Loire (; ; ; or ''Leir'') is a landlocked

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

in the

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

occupying the river

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

's upper reaches. Its

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

. It had a population of 765,634 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 42 Loire
INSEE

History

Loire was created in 1793 when the

Rhône-et-Loire Rhône-et-Loire was the short-lived department of France whose prefecture (capital) was Lyon. Its name takes into the two rivers which flow through the department: Rhône and Loire. Created on 4 March 1790, like the other French departments, Rh ...

département was split into two, about three years after it was created in 1790. This was a response to counter-revolutionary activities in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

which, by population, was the country's second largest city. By splitting Rhône-et-Loire the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

sought to protect the French Revolution from the potential power and influence of counter revolutionary activity in the Lyon region. The Loire département roughly corresponds to the former province of

Forez Forez (; ) is a Provinces of France, former province of France, corresponding approximately to the central part of the modern Loire (department), Loire ''département in France, département'' and a part of the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme ''dépa ...

. The departmental capitals (prefectures) throughout its history are as follows: *

Feurs Feurs (; ) is a commune in the department of Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. History Antiquity The city was founded by the Romans. The name ''Feurs'' is a contraction of ''Forum Segusiavorum'', in reference to the forum of the Gallo-Ro ...

1793–1795 * Montbrison 1795–1855 *

since 1855

Geography

Loire is part of the current

administrative region Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

and is surrounded by the départements of

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...

Isère Isère ( , ; ; , ) is a landlocked Departments of France, department in the southeastern French Regions of France, region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. Named after the river Isère (river), Isère, it had a population of 1,271,166 in 2019.

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Haute-Loire Haute-Loire (; 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, Lozère, Canta ...

Puy-de-Dôme Puy-de-Dôme (; or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2021, it had a population of 662,285.Allier Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...

, and

Saône-et-Loire Saône-et-Loire (; Arpitan: ''Sona-et-Lêre'') is a department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in France. It is named after the rivers Saône and Loire, between which it lies, in the country's central-eastern part. Saône-et-Loire is B ...

. The river Loire traverses the department from south to north. The Loire département is divided into three

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, and certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissem ...

s: *

Arrondissement of Montbrison The arrondissement of Montbrison is located in the Loire department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. It has 132 communes. Its population is 185,892 (2021), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arrondissement of Montbri ...

* Arrondissement of Roanne * Arrondissement of Saint-Étienne Parts of the department belong to

Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez Livradois-Forez Regional Natural Park (, ) is a regional natural park located on three French department : Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire and Loire (department), Loire. The two biggest urban areas are Thiers, Puy-de-Dôme, Thiers (19,000 inhabitants) ...

Demographics

The inhabitants of the département are called ''Ligériens''. The industrial city of

with its

agglomeration Agglomeration may refer to: * Urban agglomeration, in standard English * Megalopolis, in Chinese English, as defined in China's ''Standard for basic terminology of urban planning'' (GB/T 50280—98). Also known as "city cluster". * Economies of agg ...

contains about half of the inhabitants of the département.Comparateur de territoires, Unité urbaine 2020 de Saint-Étienne (00753), Département de la Loire (42)
INSEE Population development since 1801:

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Georges Ziegler, elected in October 2017.

Current National Assembly Representatives

Tourism

File:Tour de la Droguerie1.jpg,

File:Chateau La Roche St Priest.jpg,

Château de La Roche A château (, ; plural: châteaux) is a manor house, or palace, or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking reg ...

File:Chateau de Grangent.jpg,

Château de Grangent The Château de Grangent is a ruined castle in the '' commune'' of Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert in the Loire ''département'' of France. At the time of its construction, originally around 800, it was on a promontory standing some 50 metres above the ...

File:Champdieu prieure.jpg,

Champdieu Champdieu () is a commune in the Loire department in central France. History The village developed around a Benedictine priory, established in the 9th or 10th century. The priory church and three sides of the adjacent cloister have been prese ...

File:Ste Croix en Jarez-1a Façade Sud.jpg,

Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez () is a commune in the Loire department in central France. It is a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (The Most Beautiful Villages of France) Association. Population See also *Communes of the Loire department ...

, one of The Most Beautiful Villages of France

References

External links

*
Prefecture website
*
Loire Departmental Council website
{{Authority control Massif Central 1793 establishments in France Departments of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes States and territories established in 1793