Saône-et-Loire

**Saône-et-Loire** is a department in the centre of France. It is in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. It is named after the two main rivers in the department: the Saône and the Loire rivers.

The largest city in the department is Chalon-sur-Saône. The prefecture (capital) is the smaller city of Mâcon.

## History

Saône-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Mâcon as its capital. It was formed from combined parts of the old provinces of southern _Burgundy_ and _Bresse_, uniting lands which have no true geographical unity.

It was divided in seven districts: Autun, Bourbon-Lancy, Chalon-sur-Saône, Charolles, Louhans, Mâcon and Semur-en-Brionnais. That same year, the name of the district Semur-en-Brionnais was changed to Marcigny.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the seven districts were changed into five _arrondissements_: Mâcon, Autun, Chalon-sur-Saône, Charolles and Louhans.

After the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), the department was occupied by the Austrian army from June 1815 to November 1818.

On 10 September 1926, the _arrondissement_ of Louhans was eliminated but in 1942 it became again an _arrondissement_ of the department.

## Geography

Saône-et-Loire is part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. It has an area of ; the seventh largest department of France.

The department borders with 7 other departments in two regions:
- Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
    - Côte-d'Or (north)
    - Nièvre (nortwest)
    - Jura (east)
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
    - Ain (southeast)
    - Rhône (south)
    - Loire (southwest)
    - Allier (west)

There are five natural regions in the department:
1. **Autunois**, to the northwest; it is the region around Autun.
1. **Charolais**, to the southwest and around the _commune_ of Charolles.
1. **Chalonnais**, to the north with Chalon-sur-Saône as the main city.
1. **Mâconnais**, to the south and around the _commune_ of Mâcon.
1. **Bresse**, to the east of the Saône river with Louhans as the main city.

The main rivers in the department are the Loire, that makes most of the western border of the department and that flows to the north, into the Atlantic Ocean; and the Saône, in the eastern part of the department and that flows to the south and joins the Rhône river at Lyon.

### Climate

The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Charnay-lès-Mâcon is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype **Cfb**.

The average temperature for the year in Charnay-lès-Mâcon, to the west of Mâcon and where is the local airport, 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 Charnay-lès-Mâcon is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is August with an average of .

## Administration

Saône-et-Loire is managed by the _Departmental Council of Saône-et-Loire_ in Mâcon. The department is part of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region.

### Administrative divisions

There are 5 _arrondissements_ (districts), 29 _cantons_ and 567 _communes_ (municipalities) in Saône-et-Loire.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width=60px | Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|711|Autun|Autun|86,693|1,900.3||83|
|712|Chalon-sur-Saône|Chalon-sur-Saône|200,084|1,726.0||149|
|713|Charolles|Charolles|99,381|2,500.3||135|
|714|Louhans|Louhans|55,567|1,248.5||79|
|715|Mâcon|Mâcon|114,063|1,199.6||121|

The following is a list of the 29 cantons of the Saône-et-Loire department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Autun-1 <small>(7101)</small>
1. Autun-2 <small>(7102)</small>
1. Blanzy <small>(7103)</small>
1. Chagny <small>(7104)</small>
1. Chalon-sur-Saône-1 <small>(7105)</small>
1. Chalon-sur-Saône-2 <small>(7106)</small>
1. Chalon-sur-Saône-3 <small>(7107)</small>
1. La Chapelle-de-Guinchay <small>(7108)</small>
1. Charolles <small>(7109)</small>
1. Chauffailles <small>(7110)</small>
1. Cluny <small>(7111)</small>
1. Le Creusot-1 <small>(7112)</small>
1. Le Creusot-2 <small>(7113)</small>
1. Cuiseaux<small>(7114)</small>
1. Digoin <small>(7115)</small>
1. Gergy <small>(7116)</small>
1. Givry <small>(7117)</small>
1. Gueugnon <small>(7118)</small>
1. Hurigny <small>(7119)</small>
1. Louhans <small>(7120)</small>
1. Mâcon-1 <small>(7121)</small>
1. Mâcon-2 <small>(7122)</small>
1. Montceau-les-Mines <small>(7123)</small>
1. Ouroux-sur-Saône <small>(7124)</small>
1. Paray-le-Monial <small>(7125)</small>
1. Pierre-de-Bresse <small>(7126)</small>
1. Saint-Rémy <small>(7127)</small>
1. Saint-Vallier <small>(7128)</small>
1. Tournus <small>(7129)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of Saône-et-Loire are known, in French, as _Saône-et-Loiriens_ (women: _Saône-et-Loiriennes_).

Saône-et-Loire had a population, in 2014, of 555,788, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Chalon-sur-Saône, with 200,084 inhabitants, is the _arrondissement_ with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Saône-et-Loire**

The cities with more than inhabitants in the department are:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Chalon-sur-Saône|44,985|Chalon-sur-Saône|
|Mâcon|33,456|Mâcon|
|Le Creusot|21,991|Autun|
|Montceau-les-Mines|18,902|Chalon-sur-Saône|
|Autun|13,955|Autun|
|Paray-le-Monial|9,133|Charolles|
|Saint-Vallier|8,783|Chalon-sur-Saône|
|Digoin|8,005|Charolles|
|Gueugnon|7,276|Charolles|
|Charnay-lès-Mâcon|6,969|Mâcon|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Saône-et-Loire department
- Communes of the Saône-et-Loire department

## Other websites

- Departmental Council website
- Prefecture website
- Bourgogne du Sud - Tourism en Saône-et-Loire

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Saône-et-Loire
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Macon - Prefecture.JPG
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Saône-et-Loire department, in Mâcon
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Saône-et-Loire department, in Mâcon
- **image flag**: Proposition de drapeau pour le département de Saône-et-Loire.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Saône-et-Loire.svg
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Saône-et-Loire-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Saône-et-Loire in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Mâcon
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Autun
- **p2**: Chalon-sur-Saône
- **p3**: Charolles
- **p4**: Louhans
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: André Accary
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 8574.7
- **population total**: 555788
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Saône-et-Loiriens
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 5
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 29
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 567
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-71
- **website**: [http://www.saoneetloire71.fr/ www.saoneetloire71.fr]