Lot (department)

**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:

1. 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.
1. 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.
1. 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.
1. The **Bouriane** (west). This area is covered with an abundant vegetation and is very different from the near arid plateaus of the _Causses_.
1. 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.
1. The _Valley of the Lot river_ (south), with many vineyards and vegetable crops.
1. 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.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width="60px" | Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|461|Cahors|Cahors|76,216|2,179.3||129|
|462|Figeac|Figeac|54,060|1,550.3||116|
|463|Gourdon|Gourdon|43,372|1,486.9||81|

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:

1. Cahors-1
1. Cahors-2
1. Cahors-3
1. Causse et Bouriane
1. Causse et Vallées
1. Cère et Ségala
1. Figeac-1
1. Figeac-2
1. Gourdon
1. Gramat
1. Lacapelle-Marival
1. Luzech
1. Marches du Sud-Quercy
1. Martel
1. Puy-l'Évêque
1. Saint-Céré
1. 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/km<sup>2</sup>. 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:

|City|Population (2014)|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Cahors|19,630|Cahors|
|Figeac|9,820|Figeac|
|Gourdon|4,297|Gourdon|
|Gramat|3,611|Gourdon|
|Saint-Céré|3,503|Figeac|
|Pradines|3,433|Cahors|
|Souillac|3,366|Gourdon|
|Prayssac|2,499|Cahors|
|Biars-sur-Cère|2,033|Figeac|
|Puy-l'Évêque|2,020|Cahors|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Lot department
- Communes of the Lot department

## Other websites

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

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Lot
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Cahors - Préfecture du Lot -417.jpg
- **image alt**: Cahors - Préfecture du Lot
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Lot department, in Cahors
- **image flag**: Cultural flag of Lot.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **flag alt**: Flag of Lot
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Lot.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Lot-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Lot in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Occitanie
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Cahors
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Figeac
- **p2**: Gourdon, Lot, Gourdon
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Serge Rigal
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 5216.5
- **population total**: 173648
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Lotois
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 17
- **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-46
- **website**: [http://www.lot.fr http://www.lot.fr]