Loir-et-Cher is a department in the centre of France in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It is named after the Loir and the Cher, two rivers that flow through the department.
Its prefecture is Blois and there are two subprefectures at Romorantin-Lanthenay and Vendôme.
The department is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. The department was created from part of the former province of Orléanais together with small parts of other provinces.
The new department had six districts: Blois, Vendôme, Romorantin, Mondoubleau, Mer and Saint-Aignan. The capital (now prefecture) was Blois.
In 1800, with the creation of the "arrondissements" in France, the six districts were changed into three "arrondissements": Blois, Romorantin and Vendôme.
After the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), the department was occupied by the Prussian army from June 1815 to November 1818.
On 10 September 1926, the "arrondissement" of Romorantin was eliminated but in 1943 it was made again an "arrondissement". In 1961, Romorantin was merged with Lanthenay and the name, of the "commune" and of the "arrondissement", was changed to Romorantin-Lanthenay.
Loir-et-Cher is part of the Centre-Val de Loire region. It has an area of .
The highest point of the department is in the "Bois des Vallèes" (), in the "commune" of Bouffry, and that is above sea level.
The department is bordered by the 6 departments in 2 regions:
The main rivers are:
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Vendôme is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Marine West Coast Climate) and of the subtype Cfb.
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Vendôme is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of .
The average temperature for the year in Vendôme 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 .
The department is managed by the "Departmental Council of the Loir-et-Cher" in Blois. Loir-et-Cher is part of the region of Centre-Val de Loire.
There are 3 "arrondissements" (districts), 15 "cantons" and 276 "communes" (municipalities) in Loir-et-Cher.
The following is a list of the 13 cantons of the Loir-et-Cher department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
The inhabitants of Loir-et-Cher are known, in French, as "Loir-et-Chériens" (women: "Loir-et-Chériennes").
Loir-et-Cher has a population, in 2014, of 333,567, for a population density of inhabitants/km. The "arrondissement" of Blois, with 173,125 inhabitants, is by far the largest.
Evolution of the population in Loir-et-Cher
The main cities in the department are:
Loire
Loire () is a French department in the east-central part of France in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and named after the Loire river. Its prefecture is the city of Saint-Étienne.
Rhône-et-Loire was one French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. The department was divided in two departments in 1793: Rhône and Loire. The department of Loire had three districts: Montbrison, Roanne and Saint-Étienne. The capital was Feurs but in 1795 the capital was moved to Montbrison.
With the creation of the "arrondissements", the three districts became three "arrondissements": Montbrison, Roanne and Saint-Étienne.
After the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, the department was occupied by troops from Austria from June 1815 to November 1818.
The capital was moved from Montbrison to Saint-Étienne in 1855.
Loire is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in east-central France, with an area of . From north to south, it is long but from east to west it is only wide.
The department borders with 7 other departments in 2 regions:
The department is in eastern Massif Central and there are several mountain chains; some of the chains and mountains are:
The main rivers of Loire are:
The climate of the Loire department, in the city of Andrézieux-Bouthéon (near Saint-Étienne and where is the Saint-Étienne-Loire Airport), is an oceanic climate, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.
The average temperature for the year in Andrézieux-Bouthéon, at an altitude of , 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 .
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Andrézieux-Bouthéon is . The month with the most precipitation on average is December with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is April with an average of .
Loire is part of the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The department is managed by the "Departamental Council of the Loire" in Saint-Étienne.
There are 3 "arrondissements" (districts), 21 "cantons" and 326 "communes" (municipalities) in Loire.
The following is a list of the 21 cantons of the Loire department (with their INSEE codes), in France, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
The inhabitants of Loire are known, in French, as "Ligériens" (women: "Ligériennes"). "Ligérien" comes from "Liger", the Latin name of the Loire river.
Loire has a population, in 2014, of 757,305, for a population density of inhabitants/km. The "arrondissement" of Saint-Étienne, with 411,402 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Montbrison and Roanne, have respectively 188,635 and 157,268 inhabitants.
The city with more people living in it is the capital, Saint-Étienne (170,761 inhabitants). The subprefectures of Roanne and Montbrison have, respectively, 35,200 and 15,689 inhabitants.
Evolution of the population in Loire
The most important cities in the department are:
Haute-Loire
Haute-Loire () is a département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. It is named after the Loire river.
The department of Haute-Loire was created on 4 March 1790 with three districts: Le Puy, Brioude and Yssingeaux. The capital was Le Puy. The new department was formed with territories of three historic provinces: the "Languedoc", the "Auvergne" and the "Lyonnais".
In 1800, with the creation of the "arrondissements" in France, the three districts were changed into three "arrondissements": Le Puy, Brioude and Yssingeaux.
On 10 September 1926, the "arrondissement" of Yssingeaux was eliminated but became again an arrondissement in 1942.
On 18 March 1988, the name of Le Puy was changed to Le Puy-en-Velay.
The Haute-Loire is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It has an area of .
The department is surrounded by 5 departments in 2 regions:
The highest point in the department is "Mont Mézenc" (); it is high. It is in the southeast of the department, on the border with the Ardèche department.
The main rivers in Haute-Loire are:
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Le Puy-en-Velay is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype Cfb.
Haute-Loire is managed by the "Departmental Council of Haute-Loire" in Le Puy-en-Velay. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
There are 3 "arrondissements" (districts), 19 "cantons" and 257 "communes" (municipalities) in Haute-Loire.
The following is a list of the 19 cantons of the Haute-Loire department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
The inhabitants of Haute-Loire are known, in French, as "Altiligériens" (women: "Altiligériennes").
Haute-Loire had a population, in 2014, of 226,565, for a population density of inhabitants/km. The "arrondissement" of Le Puy-en-Velay, with 96,041 inhabitants, is the "arrondissement" with more inhabitants.
Evolution of the population in Haute-Loire
The "communes" in the department with more inhabitants are:
Loiret