Loire 36601 222657812 2008-06-30T13:50:41Z AndersBot 6986250 robot Adding: [[lb:Departement Loire]] {{Infobox_Department_of_France| department=Loire|number=42| region=[[Rhône-Alpes]]| prefecture=[[Saint-Étienne]]| subprefectures=[[Montbrison, Loire|Montbrison]]<br>[[Roanne]]| population=728,524|pop_date=1999|pop_rank=27th|density=152| area=4781|area_scale=9| arrond=3|cantons=40|communes=327| president=[[Bernard Bonne]]|pres_party=UMP| img_coa=Blason departement Loire.svg| }} {{Two other uses|the French department|the river|Loire River|the valley|Loire Valley}} '''Loire''' ([[Arpitan]]: ''Lêre'', [[Occitan]]: ''Léger'') is an [[departments of France|administrative department]] in the east-central part of [[France]] occupying the [[River Loire]]'s upper reaches. ==History== Loire was created in 1793 when the original department of [[Rhône-et-Loire]] was split. Its capitals have been the following: * [[Feurs]] from 1793-1795 * [[Montbrison, Loire|Montbrison]] from 1795-1855 * [[Saint-Étienne]] since 1855 ==Geography== Loire is part of the current [[regions of France|administrative region]] of [[Rhône-Alpes]] and is surrounded by the departments of [[Rhône (department)|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 department is split into three arrondissements: *[[Arrondissement of Montbrison]] *[[Arrondissement of Roanne]] *[[Arrondissement of Saint-Étienne]] ==Demographics== The inhabitants of the department are called ''Ligériens''. The industrial city of [[Saint-Étienne]] with its suburbs contains some 290,000 of the area's 728,542 inhabitants. ==External links== * {{fr icon}} [http://www.loire.pref.gouv.fr/ Prefecture website] * {{fr icon}} [http://www.cg42.fr/ General Council website] {{Departments of France}} [[Category:Loire|*]] [[Category:Massif Central]] [[an:Loira (departamento)]] [[frp:Lêre (dèpartement)]] [[ca:Loira (departament)]] [[cv:Луара (департамент)]] [[ceb:Loire]] [[cs:Loire (departement)]] [[cy:Loire (département)]] [[da:Loire (departement)]] [[de:Loire (Département)]] [[et:Loire'i departemang]] [[es:Loira (departamento)]] [[eo:Loire (departemento)]] [[eu:Loira]] [[fr:Loire (département)]] [[gl:Loira]] [[hr:Loire (departman)]] [[id:Loire (departemen)]] [[is:Leira (fljót)]] [[it:Loira (dipartimento francese)]] [[pam:Loire]] [[la:Liger (praefectura Franciae)]] [[lb:Departement Loire]] [[lt:Luara (departamentas)]] [[nl:Loire (departement)]] [[ja:ロワール県]] [[no:Loire (departement)]] [[nn:Departementet Loire]] [[oc:Léger (departament)]] [[nds:Loire (Bezirk)]] [[pl:Loire]] [[pt:Loire]] [[ro:Loire]] [[ru:Луара (департамент)]] [[sk:Loire (departement)]] [[sl:Loire (departma)]] [[sr:Лоара (департман)]] [[fi:Loire (departementti)]] [[sv:Loire (departement)]] [[vi:Loire]] [[tg:Департаменти Луара]] [[uk:Луара (департамент)]] [[vec:Łoira (dipartimento franzsexe)]] [[vo:Loire]] [[zh:卢瓦尔省]]