Lot-et-Garonne (, ) is a department in the

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

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 ...

of Southwestern

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 ...

. Named after the rivers

Lot Lot, LOT, The Lot or similar may refer to: Common meanings Areas *Land lot, an area of land *Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *A great many of something, as in, "There are a lot of beetles," or "There are ...

and

Garonne The Garonne ( , ; Catalan language, Catalan, Basque language, Basque and , ; or ) is a river that flows in southwest France and northern Spain. It flows from the central Spanish Pyrenees to the Gironde estuary at the French port of Bordeaux � ...

, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 47 Lot-et-Garonne
INSEE 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 ...

and largest city is

Agen Agen (, , ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux. In 2021, the commune had a population of 32,485. Geography The city of Agen l ...

History

Lot-et-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created on 4 March 1790, as a result of the French Revolution. It was created from part of the province of

Guyenne Guyenne or Guienne ( , ; ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the Catholic archdiocese of Bordeaux. Name The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transform ...

and

Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...

; originally the territory of the ancient county of Agenais constituted nearly the whole. The southeastern part of the original department (the former

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, th ...

Auvillar Auvillar (; ) is a commune in the department of Tarn-et-Garonne and the Occitanie region, situated at the edge of the Lomagne region on the banks of the Garonne river. Since 1994, Auvillar has been a member of Les Plus Beaux Villages de France ( ...

Montaigu-de-Quercy Montaigu-de-Quercy (; ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Bournac Former French commune in Agenais Agenais (), or Agenois (), was an ancient region that became a county (Old French: ' ...

and Valence) was separated from it in 1808 to become a part of the newly created department of

Tarn-et-Garonne Tarn-et-Garonne (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. It is traversed by the rivers Tarn (river), Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its n ...

Geography

Lot-et-Garonne is part of the current region of

and is surrounded by the departments of

Gers Gers (; or , ) is a departments of France, department in the regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southwestern France. Gers is bordered by the departments of Hautes-Pyrénées and Pyrénées-Atlantiques to ...

, Landes,

Gironde Gironde ( , US usually , ; , ) is the largest department in the southwestern French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Named after the Gironde estuary, a major waterway, its prefecture is Bordeaux. In 2019, it had a population of 1,623,749.

, and

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...

. The north of the department is composed of limestone hills. Between

and

, there is a plateau carved by many valleys. In the west of the department, the

Landes forest The Landes forest (; La forêt des Landes in French) in the Landes de Gascogne (las Lanas de Gasconha in the Gascon language), in the historic Gascony natural region of southwestern France now known as Aquitaine, is the largest man-made woodlan ...

is planted in sand. It is composed of maritime pines. Between the forest and

, there is the

Albret The House of Albret, which derives its name from the lordship (''seigneurie'') of Albret (Labrit), situated in the Landes of Gascony, Landes, was one of the most powerful feudal families of Kingdom of France, France and Kingdom of Navarre, Navarr ...

, a very hilly country.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are five communes with more than 7,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called . Population development since 1801:

Politics

Departmental Council of Lot-et-Garonne

The Departmental Council of Lot-et-Garonne has 40 seats. In the 2015 departmental elections, the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS) secured 25 seats while The Republicans (LR) won 15 seats. Sophie Borderie (PS) has presided over the assembly since 2019.

Members of the National Assembly

Lot-et-Garonne elected the following members of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repr ...

during the 2024 legislative election:

Economy

Food processing, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals are all major industries of the department.

Tourism

File:Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, France.JPG,

File:Cloitre de Notre Dame de Marmande.JPG,

Marmande Marmande (; in Occitan language, Occitan, ''Marmanda'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Lot-et-Garonne ''Departments of France, département'' in south-western France. Geography Marmande is located 35 km north-west of Agen, on the ...

File:Villeneuve-sur-Lot.JPG,

Villeneuve-sur-Lot Villeneuve-sur-Lot (; in the Languedocien dialect of Occitan language: ''Vilanuèva d'Òlt'' ) is a town and Communes of France, commune in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Lot-et-Garonne. The commune was formerly name ...

File:Chateau de Duras 01.jpg, Duras File:ChâteauDeNérac.jpg,

Nérac Nérac (; , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Lot-et-Garonne Departments of France, department, Southwestern France. The composer and organist Louis Raffy was born in Nérac, as was the former Arsenal F.C., Arsenal and FC Girondins de Bo ...

File:Monflanquin - Maison dite du Prince Noir -2.jpg,

Monflanquin Monflanquin (; Languedocien: ''Montflanquin'') is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in south-western France. Built in 1256 as a military bastide town on a strategic north-south route, it changed hands several times during the Hundred Y ...

References

External links

*
Prefecture website
*
Departmental Council website
*
Chamber of Commerce and Industry website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lot-Et-Garonne 1790 establishments in France Departments of Nouvelle-Aquitaine States and territories established in 1790