| Maine-et-Loire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Department — | |||
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| Location of Maine-et-Loire in France | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | France | ||
| Region | Pays de la Loire | ||
| Prefecture | Angers | ||
| Subprefectures | Cholet Saumur Segré |
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| Government | |||
| • President of the General Council | Christophe Béchu (UMP) | ||
| Area1 | |||
| • Total | 7,166 km2 (2,766.8 sq mi) | ||
| Population (1999) | |||
| • Total | 732,942 | ||
| • Rank | 27th | ||
| • Density | 102.3/km2 (264.9/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Department number | 49 | ||
| Arrondissements | 4 | ||
| Cantons | 41 | ||
| Communes | 363 | ||
| ^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | |||
Maine-et-Loire (French pronunciation: [mɛn.e.lwaʁ]) is a department in west-central France, in the Pays de la Loire region.
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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.
Angers and around:
Saumur and around:
Cholet and around:
Segré and around: