Loire
—  Department  —
Coat of arms
Location of Loire in France
Coordinates: 45°05′N 04°05′E / 45.083°N 4.083°E / 45.083; 4.083Coordinates: 45°05′N 04°05′E / 45.083°N 4.083°E / 45.083; 4.083
Country	France
Region	Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture	Saint-Étienne
Subprefectures	Montbrison Roanne
Government
• President of the General Council	Bernard Bonne (UMP)
Area1
• Total	4,781 km2 (1,846 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Total	740,668
• Rank	29th
• Density	150/km2 (400/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Department number	42
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	40
Communes	327
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Loire (French pronunciation: [lwaʁ]; Arpitan: Lêre; Occitan: Léger) is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.

History[link]

Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. 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 departmental capitals have been / are as follows:

• Feurs 1793-1795
• Montbrison 1795-1855
• Saint-Étienne since 1855

Geography[link]

Loire is part of the current administrative region of Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the departments 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 department is split into three arrondissements:

• Arrondissement of Montbrison
• Arrondissement of Roanne
• Arrondissement of Saint-Étienne

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

Demographics[link]

The inhabitants of the department are called Ligériens.

The industrial city of Saint-Étienne with its suburbs contains some 290,000 of the area's 728,542 inhabitants.

See also[link]

• Rhône-Alpes
• Cantons of the Loire department
• Communes of the Loire department
• Arrondissements of the Loire department

References[link]

External links[link]

• (French) Prefecture website
• (French) General Council website