Allier (river)

The Allier (Occitan: Alèir) is a river in central France, and is the left tributary to the Loire. Its source is in the Massif Central, in the Lozère département, east of Mende. It flows generally north. It joins the Loire River west of the city of Nevers.

Départements and towns along the river

Tributaries include

Ecology

The Allier River is one of the rare places in Southern Europe where the freshwater grayling (Thymallus thymallus), known in French as ombre des rivières, occurs in a natural habitat.

Allier

Allier (French pronunciation: ​[aˈlje]; Occitan: Alèir, Latin: Elaver) is a French department located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France named after the river Allier. Moulins is the prefecture and the INSEE and Post Code is 03.

The inhabitants of the department are known as Elavérins or Elavérines

Geography

Allier department is composed of almost all of the former Duchy of Bourbonnais. It is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and borders the departments of Cher, Nièvre, Saône-et-Loire, Loire, Puy-de-Dome, and Creuse.

The department also includes three spa towns:

Neris-les-Bains is the only town in the department with more than 10% of second homes: 504 out of 1,800 homes in 1999.

Relief

Bourbonnais bocage covers most of the western and central parts of the department (including the Forest of Tronçais), followed by the Bourbonnais Sologne in the east north-east, the Bourbonnais Mountain (near Vichy) which is the highest point of Bourbonnais together with Montoncel (peaking at 1,287 metres), and finally in the south of the department, the Bourbonnais Limagne, which extends from Varennes to Gannat, and is the breadbasket of the department.