Maine-et-Loire (French pronunciation: [mɛn.e.lwaʁ]) is a department in west-central France, in the Pays de la Loire region.

Maine-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally it was called Mayenne-et-Loire, but its name was changed to Maine-et-Loire in 1791. It was created from part of the former province of Anjou. Its present name is drawn from the former province of Maine and the Loire River, which runs through it.

Maine-et-Loire is part of the current region of Pays-de-la-Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Ille-et-Vilaine, Mayenne, Sarthe, Indre-et-Loire, Vienne, Deux-Sèvres, Vendée, and Loire-Atlantique.

It has a varied landscape, with forested ranges of hills in the south and north separated by the valley of the Loire. The highest point is Colline des Gardes (689 feet/210m).

The area has many navigable rivers such as the Loire, Sarthe, Mayenne, Loir, and Authion.

The inhabitants of Maine-et-Loire are called Angevins, from the former province of Anjou.

Nicolas Sarkozy (pronounced [ni.kɔ.la saʁ.kɔ.zi] ( listen), born Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa; 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as the 23rd President of the French Republic from 16 May 2007 until 15 May 2012.

Before his presidency, he was leader of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP). Under Jacques Chirac's presidency he served as Minister of the Interior in Jean-Pierre Raffarin's (UMP) first two governments (from May 2002 to March 2004), then was appointed Minister of Finances in Raffarin's last government (March 2004 to May 2005) and again Minister of the Interior in Dominique de Villepin's government (2005–2007).

Sarkozy was also president of the General council of the Hauts-de-Seine department from 2004 to 2007 and mayor of Neuilly-sur-Seine, one of the wealthiest communes of France from 1983 to 2002. He was Minister of the Budget in the government of Édouard Balladur (RPR, predecessor of the UMP) during François Mitterrand's last term.

In foreign affairs, he promised a strengthening of the entente cordiale with the United Kingdom and closer cooperation with the United States. During his term, he faced the late-2000s financial crisis (followed by the recession and the debt crisis caused by it) and the Arab Spring (especially in Tunisia, Libya, and Syria). He also married Italian-French singer-songwriter Carla Bruni on 2 February 2008 at the Élysée Palace in Paris.

Christophe Béchu (born 11 June 1974 in Angers, Maine-et-Loire) is a French politician, President of the General Council of the Maine-et-Loire department since 2004 and Member of the European Parliament elected in the 2009 European election to 2011 for the West France constituency. A former member of DL, he is now a member of the leading centre-right Union for a Popular Movement.

He has represented the Canton of Angers-Nord-Ouest since 2001, and was re-elected there during the French cantonal elections, 2008. However, he was narrowly defeated by the incumbent PS mayor of Angers, Jean-Claude Antonini, in the 2008 municipal elections.

In 2009, the UMP selected him to lead the UMP list in the West constituency ahead of the 2009 European elections. He was elected to the European Parliament as a result. His list won 27.16% of the vote and three MEPs. He resigned in January 2011. He losted the regional election of 2010 to become president of Pays-de-la-Loire region, but was elected regional councillor. In September 2011, he was elected senator of Maine-et-Loire, he resigns from regional council of Pays-de-Loire.