Loire (department)

Loire (/lwɑːr/; French pronunciation: [lwaʁ]; Arpitan: Lêre; Occitan: Léger or Leir) is a landlocked département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France occupying the river Loire's upper reaches. Its prefecture is Saint-Étienne. It had a population of 765,634 in 2019.[3]

Loire
Lêre (Arpitan)
Léger (Occitan)
red roofed buildings, surrounded by trees, on a cloudy day
Montbrison in 2007
yellow fish on a red field
yellow fish on a red field
Location of Loire in France
Location of Loire in France
Coordinates: 45°05′N 04°05′E
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
PrefectureSaint-Étienne
SubprefecturesMontbrison
Roanne
Government
  President of the Departmental CouncilGeorges Ziegler[1] (LR)
Area
  Total4,781 km2 (1,846 sq mi)
Population
 (Jan. 2020)[2]
  Total768,508
  Rank30th
  Density160/km2 (420/sq mi)
DemonymLigerians
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number42
Arrondissements3
Cantons21
Communes323
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2

History

Loire was created in 1793 when the Rhône-et-Loire département 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 Loire département roughly corresponds to the former province of Forez.

The departmental capitals (prefectures) throughout its history are as follows:[4]

Geography

Loire is part of the current administrative region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the départements 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 département is divided into three arrondissements:

Parts of the department belong to Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the département are called Ligériens. The industrial city of Saint-Étienne with its agglomeration contains about half of the inhabitants of the département.[5]

Population development since 1801:

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1801290,903    
1806317,053+1.74%
1821343,454+0.53%
1831391,216+1.31%
1841434,085+1.05%
1851472,588+0.85%
1861517,603+0.91%
1872550,611+0.56%
1881599,836+0.96%
1891616,227+0.27%
1901647,633+0.50%
1911640,549−0.11%
1921637,130−0.05%
YearPop.±% p.a.
1931664,822+0.43%
1936650,226−0.44%
1946631,591−0.29%
1954654,482+0.45%
1962696,348+0.78%
1968722,443+0.62%
1975742,396+0.39%
1982739,521−0.06%
1990746,288+0.11%
1999728,524−0.27%
2006741,269+0.25%
2011749,053+0.21%
2016761,997+0.34%
source:[4][6]

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Saint-Étienne, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:[3]

Commune Population (2019)
Saint-Étienne 173,821
Saint-Chamond 34,841
Roanne 33,809
Firminy 16,901
Montbrison 15,915
Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert 15,229

Politics

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

Current National Assembly Representatives

ConstituencyMember[7]Party
Loire's 1st constituency Régis Juanico Socialist Party
Loire's 2nd constituency Jean-Michel Mis La République En Marche!
Loire's 3rd constituency Valéria Faure-Muntian La République En Marche!
Loire's 4th constituency Dino Cinieri The Republicans
Loire's 5th constituency Nathalie Sarles Modem
Loire's 6th constituency Julien Borowczyk La République En Marche!

Tourism

See also

References

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.