Loire (department)

**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.

## History

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.

## Geography

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:
- Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
    - Saône-et-Loire (north)
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
    - Rhône (east)
    - Isère (southeast)
    - Ardèche (southeast)
    - Haute-Loire (south)
    - Puy-de-Dôme (west)
    - Allier (northwest)

The department is in eastern Massif Central and there are several mountain chains; some of the chains and mountains are:
- **Monts du Forez**, to the west of the department. Here is the highest mountain of the department: _Pierre-sur-Haute_ (); it is  high, and is on the border with the Puy-de-Dôme department.
- **Monts de la Madeleine**, to the north of the _Monts du Forez_ and form the limit between the Loire and the Allier departments.
- **Monts du Lyonnais** form the eastern limit of the Loire department.
- **Pilat**, a short chain that is in the Loire department but borders with other 4 departments: Rhône, Isère, Ardèche and Haute-Loire.

The main rivers of Loire are:
- Loire, that gives its name to the department and flows through the department from southwest to northeast for a distance of .
- Rhône, in the southeast of the department.

### Climate

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 .

## Administration

Loire is part of the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The department is managed by the _Departamental Council of the Loire_ in Saint-Étienne.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 21 _cantons_ and 326 _communes_ (municipalities) in Loire.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density (Inh./km²) !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|421|Montbrison|Montbrison|188,635|1,959.5||136|
|422|Roanne|Roanne|157,268|1,779.9||115|
|423|Saint-Étienne|Saint-Étienne|411,402|1,041.2||75|

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:

1. Andrézieux-Bouthéon <small>(4201)</small>
1. Boën-sur-Lignon <small>(4202)</small>
1. Charlieu <small>(4203)</small>
1. Le Coteau <small>(4204)</small>
1. Feurs <small>(4205)</small>
1. Firminy <small>(4206)</small>
1. Montbrison <small>(4207)</small>
1. Le Pilat <small>(4208)</small>
1. Renaison <small>(4209)</small>
1. Rive-de-Gier <small>(4210)</small>
1. Roanne-1 <small>(4211)</small>
1. Roanne-2 <small>(4212)</small>
1. Saint-Chamond <small>(4213)</small>
1. Saint-Étienne-1 <small>(4214)</small>
1. Saint-Étienne-2 <small>(4215)</small>
1. Saint-Étienne-3 <small>(4216)</small>
1. Saint-Étienne-4 <small>(4217)</small>
1. Saint-Étienne-5 <small>(4218)</small>
1. Saint-Étienne-6 <small>(4219)</small>
1. Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert <small>(4220)</small>
1. Sorbiers <small>(4221)</small>

## Demographics

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<sup>2</sup>. 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:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Saint-Étienne|170,761|Saint-Étienne|
|Roanne|35,200|Roanne|
|Saint-Chamond|35,097|Saint-Étienne|
|Firminy|16,931|Saint-Étienne|
|Montbrison|15,689|Montbrison|
|Rive-de-Gier|14,730|Saint-Étienne|
|Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert|14,448|Montbrison|
|Le Chambon-Feugerolles|12,582|Saint-Étienne|
|Riorges|10,741|Roanne|
|Roche-la-Molière|9,925|Saint-Étienne|
|Andrézieux-Bouthéon|9,876|Montbrison|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Loire department
- Communes of the Loire department

## Other websites

- Departamental Council website
- Prefecture website
- Loire Tourisme

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Loire
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image flag**: Drapeau fr département Loire.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Loire.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Loire-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Loire in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 12 August 1793
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Saint-Étienne
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Montbrison, Loire, Montbrison
- **p2**: Roanne
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Bernard Bonne
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 4780.6
- **population total**: 757305
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Ligériens
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 21
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 326
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-42
- **website**: [http://www.loire.fr/ http://www.loire.fr/]