Lot (department)

Lot
Department
Prefecture building of the Lot department, in Cahors
Coat of arms
Location of Lot in France
Country	France
Region	Occitanie
Prefecture	Cahors
Subprefectures	Figeac Gourdon
Government
• President of the General Council	Gérard Miquel
Area 1
• Total	5,217 km2 (2,014 sq mi)
Population  (2013)
• Total	173,758
• Rank	92nd
• Density	33/km2 (86/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	46
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	17
Communes	326
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Lot (French pronunciation: [lɔt]; Occitan: Òlt) is a department in the southwest of France named after the Lot River.

History

Lot is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the province of Languedoc. In 1808 some of the original southeastern cantons were separated from it to form the department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It originally extended much farther to the south and included the city of Montauban.

Geography

Lot is part of the region of Occitanie and is surrounded by the departments of Corrèze, Cantal, Aveyron, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, and Dordogne.

Communes in Lot

For a full list, see Communes of the Lot department. Settlements in the Lot include:

• Cahors - The prefecture (capital) of the department, Cahors is a medieval cathedral town known internationally for its production of Cahors wine. It lies in a wide loop of the Lot River and is famous for its medieval bridge, the Pont Valentre.
• Figeac - a medieval town where Champollion, the first translator of Egyptian hieroglyphics, was born. Figeac is a sub-prefecture of the department.
• Gourdon - a medieval hilltop town with a well preserved centre. There are many prehistoric painted caves nearby, notably the Grottes de Cougnac. Gourdon is also a sub-prefecture of te department.

Tourism

• 
  Cahors
• 
  Pont Valentré
• 
  Saint-Cirq-Lapopie
• 
  Rocamadour
• 
  The Lot river

See also

• Cantons of the Lot department
• Communes of the Lot department

Lot in popular culture

• French singer-songwriter Léo Ferré lived in the Lot for a while.
• At Home in France, by Ann Barry; a humorous account of owning a vacation cottage in Lot

External links

• Template:Fr icon Prefecture website
• Template:Fr icon General council website
• Template:En icon hiking the Tour du Lot
• Template:Fr icon CazalRando groupe de randonnée pédestre website