Pays de la Loire

The Pays de la Loire (French pronunciation: ​[pɛ.i də la lwaʁ]; Scots: Loire Lands) are ane o the 27 regions o Fraunce. It is ane o the regions creatit in the late 20t century tae serve as a zone o influence for its caipital, Nantes, ane o a haundful so-cried "balancin metropolises" (métropoles d'équilibre)¹. Ither examples o "airtificially created" regions include Rhône-Alpes, which wis creatit as the region for Lyon, an Midi-Pyrénées, which wis creatit as the region for Toulouse.

Pays de la Loire
Kintra Fraunce
PrefecturNantes
Departments
Govrenment
 • PresesJacques Auxiette (PS)
Area
 • Total32082 km2 (12,387 sq mi)
Population
 (2009-01-01)
 • Total3,553,353
 • Density110/km2 (290/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
NUTS RegionFR5
Websitepaysdelaloire.fr

Geography

eedit

Pays de la Loire is made up o the follaein historical provinces:

 
A vine in Brem, Pays de la Loire

Consequently, the name o the region, chosen bi the French central govrenment, wis no based on history, but purely on geographical references: Pays (i.e. "lands") de la Loire (i.e. "o the Loire River"). Housomeivver, the majority o the famous châteaux o the Loire Valley are locatit in the Centre region, an no inside Pays de la Loire, despite the confusin name. The Pays de la Loire present mony great monuments as the castles o Angers, Laval, Mayenne an the Nantes "Château des Ducs de Bretagne", the Royal Fontevraud Abbey (the widest monastic ensemble in Europe), the auld ceety o Le Mans, an an aw mony natural pairks such as the Brière an the Marsh o Poitou.

Demography

eedit

Evolution o the population leetit bi depairtments:

Year Population o the depairtments
Loire-Atlantique depairtment Maine-et-Loire depairtment Mayenne depairtment Sarthe depairtment Vendée depairtment Total Pays de la Loire
1801 369,305 375,544 305,654 388,143 243,426 1,682,072
1851 535,664 516,197 374,566 473,071 383,734 2,283,232
1901 664,971 515,431 313,103 422,699 441,311 2,357,515
1921 649,691 475,485 397,292 2,174,150
1936 659,428 478,404 251,348 388,519 389,211 2,166,910
1946 665,064 393,787 2,224,163
1954 733,575 395,641 2,320,177
1962 803,372 535,122 250,030 443,019 408,928 2,440,471
1968 861,452 585,563 252,762 461,839 421,250 2,582,866
1975 934,499 629,849 261,789 490,385 450,641 2,767,163
1982 995,498 675,321 271,784 504,768 483,027 2,930,398
1990 1,050,539 704,668 277,748 513,280 508,962 3,055,197
2005 1,208,761 754,997 297,854 551,971 587,162 3,400,745

Notes

eedit

¹ In the 1960s, aicht lairge regional ceeties o Fraunce (Lille, Nancy, Strasbourg, Lyon, Nantes, Bordeaux, Marseille, Toulouse) wur made "balancin metropolises", receivin special financial an technical help frae the French govrenment in order tae coonterbalance the excessive weight o Paris inside Fraunce.

See an aw

eedit

Freemit airtins

eedit


Coordinates: 47°28′N 0°50′W / 47.467°N 0.833°W / 47.467; -0.833