Pays de la Loire | |
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Kintra | ![]() |
Prefectur | Nantes |
Departments | 5
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Govrenment | |
• Preses | Jacques Auxiette (PS) |
Area | |
• Total | 32082 km2 (12,387 sq mi) |
Population (2009-01-01) | |
• Total | 3,553,353 |
• Density | 110/km2 (290/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
NUTS Region | FR5 |
Website | paysdelaloire.fr |
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 is made up o the follaein historical provinces:
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.
Evolution o the population leetit bi depairtments:
Year | Population o the depairtments | |||||
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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 |
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.
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