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
Correze
Auvergne-Rhone-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:
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.
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.
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.
The Bouriane (west). This area is covered with an abundant vegetation and is very different from the near arid plateaus of the Causses.
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.
The Valley of the Lot river (south), with many vineyards and vegetable crops.
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 Koppen 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.
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:
Cahors-1
Cahors-2
Cahors-3
Causse et Bouriane
Causse et Vallees
Cere et Segala
Figeac-1
Figeac-2
Gourdon
Gramat
Lacapelle-Marival
Luzech
Marches du Sud-Quercy
Martel
Puy-l'Eveque
Saint-Cere
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/km2. 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.