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Loire

*Lêre* (Arpitan)
*Léger* (Occitan)
Loire Lêre (Arpitan); Léger (Occitan)
Department of France
	Montbrison in 2007
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Loire in France
	Coordinates: 45°05′N 04°05′E / 45.083°N 4.083°E
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture	Saint-Étienne
Subprefectures	Montbrison; Roanne
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Georges Ziegler (LR)
Area 1
• Total	4,781 km2 (1,846 sq mi)
Population (2021)
• Total	769,029
• Rank	30th
• Density	160/km2 (420/sq mi)
Demonym	Ligerian (Ligérien)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	42
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	21
Communes	323
	^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Loire (/lwɑːr/; French pronunciation: [lwaʁ]; Arpitan: Lêre; Occitan: Léger or Leir) is a landlocked département in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France occupying the river Loire's upper reaches. Its prefecture is Saint-Étienne. It had a population of 765,634 in 2019.^[3]

History

Loire was created in 1793 when the Rhône-et-Loire département was split into two, about three years after it was created in 1790. 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 Loire département roughly corresponds to the former province of Forez.

The departmental capitals (prefectures) throughout its history are as follows:^[4]

Feurs 1793–1795
Montbrison 1795–1855
Saint-Étienne since 1855

Geography

Loire is part of the current administrative region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the départements 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 département is divided into three arrondissements:

Parts of the department belong to Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.

Demographics

The inhabitants of the département are called Ligériens. The industrial city of Saint-Étienne with its agglomeration contains about half of the inhabitants of the département.^[5]

Population development since 1801:

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1801	290,903	—
1806	317,053	+1.74%
1821	343,454	+0.53%
1831	391,216	+1.31%
1841	434,085	+1.05%
1851	472,588	+0.85%
1861	517,603	+0.91%
1872	550,611	+0.56%
1881	599,836	+0.96%
1891	616,227	+0.27%
1901	647,633	+0.50%
1911	640,549	−0.11%
1921	637,130	−0.05%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1931	664,822	+0.43%
1936	650,226	−0.44%
1946	631,591	−0.29%
1954	654,482	+0.45%
1962	696,348	+0.78%
1968	722,443	+0.62%
1975	742,396	+0.39%
1982	739,521	−0.06%
1990	746,288	+0.11%
1999	728,524	−0.27%
2006	741,269	+0.25%
2011	749,053	+0.21%
2016	761,997	+0.34%

source:^[4]^[6]

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Saint-Étienne, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:^[3]

Commune	Population (2019)
Saint-Étienne	173,821
Saint-Chamond	34,841
Roanne	33,809
Firminy	16,901
Montbrison	15,915
Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert	15,229

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Georges Ziegler, elected in October 2017.

Current National Assembly Representatives

	Member^[7]	Party
Loire's 1st constituency	Pierrick Courbon	PS
Loire's 2nd constituency	Andrée Taurinya	LFI
Loire's 3rd constituency	Emmanuel Mandon	MoDem
Loire's 4th constituency	Sylvie Bonnet	LR
Loire's 5th constituency	Antoine Vermorel-Marques	LR
Loire's 6th constituency	Jean-Pierre Taite	LR