Lozère

Lozère () is a department in the region of Occitanie in southern France near the Massif Central. It is named after Mont Lozère.

History
Lozère was created in 1790 during the French Revolution, when the whole of France was divided into departments, replacing the old provinces. Lozère was formed with part of the old province of Languedoc.

Les Sources and Hautes-Cèvennes were two other names proposed for this department but they were not accepted.

Geography
Lozère has an area of . It is surrounded by 5 departments belonging to 2 regions:
 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
 Ardèche
 Cantal
 Haute-Loire
 Occitanie region
 Aveyron
 Gard.

The Lozère is divided into four natural regions, covering four mountain ranges:

 The Aubrac. It is a plateau in the northwest of the department that rises between  and , with a cold humid climate. The highest point is Signal de Mailhebiau with .

 The Margeride. Located in the northeast of the department, these mountains are of granite and well forested. The climate here is cold, but dryer than the climate in Aubrac. The highest point is Signal de Randon with .

 The Causses. These are a series of very dry limestone plateaus in the south-west of the department.

 The Cévennes, a southern part of the Massif Central and that is found in the south-east of the department. Here is the highest point in the department, Mont Lozère at .

Three important rivers start in the department:
 The Tarn, with its source on the Mont Lozère.
 The Lot, with its source also on the Mont Lozère.
 The Allier, with its source is in the mountainous region of Margeride.

Administration
The département is managed by the Departamental Council of Lozère in Mende. Lozère is part of the region of Occitanie.

Administrative divisions
There are 2 arrondissements (districts), 13 cantons and 176 communes (municipalities) in Lozère.
 INSEEcode  Arrondissement  Capital  Population(2014)  Area(km²)  Density(inh./km²)  Communes 481  Florac  Florac Trois Rivières  13,313  1,687.5    44 482  Mende  Mende  63,047  3,479.4    132

The following is a list of the 13 cantons of the Lozère department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Aumont-Aubrac (4801)
 La Canourgue (4802)
 Chirac (4803)
 Le Collet-de-Dèze (4804)
 Florac (4805)
 Grandrieu (4806)
 Langogne (4807)
 Marvejols (4808)
 Mende-1 (4809)
 Mende-2 (4810)
 Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole (4811)
 Saint-Chély-d'Apcher (4812)
 Saint-Étienne-du-Valdonnez (4813)

Demographics
The inhabitants of Lozère are known, in French, as Lozériens (women: Lozériennes).

Lozère is the least populated French department. It has a population, in 2014, of 76,360, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Mende, with 63,047 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other arrondissement, Florac, have 13,313 inhabitants.

The only important city is Mende with 11,542 people living there in 2014. The subprefecture, Florac Trois Rivières, has 2,107 inhabitants.

Evolution of the population in Lozère

The cities with more than 2,000 inhabitants in the department are:
 City  Population(2014) Arrondissement Mende  11,542  Mende Marvejols  4,882  Mende Saint-Chély-d'Apcher  4,169  Mende Langogne  2,903  Mende Bourgs sur Colagne  2,136  Mende La Canourgue  2,108  Mende Florac Trois Rivières  2,107  Florac

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Lozère department
 Communes of the Lozère department

References

Other websites

 General Council of Lozère 
 Prefecture website  
  Comité Départemental du Tourisme en Lozère