Centre-Val de Loire

Centre-Val de Loire
Region

Flag
Coat of arms
Country  France
Prefecture Orléans
Departments
6
Government
 • President François Bonneau (PS)
Area
 • Total 39,151 km2 (15,116 sq mi)
Population (2008-01-01)
 • Total 2,538,000
 • Density 65/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code FR-F
GDP (2012)[1] Ranked 9th
Total €67.1 billion (US$86.3 bn)
Per capita €26,126 (US$33,603)
NUTS Region FR2
Website www.regioncentre-valdeloire.fr

Centre-Val de Loire (French pronunciation: ​[sɑ̃tʁ val də lwaʁ], "Centre-Loire Valley") is one of the 13 administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley in the interior of the country. The administrative capital is Orléans.

Naming and etymology

Château de Chambord
Logo used prior to 2015

Like many contemporary regions of France, the region of Centre was created from parts of three historical provinces: Touraine, Orléanais, and Berry. The name Centre was chosen by the French government purely on the basis of geography, in reference to its location in north-central France (the central part of the original French language area),

However, Centre is not situated in the geographical centre of France, and the name was criticized as being too dull and nondescript. Proposed names for the region included Val de Loire after the Loire Valley (the main feature of the region) or Cœur de Loire (i.e. Heart of Loire). On 17 January 2015, as part of the reorganization of French regions, the region's official name was changed to Centre-Val de Loire.[2] Val de Loire is associated with positive images of the Loire Valley, such as the châteaux, the gentle and refined lifestyle, the wine, and the mild and temperate climate, all of which attract many tourists to the region. A new logo was also created.

Geography

Departments

Centre-Val De Loire comprises 6 departments : Cher, Eure-et-Loir, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret.

Largest cities

  • Tours with 134,978 inhabitants (2012)
  • Orléans with 114,644 inhabitants (2015)


  • Bourges with 66,528 inhabitants (2015)
  • Blois with 46,351 inhabitants (2014)
  • Châteauroux with 43,732 inhabitants (2015)
  • Chartres with 38,875 inhabitants (2015)
  • Dreux with 30,836 inhabitants (2015)
  • Vierzon with 26,919 inhabitants (2015)


Economy

An economic development agency, called Centréco, was created in 1994 by the Centre Regional Council of the Centre-Loire valley region (France) to promote the inflow of investments and the establishment setting-up of new businesses French and foreign companies in the Centre region. This ensures a mission of economic promotion, international support to regional companies and enhancement promotion of regional agrofood products via a regional signature, © du Centre.

See also

References

  1. ↑ INSEE. "Produits intérieurs bruts régionaux et valeurs ajoutées régionales de 1990 à 2012". Retrieved 2014-03-04.
  2. ↑ "Journal officiel of 17 January 2015". Légifrance (in French). 2015-01-17. Retrieved 2015-03-10.

Media related to Centre-Val de Loire at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 47°30′N 1°45′E / 47.500°N 1.750°E / 47.500; 1.750

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