Loire (department)

Loire (French pronunciation: [lwaʁ]; Francoprovençal: Lêre; Occitan: Léger) is a department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.

Loire
Montbrison in 2007
Flag
Coat of arms
Location of Loire in France
Coordinates: 45°05′N 04°05′E
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
PrefectureSaint-Étienne
SubprefecturesMontbrison
Roanne
Government
  President of the General CouncilBernard Bonne (UMP)
Area
  Total4,781 km2 (1,846 sq mi)
Population
 (2016)
  Total761,997
  Rank30th
  Density160/km2 (410/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number42
Arrondissements3
Cantons21
Communes323
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

History

Loire was created in 1793 when the Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two, about 3½ years after it was created. This was a response to counter-revolutionary activities in Lyon which, by population, was the country's second largest city. By splitting Rhône-et-Loire the government sought to protect the French Revolution from the potential power and influence of counter revolutionary activity in the Lyon region.

The departmental capitals throughout its history are as follows:

Geography

Loire is part of the current administrative region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the departments of Rhône, Isère, Ardèche, Haute-Loire, Puy-de-Dôme, Allier, and Saône-et-Loire.

The River Loire traverses the department from south to north.

The Loire department is split into three arrondissements:

Parts of the department belong to Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Ligériens.

The industrial city of Saint-Étienne with its suburbs contains some 290,000 of the area's 728,542 inhabitants.

Population development since 1801:

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1801290,903    
1806317,053+1.74%
1821343,454+0.53%
1831391,216+1.31%
1841434,085+1.05%
1851472,588+0.85%
1861517,603+0.91%
1872550,611+0.56%
1881599,836+0.96%
1891616,227+0.27%
1901647,633+0.50%
1911640,549−0.11%
1921637,130−0.05%
1931664,822+0.43%
1936650,226−0.44%
1946631,591−0.29%
1954654,482+0.45%
1962696,348+0.78%
1968722,443+0.62%
1975742,396+0.39%
1982739,521−0.06%
1990746,288+0.11%
1999728,524−0.27%
2006741,269+0.25%
2011749,053+0.21%
2016761,997+0.34%
source:[1]

Politics

Current National Assembly Representatives

ConstituencyMember[2]Party
Loire's 1st constituency Régis Juanico Socialist Party
Loire's 2nd constituency Jean-Michel Mis La République En Marche!
Loire's 3rd constituency Valéria Faure-Muntian La République En Marche!
Loire's 4th constituency Dino Cinieri The Republicans
Loire's 5th constituency Nathalie Sarles Modem
Loire's 6th constituency Julien Borowczyk La République En Marche!

Tourism

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.