| Loire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Department — | |||
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| Location of Loire in France | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | France | ||
| Region | Rhône-Alpes | ||
| Prefecture | Saint-Étienne | ||
| Subprefectures | Montbrison Roanne |
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| 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 | 154.9/km2 (401.2/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.
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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:
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:
Parts of the department belong to Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.
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.