Ambrosius Bosschaert

The department of Loir-et-Cher (41) is a French Département located in the Région Centers.

History

The department of Loir-et-Cher was inhabited as of prehistoric times, but it is Moyen-âge which the first efforts go back to local organization: many castles and fortified towns are set up to make it possible to the inhabitants to resist to the successive invasions of Norman, Bourguignons, English, etc

The economy is rather flourishing: trade in the valleys, agriculture expanding in Beauce and the Pole and as far as the Sologne, which knows a relative prosperity until the 17th century.

However, politically, the area remains quartered between the close counties and duchies. In 1397, the County of Blois enters the possession of the house of Orleans. In 1498, Louis of Orleans (23rd hereditary Count of Blois) goes up on the throne of France, under the name of Louis XII: it is the starting point of the importance of Blois and Blésois in the French, remarkable political life in particular under the last Valois.

Kings and large financial compete then to build castles and elegant residences which, by their number, their importance and their interest, are placed today in the foreground of the national heritage (Chambord, Blois, Cheverny, etc).

The wars of religion will follow with a real ferocity, under Charles IX.

In 1576 and 1588, the General states are joined together with Blois.

Lastly, the birth of the Loir-et-Cher as a department will be hard and difficult. In his report/ratio of the September 29th 1789, the Committee of constitution had envisaged to allot to the town of Blois one of the 80 departments. But the claims of the close cities appear, initially the chief towns of general information: Turns and Orleans. Inside even of the department, Montrichard turns to Amboise and Tours, Saint-Aignan wants to be attached to the Berry and Salbris with Vierzon. Finally, Orleans gives up in Blois most of the Sologne while preserving Beaugency as Tours refuses to yield Amboise.Le department was created with the French revolution, the March 4th 1790 pursuant to the law of the December 22nd 1789, starting from part of the provinces of the Orléanais and Touraine as well as a piece of Berry (left bank of expensive of Saddles in Berry become Selles on Expensive with Saint Aignan).

These vicissitudes explain the throttling of the department in its medium and the maximum stretching of its surface beyond the Loir in North and of the Cher in the South.

Principal famous characters:

The Loir-et-Cher saw being born:

The poet Ronsard The inventor Denis Papin The historian Augustin Thierry Other large characters are also related to the department: inter alia, François Ier, Gaston of Orleans, the Marshal Maunoury, L `Abbot Gregoire (Bishop of Blois, elected official appointed with the Constituent )… On the plan artistic, let us quote the type-setter Antoine Boesset (1587 - 1643), musician at the court of Louis XIII, who was Surintendant of the Chamber music of the king of 1623 with 1643.

Leitartikel: History of Loir-et-Cher

Geography

The department of Loir-et-Cher belongs to the area Center. It is bordering on the departments of Eure-et-Loir, of the Loiret, the Cher, the Indre, Indre-et-Loire and the the Sarthe.

The department of the Loir-et-Cher has a surface of 6.314 km which place it at the 31eme national row. It profits from a privileged geographical location, in the middle of the Center area and near the Paris basin. The axis ligérien, living and dynamic, brings closer Blois, chief town of the department, of the two great close agglomerations, Orleans and Tours.

Located at the borders of the Pole, Beauce, the Sologne and Touraine, it finds its identity territorial in the diversity of its geography and its landscapes. Crossed in its center by the Loire, it gives an indication of balance and diversity. It is crossed by two important rivers from which it draws its name: the Dormouse in the North-West and Expensive in the south, which constitute major points of fixing of the population except agglomeration of Blois. It is also characterized by many mainly localized ponds in the South, in the Sologne.

Contrasted in its landscapes, the Loir-et-Cher also has an important biological inheritance, as well as a hydrographic network of more than 4.000 kilometers of river.

Leitartikel: Geography of Loir-et-Cher

Climate

Leitartikel: Climate of Loir-et-Cher

Economy

Leitartikel: Economy of the Loir-et-Cher

Agriculture

The Loir-et-Cher traditionally gathers the ten small agricultural areas of the department in four subsets:

the Pole (northern of the Loire);
Beauce with (north of the Loire);
the large Sologne (southern of the Loire);
the wine Sologne with (south of the Loire).

The reduction has continued number of the agricultural credits for several years results at the same time in a progressive increase in the size of the exploitations, in particular in the field crop and cattle-breeding areas of the Pole and Beauce and, in the south of the Loire, by a tendency to turning into a desert.

Within this framework, the main features of the agriculture of the Loir-et-Cher are the following ones:

a prevalence of the field crops (cereals and oléa-protagineux) in the north of the Loire;
an old, important wine production and of quality;
of the specialized productions, carrying image for the department: asparaguses, strawberries;
a well established breeding: bovines and porcine, in particular;
sylviculture like important economic issue, with 200.000 ha of forests of production.

Industry

The secondary industry is pressed on privileged dies:

automobile;
aeronautical;
agro-alimentary;
pharmaceutical sector;
BTP.

Tertiary sector

The Loir-et-Cher has several branches of the tertiary sectors developed:

the sector of new technologies of information and the distribution;
tourism: 150 monuments are classified and 285 are registered with the additional inventory of the department. The towns of Blois and Vendôme profit from the label “town of art and history” delivered by the ministry for the Culture.

Demography

With 314.968 inhabitants (General Census of the Population in 1999), the population of the Loir-et-Cher records an increase of 2,8% since 1990 (9 031 people). The department thus takes the fourth place of the Center area and is at the 70e French row.

Demography

The local population is older than the French average:

Dormouse and Expensive - 60 years and more: 25,2% of the population
France - 60 years and more: 20,3% of the population

The category of more than 60 years progresses more quickly than the other age brackets. The fertility rate of the department (48,5 births for 1.000 women from 15 to 49 years) is slightly higher than the rate regional, but lower by 1 point than the national average.

Density

The urban reinforcement is pressed on three averages city (Blois = 49.021 inhabitants, Vendôme = 17.705 inhabitants and Romorantin-Lanthenay = 18.350 inhabitants) and on a grid of secondary poles and boroughs centers which structure the local life. The surfaces of stable or increasing population correspond to these three urban centres.

The density of the population is much lower than the national average:

Dormouse and Expensive - Density: 50 inhabitants with km2
France - Density: 107 inhabitants with km2

Active population

The department is before any tertiary sector, but still agricultural and very industrialized. The distribution of the employee job is the following one (source INSEE, 12/31/1997):

Tertiary: 63,2%
Industry: 27,3%
Agriculture: 3,0 %
BTP : 6,0%

The tertiary sector continues to progress without to reach the regional and national values. The secondary industry remains appreciably higher than the national average and is at the second rank of the Center area. Agriculture always represents a significant share of the economy.

The inhabitants of Loir-et-Cher are the Dormouse-and-Chériens .

Leitartikel: Demography of the Loir-et-Cher

Culture

Leitartikel: Culture in Loir-et-Cher

Tourism

The Loir-et-Cher with the strongest tourist specificity of the area Centers. The department shelters thus more than one thousand of tourist establishments.

In addition to one important natural heritage, the Loir-et-Cher counts:

24 castles open to the public, whose 5 are state-owned property,

more than one about thirty museums,

many manors and religious buildings.

The site more visited department is the Castle of Chambord, with more than 700.000 paying visitors each year.

Leitartikel: Tourism in Loir-et-Cher

Policy

Leitartikel: Political of the Loir-et-Cher

The Loir-et-Cher is divided into 3 electoral constituencies sending to a Député to the the National Assembly:

Loir-et-Cher 1
Loir-et-Cher 2
Loir-et-Cher 3

List of the deputies of Loir-et-Cher
List of the senators de Loir-et-Cher
List of the general advisers of Loir-et-Cher

Administration

Leitartikel: Administration of the Loir-et-Cher

List of the prefects of Loir-et-Cher

Communes

Complete listing: to see Common Loir-et-Cher.

Principal communes of Loir-et-Cher:

Internal bonds

List of bridges of Loir-et-Cher

External bonds

General advice of Loir-et-Cher
Prefecture
tourist Guide of the Loir-et-Cher
the Community of communes of Rural Vendomois
National center of Formation Equestrian Activities - CNF AE
Weather France - Climate of the Heraldic Loir-et-Cher
in Loir-et-Cher

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