Lozère

**Lozère** () is a department in the region of Occitanie in southern France near the Massif Central. It is named after Mont Lozère.

## History

Lozère was created in 1790 during the French Revolution, when the whole of France was divided into departments, replacing the old provinces. Lozère was formed with part of the old province of Languedoc.

Les Sources and Hautes-Cèvennes were two other names proposed for this department but they were not accepted.

## Geography

Lozère has an area of . It is surrounded by 5 departments belonging to 2 regions:
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
    - Ardèche
    - Cantal
    - Haute-Loire
- Occitanie region
    - Aveyron
    - Gard.

The Lozère is divided into four natural regions, covering four mountain ranges:

1. The **Aubrac**. It is a plateau in the northwest of the department that rises between  and , with a cold humid climate. The highest point is _Signal de Mailhebiau_ with .

1. The **Margeride**. Located in the northeast of the department, these mountains are of granite and well forested. The climate here is cold, but dryer than the climate in Aubrac. The highest point is _Signal de Randon_ with .

1. The **Causses**. These are a series of very dry limestone plateaus in the south-west of the department.

1. The **Cévennes**, a southern part of the Massif Central and that is found in the south-east of the department. Here is the highest point in the department, Mont Lozère at .

Three important rivers start in the department:
- The Tarn, with its source on the Mont Lozère.
- The Lot, with its source also on the Mont Lozère.
- The Allier, with its source is in the mountainous region of _Margeride_.

## Administration

The département is managed by the _Departamental Council of Lozère_ in Mende. Lozère is part of the region of Occitanie.

### Administrative divisions

There are 2 _arrondissements_ (districts), 13 _cantons_ and 176 _communes_ (municipalities) in Lozère.
|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width="60px" | Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|481|Florac|Florac Trois Rivières|13,313|1,687.5||44|
|482|Mende|Mende|63,047|3,479.4||132|

The following is a list of the 13 cantons of the **Lozère** department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Aumont-Aubrac <small>(4801)</small>
1. La Canourgue <small>(4802)</small>
1. Chirac <small>(4803)</small>
1. Le Collet-de-Dèze <small>(4804)</small>
1. Florac <small>(4805)</small>
1. Grandrieu <small>(4806)</small>
1. Langogne <small>(4807)</small>
1. Marvejols <small>(4808)</small>
1. Mende-1 <small>(4809)</small>
1. Mende-2 <small>(4810)</small>
1. Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole <small>(4811)</small>
1. Saint-Chély-d'Apcher <small>(4812)</small>
1. Saint-Étienne-du-Valdonnez <small>(4813)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of Lozère are known, in French, as _Lozériens_ (women: _Lozériennes_).

Lozère is the least populated French department. It has a population, in 2014, of 76,360, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Mende, with 63,047 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other arrondissement, Florac, have 13,313 inhabitants.

The only important city is Mende with 11,542 people living there in 2014. The subprefecture, Florac Trois Rivières, has 2,107 inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Lozère**

The cities with more than 2,000 inhabitants in the department are:
|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Mende|11,542|Mende|
|Marvejols|4,882|Mende|
|Saint-Chély-d'Apcher|4,169|Mende|
|Langogne|2,903|Mende|
|Bourgs sur Colagne|2,136|Mende|
|La Canourgue|2,108|Mende|
|Florac Trois Rivières|2,107|Florac|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Lozère department
- Communes of the Lozère department

## Other websites

- General Council of Lozère
- Prefecture website
- Comité Départemental du Tourisme en Lozère

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Lozère
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Préfecture de Mende, Lozère, France.JPG
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Lozère department, in Mende
- **image caption**: Prefecture building of the Lozère department, in Mende
- **image flag**: Drapeau non-officiel fr département Lozère.svg
- **flag alt**: Flag
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Lozère.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Lozère-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Lozère in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Occitanie
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Mende, Lozère, Mende
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Florac Trois Rivières
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Sophie Pantel
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 5166.9
- **population total**: 76360
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population rank**: 101st
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Lozériens
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 2
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 13
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 185
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-48
- **website**: [http://lozere.fr/ http://lozere.fr/]