Indre-et-Loire
is a
department
in west-central
France
named after the
Indre
and the
Loire
rivers.
Its
prefecture
is the city of
Tours
.
Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the
French Revolution
on 4 March 1790 with Tours as is
capital
. It was formed with part of the former
province
of
Touraine
.
[4]
It was divided in seven
districts
: Tours, Amboise, Chateau-Renault, Loches, Chinon, Preuilly and Langeais.
In 1800, with the creation of the
arrondissements
in France, the seven districts were changed into three
arrondissements
: Chinon, Loches and Tours.
[4]
After the
Battle of Waterloo
(18 June 1815), the department was occupied by the
Prussian
army
from June 1815 to November 1818.
On 10 September 1926, the
arrondissement
of Loches was eliminated but in 1943 Loches was made again an
arrondissement
.
[4]
Indre-et-Loire is part of the
Centre-Val de Loire
region
. It has an area of 6,126.7 km
2
(2,366 sq mi).
[2]
The department is surrounded by 5 departments that are part of three regions:
Places next to Indre-et-Loire
|
|---|
|
The highest point of the department is
Signal de la Ronde
(
47°16′40″N
01°14′34″E
/
47.27778°N 1.24278°E
/
47.27778; 1.24278
(
Signal de la Ronde
)
) with an
altitude
of 186 m (610 ft) high.;
[5]
it is in the
commune
of
Cere-la-Ronde
in the northeast of the department on the border with the
Loir-et-Cher
department.
The
Loire
river
flows through the department and divides it in two parts. The
Indre
,
Cher
and
Vienne
rivers join the Loire river in the Indre-et-Loire department.
This area is characterized by
climates
with few extremes of
temperature
. The
Koppen climate classification
type for the climate at
Tours
is a "Marine West Coast Climate" and of the subtype "
Cfb
".
[6]
The
average
amount of
precipitation
for the year in Tours is 696 mm (27.4 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is October with 71.1 mm (2.8 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is August with an average of 43.2 mm (1.7 in).
The average temperature for the year in Toulon is 11.8 °C (53.2 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 19.8 °C (67.6 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 4.7 °C (40.5 °F).
| Climate data for Tours, France
|
| Month
|
Jan
|
Feb
|
Mar
|
Apr
|
May
|
Jun
|
Jul
|
Aug
|
Sep
|
Oct
|
Nov
|
Dec
|
Year
|
| Average high °C (°F)
|
4.7
(40.5)
|
5.2
(41.4)
|
8.1
(46.6)
|
10.4
(50.7)
|
14.2
(57.6)
|
17.5
(63.5)
|
19.8
(67.6)
|
19.6
(67.3)
|
16.5
(61.7)
|
12.7
(54.9)
|
7.8
(46.0)
|
5
(41)
|
11.8
(53.2)
|
| Daily mean °C (°F)
|
7.3
(45.1)
|
8.5
(47.3)
|
12.3
(54.1)
|
15.2
(59.4)
|
19.1
(66.4)
|
22.8
(73.0)
|
25.5
(77.9)
|
25.4
(77.7)
|
21.8
(71.2)
|
16.8
(62.2)
|
10.9
(51.6)
|
7.5
(45.5)
|
16.1
(61.0)
|
| Average low °C (°F)
|
2
(36)
|
1.9
(35.4)
|
3.9
(39.0)
|
5.6
(42.1)
|
9.2
(48.6)
|
12.1
(53.8)
|
14
(57)
|
13.7
(56.7)
|
11.1
(52.0)
|
8.6
(47.5)
|
4.6
(40.3)
|
2.5
(36.5)
|
7.4
(45.4)
|
| Average rainfall mm (inches)
|
66.2
(2.61)
|
55.8
(2.20)
|
50.3
(1.98)
|
55.8
(2.20)
|
62.3
(2.45)
|
46.1
(1.81)
|
53.2
(2.09)
|
42.5
(1.67)
|
53.2
(2.09)
|
70.9
(2.79)
|
68
(2.7)
|
71.3
(2.81)
|
695.6
(27.4)
|
| Source: Weatherbase.com
[1]
|
Indre-et-Loire is managed by the
Departmental Council of Ardennes
in
Tours
. The department is part of the
Centre-Val de Loire
region.
There are 3
arrondissements
(
districts
), 19
cantons
and 273
communes
(
municipalities
) in Indre-et-Loire.
[7]
Arrondissements of Indre-et-Loire
INSEE
code
|
Arrondissement
|
Capital
|
Population
[8]
(2014)
|
Area
[9]
(km²)
|
Density
(Inh./km²)
|
Communes
|
| 371
|
Chinon
|
Chinon
|
86,952
|
1,694.2
|
51.3
|
106
|
| 372
|
Tours
|
Tours
|
466,232
|
2,629.2
|
177.3
|
54
|
| 373
|
Loches
|
Loches
|
50,740
|
1,803.4
|
28.1
|
113
|
The following is a list of the 19
cantons
of the
Indre-et-Loire
department (with their
INSEE
codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
[10]
The inhabitants of the Indre-et-Loire department are known, in
French
, as
Tourangeaux
(women:
Tourangelles
),
[11]
Indre-et-Loire had a population, in 2014, of 603,924,
[2]
for a population density of 98.6 inhabitants/km
2
. The
arrondissement
of Tours, with 466,232 inhabitants, is the
arrondissement
with more inhabitants.
[9]
Evolution of the population in Indre-et-Loire
The
communes
with more than 10,000 inhabitants in the department are:
| City
|
Population
[8]
(2014)
|
Arrondissement
|
| Tours
|
136,125
|
Tours
|
| Joue-les-Tours
|
37,748
|
Tours
|
| Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire
|
15,994
|
Tours
|
| Saint-Pierre-des-Corps
|
15,538
|
Tours
|
| Saint-Avertin
|
14,985
|
Tours
|
| Amboise
|
13,371
|
Loches
|
| Chambray-les-Tours
|
11,109
|
Tours
|
| Montlouis-sur-Loire
|
10,574
|
Tours
|
| La Riche
|
10,434
|
Tours
|
| Fondettes
|
10,427
|
Tours
|