin became its first bishop around 375. From the mid-15th century, the royal court repaired to the Loire Valley, with Tours as its capital; the confluence of the Loire River and Cher River became a centre of silk manufacturing and other luxury goods, including the wine trade, creating a prosperous bourgeoisie.

### Recent years

After the creation of the department it remained politically conservative, as Honoré de Balzac recorded in several of his novels. Conservative Tours refused to welcome the railways which instead were obliged to route their lines by way of Saint-Pierre-des-Corps on the city's eastern edge. The moderate temper of the department's politics remained apparent after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870: sentiments remained predominantly pro-royalist during the early years of the Third Republic. For most of the nineteenth century, Indre-et-Loire was a rural department, but pockets of heavy-duty industrialisation began to appear towards the century's end, accompanied by left-wing politics. 1920 saw the birth of the French Communist Party at the Congress of Tours. By 1920, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps had become a major railway hub and a centre of railway workshops: it had also acquired a reputation as a bastion of working class solidarity.

## Geography

Indre-et-Loire is part of the region of Centre-Val de Loire; the neighbouring departments are Loir-et-Cher, Indre, Vienne, Maine-et-Loire and Sarthe. The commune of Descartes is famous as the birthplace of French philosopher and mathematician, René Descartes.

### Principal towns

The most populous commune is Tours, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 10 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:
| Commune | Population (2019) |
| Tours | 137,087 |
| Joué-lès-Tours | 38,444 |
| Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire | 16,419 |
| Saint-Pierre-des-Corps | 15,967 |
| Saint-Avertin | 14,995 |
| Amboise | 12,533 |
| Chambray-lès-Tours | 11,880 |
| Montlouis-sur-Loire | 10,868 |
| La Riche | 10,317 |
| Fondettes | 10,301 |

## Demographics

| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1801 | 268,924 | — |
| 1821 | 282,372 | +0.24% |
| 1836 | 304,271 | +0.50% |
| 1851 | 315,641 | +0.24% |
| 1872 | 317,027 | +0.02% |
| 1886 | 340,921 | +0.52% |
| 1901 | 335,541 | −0.11% |
| 1911 | 341,205 | +0.17% |
| 1921 | 327,743 | −0.40% |
| 1931 | 335,226 | +0.23% |
| 1946 | 349,685 | +0.28% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1954 | 364,706 | +0.53% |
| 1962 | 395,210 | +1.01% |
| 1968 | 437,866 | +1.72% |
| 1975 | 478,597 | +1.28% |
| 1982 | 506,093 | +0.80% |
| 1990 | 529,345 | +0.56% |
| 1999 | 553,747 | +0.50% |
| 2006 | 580,312 | +0.67% |
| 2011 | 593,683 | +0.46% |
| 2016 | 606,223 | +0.42% |
| 2020 | 612,119 | +0.24% |
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## Politics

The President of the Departmental Council is Jean-Gérard Paumier of The Republicans.
| Party | Party | seats |
| • | Socialist Party | 18 |
| | Miscellaneous Right | 8 |
| | Union for a Popular Movement | 5 |
| • | Miscellaneous Left | 2 |
| | New Centre | 2 |
| • | French Communist Party | 1 |

### Current national assembly representatives

| Constituency | Member | Party |
| Indre-et-Loire's 1st constituency | Philippe Chalumeau | La République En Marche! |
| Indre-et-Loire's 2nd constituency | Daniel Labaronne | La République En Marche! |
| Indre-et-Loire's 3rd constituency | Sophie Auconie | Union of Democrats and Independents |
| Indre-et-Loire's 4th constituency | Fabienne Colboc | La République En Marche! |
| Indre-et-Loire's 5th constituency | Sabine Thillaye | Ecology Democracy Solidarity |