Haute-Loire

**Haute-Loire** () is a département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. It is named after the Loire river.

## History
The department of Haute-Loire was created on 4 March 1790 with three districts: Le Puy, Brioude and Yssingeaux. The capital was Le Puy. The new department was formed with territories of three historic provinces: the *Languedoc*, the *Auvergne* and the *Lyonnais*.

In 1800, with the creation of the *arrondissements* in France, the three districts were changed into three *arrondissements*: Le Puy, Brioude and Yssingeaux. It is in the southeast of the department, on the border with the Ardèche department.

The main rivers in Haute-Loire are: 
* Loire, that flows through the eastern part of the department and ends in the Atlantic Ocean. Its Drainage basin covers two-thirds of the eastern part of the department.
* Allier, a tributary of the Loire that flows through the western part of the department.

### Climate
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Le Puy-en-Velay is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype **Cfb**.

## Administration
Haute-Loire is managed by the *Departmental Council of Haute-Loire* in Le Puy-en-Velay. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

### Administrative divisions
There are 3 *arrondissements* (districts), 19 *cantons* and 257 *communes* (municipalities) in Haute-Loire.

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

# Aurec-sur-Loire (4301)
# Bas-en-Basset (4302)
# Boutières (4303)
# Brioude (4304)
# Deux Rivières et Vallées (4305)
# Emblavez-et-Meygal (4306)
# Gorges de l'Allier-Gévaudan (4307)
# Mézenc (4308)
# Monistrol-sur-Loire (4309)
# Pays de Lafayette (4310)
# Plateau du Haut-Velay granitique (4311)
# Le Puy-en-Velay-1 (4312)
# Le Puy-en-Velay-2 (4313)
# Le Puy-en-Velay-3 (4314)
# Le Puy-en-Velay-4 (4315)
# Saint-Paulien (4316)
# Sainte-Florine (4317)
# Velay volcanique (4318)
# Yssingeaux (4319)

## Demographics
The inhabitants of Haute-Loire are known, in French, as *Altiligériens* (women: *Altiligériennes*).

Haute-Loire had a population, in 2014, of 226,565, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The *arrondissement* of Le Puy-en-Velay, with 96,041 inhabitants, is the *arrondissement* with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Haute-Loire**

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  bar:1975 text:1975
  bar:1982 text:1982
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  bar:1968 from:0 till: 208337
  bar:1975 from:0 till: 205491
  bar:1982 from:0 till: 205895
  bar:1990 from:0 till: 206568
  bar:1999 from:0 till: 209113
  bar:2006 from:0 till: 219484
  bar:2014 from:0 till: 226565
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 bar:1975 at: 205491 fontsize:S text: 205,491 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1982 at: 205895 fontsize:S text: 205,895 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1990 at: 206568 fontsize:S text: 206,568 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1999 at: 209113 fontsize:S text: 209,113 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2006 at: 219484 fontsize:S text: 219,484 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2014 at: 226565 fontsize:S text: 226,565 shift:(-18,5)

The *communes* in the department with more inhabitants are:

## Gallery

File:Le Puy-en-Velay, Église Saint-Laurent et Aiguilhe PM 48569.jpg|Le Puy-en-Velay
File:Lavaudieu - Vieux pont -1.jpg|Lavaudieu
File:Brioude - Basilique St-Julien - JPG1.jpg|Brioude
File:France Lavoute Chilhac 01.jpg|Lavoûte-Chilhac
File:Polignac - Château -1.jpg|Polignac

## Related pages
* Arrondissements of the Haute-Loire department
* Communes of the Haute-Loire department

## References
## Other websites
* Departmental Council website 
* Prefecture website