Lapte () is a commune in the

Haute-Loire Haute-Loire (; oc, Naut Léger or ''Naut Leir''; English: Upper Loire) is a landlocked department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of south-central France. Named after the Loire River, it is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in south-central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

, located 23 kilometres southwest of

Firminy Firminy (; oc, Frominiu) is a commune in the Loire department in central France. It lies on the river Ondaine, 13 km southwest of Saint-Étienne by rail. History The ancient name of the town was ''Firminiaco'' or ''Firminiacus'' (lit. " ...

. Lapte is surrounded by the communes Grazac, Chenereilles and

Raucoules Raucoules () is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Haute-Loire department The following is a list of the 257 communes of the Haute-Loire department of France. The communes ...

Geography

The municipality of Lapte covers 30.8 square kilometres. It is located at 860 metres above the

Lignon du Velay The Lignon du Velay (, literally ''Lignon of the Velay'') is an long river in the Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ar ...

river, where it converges with the Denieres. The river

also flows through the commune.