Saone-et-Loire
is a
department
in the centre of
France
. It is in the
Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
region
. It is named after the two main
rivers
in the department: the
Saone
and the
Loire
rivers.
The largest city in the department is
Chalon-sur-Saone
. The
prefecture
(
capital
) is the smaller city of
Macon
.
Saone-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the
French Revolution
on 4 March 1790 with Macon as its
capital
.
[4]
It was formed from combined parts of the old
provinces
of southern
Burgundy
and
Bresse
, uniting lands which have no true
geographical
unity.
It was divided in seven
districts
: Autun, Bourbon-Lancy, Chalon-sur-Saone, Charolles, Louhans, Macon and Semur-en-Brionnais.
[5]
That same year, the name of the district Semur-en-Brionnais was changed to Marcigny.
[4]
In 1800, with the creation of the
arrondissements
in France, the seven districts were changed into five
arrondissements
: Macon, Autun, Chalon-sur-Saone, Charolles and Louhans.
[4]
After the
Battle of Waterloo
(18 June 1815), the department was occupied by the
Austrian
army
from June 1815 to November 1818.
On 10 September 1926, the
arrondissement
of Louhans was eliminated but in 1942 it became again an
arrondissement
of the department.
[4]
Map of Saone-et-Loire.
Saone-et-Loire is part of the
Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
region
. It has an area of 8,574.7 km
2
(3,311 sq mi);
[2]
the seventh largest department of France.
The department borders with 7 other departments in two regions:
Places next to Saone-et-Loire
|
|---|
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There are five
natural
regions
in the department:
- Autunois
, to the northwest; it is the region around
Autun
.
- Charolais
, to the southwest and around the
commune
of
Charolles
.
- Chalonnais
, to the north with
Chalon-sur-Saone
as the main city.
- Maconnais
, to the south and around the
commune
of
Macon
.
- Bresse
, to the east of the
Saone
river with
Louhans
as the main city.
The main rivers in the department are the
Loire
, that makes most of the western border of the department and that flows to the north, into the
Atlantic Ocean
; and the
Saone
, in the eastern part of the department and that flows to the south and joins the
Rhone
river at
Lyon
.
The
Koppen climate classification
type for the climate at
Charnay-les-Macon
is an "
Oceanic climate
" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype
Cfb
.
[6]
The average temperature for the year in
Charnay-les-Macon
, to the west of
Macon
and where is the local
airport
, is 11.7 °C (53.1 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 21.1 °C (70.0 °F). The coolest month, on average is January, with an average temperature of 2.8 °C (37.0 °F).
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Charnay-les-Macon is 866.1 mm (34.10 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is October with 96.5 mm (3.80 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is August with an average of 50.8 mm (2.00 in).
[6]
Saone-et-Loire is managed by the
Departmental Council of Saone-et-Loire
in
Macon
. The department is part of the
Bourgogne-Franche-Comte
region.
There are 5
arrondissements
(
districts
), 29
cantons
and 567
communes
(
municipalities
) in Saone-et-Loire.
[7]
INSEE
code
|
Arrondissement
|
Capital
|
Population
[8]
(2014)
|
Area
[9]
(km²)
|
Density
(Inh./km²)
|
Communes
|
| 711
|
Autun
|
Autun
|
86,693
|
1,900.3
|
45.6
|
83
|
| 712
|
Chalon-sur-Saone
|
Chalon-sur-Saone
|
200,084
|
1,726.0
|
115.9
|
149
|
| 713
|
Charolles
|
Charolles
|
99,381
|
2,500.3
|
39.7
|
135
|
| 714
|
Louhans
|
Louhans
|
55,567
|
1,248.5
|
44.5
|
79
|
| 715
|
Macon
|
Macon
|
114,063
|
1,199.6
|
95.1
|
121
|
The following is a list of the 29
cantons
of the Saone-et-Loire department (with their
INSEE codes
), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
[10]
The inhabitants of Saone-et-Loire are known, in
French
, as
Saone-et-Loiriens
(women:
Saone-et-Loiriennes
).
[11]
Saone-et-Loire had a population, in 2014, of 555,788,
[3]
for a population density of 64.8 inhabitants/km
2
. The
arrondissement
of Chalon-sur-Saone, with 200,084 inhabitants, is the
arrondissement
with more inhabitants.
[8]
Evolution of the population in Saone-et-Loire
The cities with more than inhabitants in the department are:
[8]
| City
|
Population
[8]
(2014)
|
Arrondissement
|
| Chalon-sur-Saone
|
44,985
|
Chalon-sur-Saone
|
| Macon
|
33,456
|
Macon
|
| Le Creusot
|
21,991
|
Autun
|
| Montceau-les-Mines
|
18,902
|
Chalon-sur-Saone
|
| Autun
|
13,955
|
Autun
|
| Paray-le-Monial
|
9,133
|
Charolles
|
| Saint-Vallier
|
8,783
|
Chalon-sur-Saone
|
| Digoin
|
8,005
|
Charolles
|
| Gueugnon
|
7,276
|
Charolles
|
| Charnay-les-Macon
|
6,969
|
Macon
|