Lot () is a French department in the Occitanie region of southern France named after the Lot river. Its prefecture and largest city is Cahors.

History
Lot is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the old province of Quercy.

The new department had six districts: Cahors, Martel, Gourdon, Figeac, Montauban and Lazorte. The capital (now prefecture) was Cahors.

In 1808, some of the original southeastern cantons were separated from it to form the department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It originally extended much farther to the south and included the city of Montauban.

Geography 
Lot is part of the Occitanie region and has an area of .

The department borders with 6 other departments in 3 regions:
 Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
 Lot-et-Garonne
 Dordogne
 Corrèze
 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
 Cantal
 Occitanie region
 Aveyron
 Tarn-et-Garonne

The Lot river crosses the department from east to west with numerous meanders. The Dordogne river flows through the northern part of the department.

There are seven natural regions in the department:

 The Segala (northeast) occupies the eastern border of the Lot department. It is the part of the Massif Central that gets into the department and here is found the highest point of the Lot department in Labastide-du-Haut-Mont, with  high.
 The Limargue (center east) separates the Segala from the Causses of Quercy. This narrow strip of land is found between the valleys of the Dordogne and Lot rivers. It is known as Terrefort around the city of Figeac.
 The Causses of Quency are several limestone plateaus crossed by the valleys of the Dordogne, Lot and Aveyron rivers. From north to south, they are the Causse of Martel, the Causse of Gramat and the Causse of Limogne.
 The Bouriane (west). This area is covered with an abundant vegetation and is very different from the near arid plateaus of the Causses.
 The Quercy Blanc (south) is formed by small white limestone plateaus along valleys where cereals, oilseeds (plants grown to produce vegetable oils), melons, plums and tobacco are grown.
 The Valley of the Lot river (south), with many vineyards and vegetable crops.
 The Valley of the Dordogne river (north), with its walnut groves and meadows.

Climate
The climate in Gourdon, in the north of the department at an altitude of  above sea level, is an oceanic climate with relatively hot summers, mild winters and abundant rainfall, Cfb in the Köppen climate classification.

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Gourdon is . The month with the most precipitation on average is May with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of . There are an average of 168.0 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in January with 17.0 days and the least precipitation occurring in July with 10.0 days.

The average temperature for the year in Gourdon is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

Administration
The department is managed by the Departamental Council of the Lot in Cahors. Lot is part of the Occitanie region.

Administrative divisions
There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 17 cantons and 326 communes (municipalities) in Lot.

The following is a list of the 17 cantons of the Lot department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Cahors-1
 Cahors-2
 Cahors-3
 Causse et Bouriane
 Causse et Vallées
 Cère et Ségala
 Figeac-1
 Figeac-2
 Gourdon
 Gramat
 Lacapelle-Marival
 Luzech
 Marches du Sud-Quercy
 Martel
 Puy-l'Évêque
 Saint-Céré
 Souillac

Demographics
The inhabitants of Lot are known, in French, as Lotois (women: Lotoises).

Lot has a population, in 2014, of 173,648, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Cahors, with 76,216 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Figeac and Gourdon, have respectively 54,060 and 43,372 inhabitants.

The city with more people living in it is the capital, Cahors (19,630). The subprefectures of Figeac and Gourdon have, respectively, 9,820 and 4,297 inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Lot

The cities in the department with more of 2,000 inhabitants are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Lot department
 Communes of the Lot department

References

Other websites

 Departamental Council website 
 Prefecture website 
 Lot Tourisme, Agence de Développement Touristique 
 Le Quercy sur le net 
 Société des Études du Lot 

Departments in Occitanie