Loire (department)

Not to be confused with Loiret, a department in north-central France.

Loire
Department
Montbrison in 2007
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Loire in France
Coordinates: 45°05′N 04°05′E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture	Saint-Étienne
Subprefectures	Montbrison Roanne
Government
• President of the General Council	Bernard Bonne (UMP)
Area 1
• Total	4,781 km2 (1,846 sq mi)
Population  (2016)
• Total	761,997
• Rank	30th
• Density	160/km2 (410/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	42
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	21
Communes	323
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

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

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:

• Feurs 1793–1795
• Montbrison 1795–1855
• Saint-Étienne since 1855

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:

• Arrondissement of Montbrison
• Arrondissement of Roanne
• Arrondissement of Saint-Étienne

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

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1801	290,903	—
1806	317,053	+1.74%
1821	343,454	+0.53%
1831	391,216	+1.31%
1841	434,085	+1.05%
1851	472,588	+0.85%
1861	517,603	+0.91%
1872	550,611	+0.56%
1881	599,836	+0.96%
1891	616,227	+0.27%
1901	647,633	+0.50%
1911	640,549	−0.11%
1921	637,130	−0.05%
1931	664,822	+0.43%
1936	650,226	−0.44%
1946	631,591	−0.29%
1954	654,482	+0.45%
1962	696,348	+0.78%
1968	722,443	+0.62%
1975	742,396	+0.39%
1982	739,521	−0.06%
1990	746,288	+0.11%
1999	728,524	−0.27%
2006	741,269	+0.25%
2011	749,053	+0.21%
2016	761,997	+0.34%
source:

Politics

Current National Assembly Representatives

Constituency		Member	Party
style="background-color: Template:Socialist Party (France)/meta/color" |	Loire's 1st constituency	Régis Juanico	Socialist Party
style="background-color: Template:En Marche!/meta/color" |	Loire's 2nd constituency	Jean-Michel Mis	La République En Marche!
style="background-color: Template:La République En Marche!/meta/color" |	Loire's 3rd constituency	Valéria Faure-Muntian	La République En Marche!
style="background-color: Template:The Republicans (France)/meta/color" |	Loire's 4th constituency	Dino Cinieri	The Republicans
style="background-color: Template:Democratic Movement (France)/meta/color" |	Loire's 5th constituency	Nathalie Sarles	Modem
style="background-color: Template:La République En Marche!/meta/color" |	Loire's 6th constituency	Julien Borowczyk	La République En Marche!

Tourism

• 
  Saint-Étienne
• 
  Château de La Roche
• 
  Château de Grangent
• 
  Champdieu
• 
  Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez, one of The Most Beautiful Villages of France

See also

• Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
• Cantons of the Loire department
• Communes of the Loire department
• Arrondissements of the Loire department
• Loire coal mining basin
• Loire General Council

External links

• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) Loire General Council