Loire (; ; ; or Leir) is a landlocked department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France occupying the river Loire's upper reaches. Its prefecture is Saint-Étienne. It had a population of 774,133 in 2023.

Population development since 1801:

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Saint-Étienne, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are 7 communes with more than 15,000 inhabitants:

{| class=wikitable

! Commune

! Population (2023)

|-

| Saint-Étienne

| style="text-align: center;" | 173,136

|-

| Saint-Chamond

| style="text-align: center;" | 35,646

|-

| Roanne

| style="text-align: center;" | 35,409

|-

| Firminy

| style="text-align: center;" | 17,060

|-

| Montbrison

| style="text-align: center;" | 16,123

|-

| Saint-Just-Saint-Rambert

| style="text-align: center;" | 15,764

|-

| Rive-de-Gier

| style="text-align: center;" | 15,242

|}

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Georges Ziegler, elected in October 2017.

Current National Assembly Representatives

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!colspan="2"|Constituency!!Member!!Party

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Loire's 1st constituency

| Pierrick Courbon

| PS

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Loire's 2nd constituency

| Andrée Taurinya

| LFI

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Loire's 3rd constituency

| Emmanuel Mandon

| MoDem

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Loire's 4th constituency

| Sylvie Bonnet

| LR

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Loire's 5th constituency

| Antoine Vermorel-Marques

| LR

|-

|style="background-color: " |

| Loire's 6th constituency

| Jean-Pierre Taite

| LR

|}

Tourism

<gallery>

File:Tour de la Droguerie1.jpg|Saint-Étienne

File:Chateau La Roche St Priest.jpg|Château de La Roche

File:Chateau de Grangent.jpg|Château de Grangent

File:Champdieu prieure.jpg|Champdieu

File:Ste Croix en Jarez-1a Façade Sud.jpg|Sainte-Croix-en-Jarez, one of The Most Beautiful Villages of France

</gallery>

See also

  • Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
  • Cantons of the Loire department
  • Communes of the Loire department
  • Arrondissements of the Loire department
  • Loire coal mining basin
  • Loire General Council

References

  • Prefecture website
  • Loire Departmental Council website