Loir-et-Cher
is a
department
in the centre of
France
in the
Centre-Val de Loire
region
. It is named after the
Loir
and the
Cher
, two
rivers
that flow through the department.
Its
prefecture
is
Blois
and there are two
subprefectures
at
Romorantin-Lanthenay
and
Vendome
.
The department is one of the 83 French departments made during the
French revolution
, on 4 March 1790. The department was created from part of the former province of
Orleanais
together with small parts of other provinces.
The new department had six
districts
: Blois, Vendome, Romorantin, Mondoubleau, Mer and Saint-Aignan. The
capital
(now
prefecture
) was
Blois
.
[4]
In 1800, with the creation of the
arrondissements
in France, the six districts were changed into three
arrondissements
: Blois, Romorantin and Vendome.
[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 Romorantin was eliminated but in 1943 it was made again an
arrondissement
.
[4]
In 1961, Romorantin was merged with Lanthenay and the name, of the
commune
and of the
arrondissement
, was changed to Romorantin-Lanthenay.
Loir-et-Cher is part of the
Centre-Val de Loire
region
. It has an area of 6,343.4 km
2
(2,449 sq mi).
[2]
The highest point of the department is in the
Bois des Vallees
(
47°59′54″N
1°6′27″E
/
47.99833°N 1.10750°E
/
47.99833; 1.10750
), in the
commune
of
Bouffry
, and that is 256 m (840 ft)
above sea level
.
[5]
The department is bordered by the 6 departments in 2 regions:
Places next to Loir-et-Cher
|
---|
|
The main rivers are:
- Loire
, that flows through the centre of the department. The city of Blois is along this river.
- Loir
, a left
tributary
of the
Sarthe
; it flows through the northern part of the department.
- Cher
, that flows through the southern part of the department. It is a left tributary of the Loire.
- Sauldre
, a right tributary of the Cher river.
The
Koppen climate classification
type for the climate at
Vendome
is an "
Oceanic climate
" (also known as Marine West Coast Climate) and of the subtype
Cfb
.
[6]
The
average
amount of
precipitation
for the year in Vendome is 604.5 mm (23.8 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is October with 58.4 mm (2.3 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of 40.6 mm (1.6 in).
The average temperature for the year in Vendome is 10 °C (50 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 18.9 °C (66.0 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 1.7 °C (35.1 °F).
The department is managed by the
Departmental Council of the Loir-et-Cher
in
Blois
. Loir-et-Cher is part of the region of
Centre-Val de Loire
.
There are 3
arrondissements
(
districts
), 15
cantons
and 276
communes
(
municipalities
) in Loir-et-Cher.
[7]
The following is a list of the 13
cantons
of the Loir-et-Cher department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
[10]
The inhabitants of Loir-et-Cher are known, in
French
, as
Loir-et-Cheriens
(women:
Loir-et-Cheriennes
).
[11]
Loir-et-Cher has a population, in 2014, of 333,567,
[3]
for a population density of 52.6 inhabitants/km
2
. The
arrondissement
of Blois, with 173,125 inhabitants, is by far the largest.
[8]
Evolution of the population in Loir-et-Cher
The main cities in the department are:
City
|
Population
[8]
(2014)
|
Arrondissement
|
Blois
|
46,351
|
Blois
|
Romorantin-Lanthenay
|
17,459
|
Romorantin-Lanthenay
|
Vendome
|
16,879
|
Vendome
|
Vineuil
|
7,638
|
Blois
|
Mer
|
6,197
|
Blois
|
Salbris
|
5,398
|
Romorantin-Lanthenay
|
Lamotte-Beuvron
|
4,767
|
Romorantin-Lanthenay
|
Selles-sur-Cher
|
4,661
|
Romorantin-Lanthenay
|
La Chaussee-Saint-Victor
|
4,489
|
Blois
|
Saint-Laurent-Nouan
|
4,305
|
Blois
|