Loire
Coat of arms of the Loire department
Location
Administration
Department number:	42
Region:	Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture:	Saint-Étienne
Subprefectures:	Montbrison Roanne
Arrondissements:	3
Cantons:	40
Communes:	327
President of the General Council:	Bernard Bonne UMP
Statistics
Population	Ranked 27th
-1999	728,524
Population density:	152/km²
Land area¹:	4781 km²
¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km². The term administration, as used in the context of Government, differs according to Jurisdiction. In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, Rhône-Alpes ( Franco-Provençal: Rôno-Arpes; Occitan: Ròse Aups) is one of the 26 regions of France, located on the A prefecture ( préfecture) in France can refer to: the Chef-lieu de département, the town in which the administration of a ''département'' Saint-Étienne ( Sant-Etiève in Arpitan) is a city in the central eastern part of France, 60 km (40 miles southwest of Lyon. Subprefectures (sous-préfectures are the administrative towns of arrondissements in France that do not contain the prefecture for its department. Montbrison is a commune of the Loire département, in France. Roanne ( Rouana in Arpitan) is a town and commune in central France in the Loire département The 100 French departments are divided into 342 arrondissements, which may be translated into English as districts. The 3 arrondissements of the Loire department are Arrondissement of Montbrison, ( subprefecture: Montbrison The cantons of France are territorial subdivisions of the French Republic's 341 arrondissements and 100 departments. The following is a list of the 41 cantons of the Loire department, in France, sorted by arrondissement: Arrondissement The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The following is a list of the 327 communes of the Loire département, in France. In France, the President of the General Council (French Président du conseil général) is the locally-elected head of the General Council, the assembly As of January 1, 2008, 64473140 people live in the French Republic. To help compare Orders of magnitude of different geographical regions we list here areas between 1000 km2 and 10000 km2 An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open

Loire (Arpitan: Lêre, Occitan: Léger) is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches. Franco-Provençal ( Francoprovençal) or Arpitan ( Vernacular: frp francoprovençâl arpitan patouès; francoprovenzale arpitano dialetto Occitan ( IPA BrE: /ˈɒksɪtn/ AmE: /ˈɑksəˌtɑn/ known also as Lenga d'òc or Langue d'oc (native name occitan In the context of the political and geographic organization of France and many of its former colonies a department (département depaʁtǝmɑ̃ is an Administrative division This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The Loire River (lwaʁ in French) is the longest River in France.

History

Loire was created in 1793 when the original department of Rhône-et-Loire was split. Rhône-et-Loire was a département of France whose Préfecture (capital was Lyon.

Its capitals have been the following:

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

Geography

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. Feurs is a commune of the Loire département, in France. Montbrison is a commune of the Loire département, in France. Saint-Étienne ( Sant-Etiève in Arpitan) is a city in the central eastern part of France, 60 km (40 miles southwest of Lyon. France is divided into 26 regions or régions (in French of which 21 are in continental Metropolitan France, one is the island of Corsica, Rhône-Alpes ( Franco-Provençal: Rôno-Arpes; Occitan: Ròse Aups) is one of the 26 regions of France, located on the Rhône ( Franco-Provençal: Rôno) is a French department located in the central Eastern region of Rhône-Alpes. Isère ( Arpitan: Isera, Occitan: Isèra) is a department, in the Rhône-Alpes ( Rôno-Arpes in Arpitan Ardèche ( Occitan and Arpitan: Ardecha) is a department in south-central France named after the Ardèche River. Haute-Loire ( Occitan: Naut Léger) is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River. Puy-de-Dôme ( lo Puèi de Doma / lo Puèi Domat in the Auvergnat dialect of the Occitan language is a department Allier ( Occitan: Alèir) is a department in south-central France named after the Allier River. Saône-et-Loire ( Sona-et-Lêre in Arpitan language is a French department, named after the Saône and the 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

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Ligériens. The arrondissement of Montbrison is located in the Loire department and Rhône-Alpes region of France. The arrondissement of Roanne is located in the Loire department and Rhône-Alpes region of France. The arrondissement of Saint-Étienne is located in the Loire department and Rhône-Alpes region of France.

The industrial city of Saint-Étienne with its suburbs contains some 290,000 of the area's 728,542 inhabitants. Saint-Étienne ( Sant-Etiève in Arpitan) is a city in the central eastern part of France, 60 km (40 miles southwest of Lyon.

External links

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