Indre-et-Loire

**Indre-et-Loire** is a department in west-central France named after the Indre and the Loire rivers.

Its prefecture is the city of Tours.

## History

Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Tours as is capital. It was formed with part of the former province of Touraine.

It was divided in seven districts: Tours, Amboise, Château-Renault, Loches, Chinon, Preuilly and Langeais.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the seven districts were changed into three _arrondissements_: Chinon, Loches and Tours.

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 Loches was eliminated but in 1943 Loches was made again an _arrondissement_.

## Geography

Indre-et-Loire is part of the Centre-Val de Loire region. It has an area of .

The department is surrounded by 5 departments that are part of three regions:
- Centre-Val de Loire region
    - Loir-et-Cher department (northeast)
    - Indre department (southeast)
- Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
    - Vienne department (southwest)
- Pays de la Loire region
    - Maine-et-Loire department (west)
    - Sarthe department (north)

The highest point of the department is _Signal de la Ronde_ () with an altitude of  high.; it is in the _commune_ of Céré-la-Ronde in the northeast of the department on the border with the Loir-et-Cher department.

The Loire river flows through the department and divides it in two parts. The Indre, Cher and Vienne rivers join the Loire river in the Indre-et-Loire department.

### Climate

This area is characterized by climates with few extremes of temperature. The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Tours is a "Marine West Coast Climate" and of the subtype "**Cfb**".

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Tours 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 .

The average temperature for the year in Toulon 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

Indre-et-Loire is managed by the _Departmental Council of Ardennes_ in Tours. The department is part of the Centre-Val de Loire region.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 19 _cantons_ and 273 _communes_ (municipalities) in Indre-et-Loire.
|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width=60px | Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|371|Chinon|Chinon|86,952|1,694.2||106|
|372|Tours|Tours|466,232|2,629.2||54|
|373|Loches|Loches|50,740|1,803.4||113|

The following is a list of the 19 cantons of the **Indre-et-Loire** department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Amboise <small>(3701)</small>
1. Ballan-Miré <small>(3702)</small>
1. Bléré <small>(3703)</small>
1. Château-Renault <small>(3704)</small>
1. Chinon <small>(3705)</small>
1. Descartes <small>(3706)</small>
1. Joué-lès-Tours <small>(3707)</small>
1. Langeais <small>(3708)</small>
1. Loches <small>(3709)</small>
1. Montlouis-sur-Loire <small>(3710)</small>
1. Monts <small>(3711)</small>
1. Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire <small>(3712)</small>
1. Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine <small>(3713)</small>
1. Saint-Pierre-des-Corps <small>(3714)</small>
1. Tours-1 <small>(3715)</small>
1. Tours-2 <small>(3716)</small>
1. Tours-3 <small>(3717)</small>
1. Tours-4 <small>(3718)</small>
1. Vouvray <small>(3719)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of the Indre-et-Loire department are known, in French, as _Tourangeaux_ (women: _Tourangelles_),

Indre-et-Loire had a population, in 2014, of 603,924, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Tours, with 466,232 inhabitants, is the _arrondissement_ with more inhabitants.

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

The _communes_ with more than 10,000 inhabitants in the department are:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Tours|136,125|Tours|
|Joué-lès-Tours|37,748|Tours|
|Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire|15,994|Tours|
|Saint-Pierre-des-Corps|15,538|Tours|
|Saint-Avertin|14,985|Tours|
|Amboise|13,371|Loches|
|Chambray-lès-Tours|11,109|Tours|
|Montlouis-sur-Loire|10,574|Tours|
|La Riche|10,434|Tours|
|Fondettes|10,427|Tours|

## Related pages

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

## Other websites

- Departmental Council website
- Prefecture of the Indre-et-Loire department
- Official tourist website of Touraine Loire Valley

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Indre-et-Loire
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Prefecture Tours.jpg
- **image alt**: Prefecture of the Indre-et-Loire department
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Indre-et-Loire department, in Tours
- **image flag**: Drapeau non-officiel fr département Indre-et-Loire.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **image shield**: Blason_département_fr_Indre-et-Loire.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Indre-et-Loire-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Indre-et-Loire in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Centre-Val de Loire
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Tours
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Chinon
- **p2**: Loches
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Jean-Gérard Paumier
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 6126.7
- **population total**: 603924
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 19
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 273
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-37