Pays de la Loire

The Pays de la Loire (; ) are ane o the 27 regions o Fraunce. It is ane o the regions creatit in the late 20t century tae serve as a zone o influence for its caipital, Nantes, ane o a haundful so-cried "balancin metropolises" (métropoles d'équilibre)¹. Ither examples o "airtificially created" regions include Rhône-Alpes, which wis creatit as the region for Lyon, an Midi-Pyrénées, which wis creatit as the region for Toulouse.

Geography
Pays de la Loire is made up o the follaein historical provinces:
a pairt o Breetany, wi its auld caipital Nantes contained athin the Loire-Atlantique depairtment. This is anerlie 20% o Breetany. The ither 80% o Breetany mak up the region o Breetany
Anjou: is largely contained athin the Maine-et-Loire depairtment. The whole o the umwhile province o Anjou is contained inside Pays de la Loire.
Maine: is nou dividit atween the Mayenne an Sarthe depairtments. The whole o the umwhile province o Maine is contained inside Pays de la Loire.
a pairt o Poitou: is contained athin the Vendée depairtment. Maist o the auld province o Poitou is inside the Poitou-Charentes region.
a pairt o Perche: is athin the northeast o Sarthe depairtment. The rest o Perche is inside the Basse-Normandie an Centre regions.
a sma pairt o Touraine: sootheast o Maine-et-Loire depairtment. Maist o the umwhile province o Touraine is inside the Centre region.

Consequently, the name o the region, chosen bi the French central govrenment, wis no based on history, but purely on geographical references: Pays (i.e. "lands") de la Loire (i.e. "o the Loire River"). Housomeivver, the majority o the famous châteaux o the Loire Valley are locatit in the Centre region, an no inside Pays de la Loire, despite the confusin name. The Pays de la Loire present mony great monuments as the castles o Angers, Laval, Mayenne an the Nantes "Château des Ducs de Bretagne", the Royal Fontevraud Abbey (the widest monastic ensemble in Europe), the auld ceety o Le Mans, an an aw mony natural pairks such as the Brière an the Marsh o Poitou.

Demography
Evolution o the population leetit bi depairtments:
YearPopulation o the depairtmentsLoire-Atlantique depairtmentMaine-et-Loire depairtmentMayenne depairtmentSarthe depairtmentVendée depairtmentTotal Pays de la Loire1801369,305375,544305,654388,143243,4261,682,0721851535,664516,197374,566473,071383,7342,283,2321901664,971515,431313,103422,699441,3112,357,5151921649,691475,485397,2922,174,1501936659,428478,404251,348388,519389,2112,166,9101946665,064393,7872,224,1631954733,575395,6412,320,1771962803,372535,122250,030443,019408,9282,440,4711968861,452585,563252,762461,839421,2502,582,8661975934,499629,849261,789490,385450,6412,767,1631982995,498675,321271,784504,768483,0272,930,39819901,050,539704,668277,748513,280508,9623,055,19720051,208,761754,997297,854551,971587,1623,400,745

Notes
¹ In the 1960s, aicht lairge regional ceeties o Fraunce (Lille, Nancy, Strasbourg, Lyon, Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseille, Toulouse) wur made "balancin metropolises", receivin special financial an technical help frae the French govrenment in order tae coonterbalance the excessive weight o Paris inside Fraunce.

See an aw
Grand-Ouest

Freemit airtins

Offeecial Pays de la Loire Wabsteid
Pays de la Loire Tourism Wabsteid 
Western France Tourist Board
Nantes Tourist Office 
Pays de la Loire tourism guide
Le Mans Tourist Office 

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Category:Regions o Fraunce
Category:NUTS 2 statistical regions o the European Union