# Loir-et-Cher

Loir-et-Cher (/ˌlwɑːr eɪ ˈʃɛər/, French: ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. It is named after two rivers which run through it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher in its southern part. Its prefecture is Blois. The INSEE and La Poste gave it the number 41. It had a population of 329,470 in 2019.

## History

The department of Loir-et-Cher covers a territory which had a substantial population during the prehistoric period. However it was not until the Middle Ages that local inhabitants built various castles and other fortifications to enable them to withstand a series of invasions of Normans, Burgundians, the English and others.
The economy is quite flourishing: there are shops in the valley, and agriculture is prominent in the region of the Beauce and the Perche to the Sologne which were prosperous until the 17th century. However, politically, the region remained quartered between the neighboring earldoms and duchies. In 1397, the House of Orleans became the possession of the Comté of Blois. In 1497, Louis d’Orleans (23rd hereditary Count of Blois) was crowned Louis XII. This marked the beginning of the importance of Blois and of the Blaisois in the political life of the French, especially under the last Valois. During that period, kings and financiers competed to build castles and elegant abodes which now form an important part of the French national heritage. (Chambord, Blois, Cheverny and so on.)
This was followed by a period of extremely violent religious wars during Charles IX's reign. In 1576 and 1588, the General Estates convened in Blois. L’Orléanais, le Berry, la Touraine, le Perche et le Maine occupied le Loir-et-Cher and its provinces in 1790. The Loir-et-Cher's birth as a department was very difficult and laborious. On 29 September 1789, the constitution's advisory board made a report in which it wanted to attribute one of the 80 departments to Blois. However, some cities and canton capitals, such as Tours and Orleans, disagreed. Within the department, Montrichard turned to Amboise and Tours, Saint-Aignan wanted to turn to the Berry, and Salbris to Vierzon.
Finally, Orleans gave Blois an important part of the Sologne except Beaugency and Tours didn't give Amboise. The department was founded 4 March 1790, in accordance with the law of 22 December 1789. It is constituted of some old provinces of the Orleanais and of the Touraine along with a part of the Berry (the left bank of the Selles en Berry's Cher which became Selles sur Cher, to Saint-Aignan). It is mostly due to these tribulations that the department is narrow in the centre, yet reaches its widest extent beyond the Loir on the North and the Cher on the South. After the coalition victory at the battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), the Prussian troops occupied the department from June 1815 to November 1818.
The poet Pierre de Ronsard, the inventor Denis Papin, and the historian Augustin Thierry come from here. Other well-known people are also associated with this department, such as François the First, Gaston d’Orleans, the Marshall Maunoury, and the abbot Gregoire (Bishop of Blois, elected at the Constituante). In the artistic domain, there is the compositor Antoine Boesset (1587–1643), musician in the Louis XII de France's court, who was the head of the Music of the King's Bedroom from 1623 to 1643.
The Loir-et-Cher's department is a part of the Centre Region. It is adjacent of these departments : the Eure-et-Loir, the Loiret, the Cher, the Indre, the Indre-et-Loire and the Sarthe. Due to its surface area of 6 343 km$^2$, it is the 31st largest department in the nation. It has a privileged geographical situation because it is in the center of the Centre region and near the Paris basin. An axe lively and dynamic, brings Blois closer (the department's administrative center) to both the urban conglomerations near it: Orleans and Tours. Located on the boundaries of the Perche, the Beauce, the Sologne and the Touraine, it finds its territorial identity in the diversity of its geography and its landscapes. Cut in its middle by the Loire, it shows an image of balance and diversity.
In 1989, American-based animators Andreas Deja, Glen Keane, and Tom Sito, and draftsmen Jean Gillmore, Thom Enriquez, and Hans Bacher launched an expedition to the chateau to do their research for the animated adaptation of Beauty and the Beast.

## Geography

Loir-et-Cher is a part of the modern region of Centre-Val de Loire. Adjacent departments are Eure-et-Loir to the north, Loiret to the north-east, Cher to the south-east, Indre to the south, Indre-et-Loire to the south-west, and Sarthe to the west.
The department comprises 6,314 km$^2$, which makes it the 31st largest of the French departments in terms of area. The line of the river Loire traverses the land, ensuring easy communication between its own capital, Blois, and the vibrant cultural and commercial centres of Tours to the west and the fringes of the Seine-Paris basin at Orléans to the east.
Its main rivers are the Loire, on which its prefecture (capital) Blois is situated, the Loir and the Cher.

### Principal towns

The most populous commune is Blois, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants:
| Commune | Population (2019) |
| Blois | 45,898 |
| Romorantin-Lanthenay | 17,924 |
| Vendôme | 15,856 |
| Vineuil | 8,091 |
| Le Controis-en-Sologne | 6,723 |
| Mer | 6,171 |

## Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called the Loir-et-Chériens.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1801 | 209,957 | — |
| 1806 | 218,740 | +0.82% |
| 1821 | 227,527 | +0.26% |
| 1831 | 235,750 | +0.36% |
| 1841 | 249,462 | +0.57% |
| 1851 | 261,892 | +0.49% |
| 1861 | 269,029 | +0.27% |
| 1872 | 268,801 | −0.01% |
| 1881 | 275,713 | +0.28% |
| 1891 | 280,392 | +0.17% |
| 1901 | 275,538 | −0.17% |
| 1911 | 271,231 | −0.16% |
| 1921 | 251,528 | −0.75% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1931 | 241,592 | −0.40% |
| 1936 | 240,908 | −0.06% |
| 1946 | 242,419 | +0.06% |
| 1954 | 239,824 | −0.13% |
| 1962 | 250,741 | +0.56% |
| 1968 | 267,896 | +1.11% |
| 1975 | 283,686 | +0.82% |
| 1982 | 296,220 | +0.62% |
| 1990 | 305,937 | +0.40% |
| 1999 | 314,968 | +0.32% |
| 2006 | 325,183 | +0.46% |
| 2011 | 331,280 | +0.37% |
| 2016 | 332,769 | +0.09% |
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org. :
source: :

## Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Philippe Gouet (UDI), elected in July 2021.

### Current National Assembly Representatives

| Constituency | Member | Party |
| Loir-et-Cher's 1st constituency | Stéphane Baudu | MoDem |
| Loir-et-Cher's 2nd constituency | Guillaume Peltier | The Republicans |
| Loir-et-Cher's 3rd constituency | Maurice Leroy | Union of Democrats and Independents |
See also the Results of the 2024 French legislative election.

## Tourism
### Châteaux

Loir-et-Cher has an important number of historic châteaux, including the following:
* Château de Blois
* Château de Chaumont
* Château de Chambord
* Château de Cheverny
* Blois
* Vendôme
* Château de Chambord
* Interior of the Château de Chaumont
* Château de Troussay