| Haute-Loire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Department — | |||
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| Location of Haute-Loire in France | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | France | ||
| Region | Auvergne | ||
| Prefecture | Le Puy-en-Velay | ||
| Subprefectures | Brioude Yssingeaux |
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| Government | |||
| • President of the General Council | Gérard Roche | ||
| Area1 | |||
| • Total | 4,977 km2 (1,921.6 sq mi) | ||
| Population (1999) | |||
| • Total | 209,113 | ||
| • Rank | 85th | ||
| • Density | 42/km2 (108.8/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Department number | 43 | ||
| Arrondissements | 3 | ||
| Cantons | 35 | ||
| Communes | 260 | ||
| ^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | |||
Haute-Loire (French pronunciation: [ot lwaʁ]; Occitan: Naut Léger) is a department in south-central France named after the Loire River.
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Haute-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Auvergne, Languedoc, and Lyonnais.
Haute-Loire is part of the current region of Auvergne and is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Ardèche, Lozère, Cantal, and Puy-de-Dôme.
The department covers the upper reaches of the Loire. Parts of the department belong to Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.
The inhabitants of the department are called Altiligériens.
The de Polignac family has its historic seat there, and various descendants of Lafayette were senators for this region in the nineteenth century.