Maine-et-Loire

Maine-et-Loire (Template:IPA) is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-et-Loire to the east, Vienne and Deux-Sèvres to the south, Vendée to the south-west, and Ille-et-Vilaine to the north-west. It also borders Ille-et-Vilaine in the north for just Template:Convert, France's shortest department boundary. Its prefecture is Angers; its subprefectures are Cholet, Saumur and Segré-en-Anjou Bleu. Maine-et-Loire had a population of 818,273 in 2019.<ref name=pop2019>Populations légales 2019: 49 Maine-et-Loire, INSEE</ref>

History

Maine-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, mostly out of the southern portion of the former province of Anjou.<ref name=EB1911>Template:Cite EB1911</ref> Originally it was called Mayenne-et-Loire, but its name was changed to Maine-et-Loire in 1791. Its present name is drawn from the rivers Maine and Loire, which meet within the department.

Geography

Maine-et-Loire is part of the current region of Pays de la Loire. The principal city is Angers, the seat of a bishopric and of a court of appeal.<ref name=EB1911/>

It has a varied landscape, with forested ranges of hills in the south and north separated by the valley of the Loire. The highest point is Colline des Gardes at Template:Convert. Part of the Loire Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site lies in Maine-et-Loire.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The area has many navigable rivers such as the Loire, Sarthe, Mayenne, Loir, and Authion.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Angers, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:<ref name=pop2019/>

Commune	Population (2019)
Angers	155,850
Cholet	54,037
Saumur	26,467
Sèvremoine	25,162
Beaupréau-en-Mauges	23,419
Chemillé-en-Anjou	20,828

Demographics

The inhabitants of Maine-et-Loire have no official qualifier. They are sometimes known as Angevins, from the former province of Anjou, or Mainéligériens, from the name of the department.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Population development since 1801:Template:Historical populations

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Florence Dabin, elected in July 2021.

Current National Assembly Representatives

Constituency		Member<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>	Party
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Maine-et-Loire's 1st constituency	Matthieu Orphelin	Ecology Democracy Solidarity
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Maine-et-Loire's 2nd constituency	Stella Dupont	La République En Marche!
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Maine-et-Loire's 3rd constituency	Jean-Charles Taugourdeau	The Republicans
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Maine-et-Loire's 4th constituency	Laëtitia Saint-Paul	La République En Marche!
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Maine-et-Loire's 5th constituency	Denis Masséglia	La République En Marche!
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Maine-et-Loire's 6th constituency	Nicole Dubré-Chirat	La République En Marche!
style="background-color: Template:Party color" |	Maine-et-Loire's 7th constituency	Philippe Bolo	MoDem

Tourism

Châteaux of the Loire Valley

• Château de Montsoreau.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Royal Abbey of Fontevraud.
• Château de Brissac.
• Château de Saumur.
• Château d'Angers.
• Château de Brézé.

Anjou traditions

• The largest vineyard of the Loire Valley.
• The boule de fort, the traditional boules game in Anjou

Angers and around:

• The Angers castle and the Apocalypse Tapestry, the largest tapestry in the world.
• The Cointreau museum, in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou
• The Château de Brissac, the tallest castle of the Loire Valley.
• The crooked spires in Baugé region.

Saumur and around:

• The Cadre Noir, one of the most famous horsemanship school in the world.
• Montsoreau Flea Market is the largest Flea Market in the Loire Valley taking place every second Sunday of the month.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• Château de Montsoreau-Museum of contemporary art, featuring the Philippe Méaille Collection, largest collection of works by the British conceptual artists, Art & Language.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="macba a&l">Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Royal Abbey of Fontevraud and the graves of the House of Plantagenet, including Richard I of England.
• The Tank museum of Saumur, which display the largest tank collection in France.
• Around Saumur, the largest concentration of troglodyte house in Europe.

Cholet and around:

• The textile museum of Cholet, and the creation of the famous red and white handkerchief.
• The Château de Touvois
• The Parc Oriental de Maulévrier, the largest Japanese garden of France

Segré and around:

• The fortified city of Pouancé and its medieval castle.
• The Blue Mine, a slate mine, with a funicular which goes 130 meters under the surface.
• The National stud of Le Lion-d'Angers, which host every year Le Mondial du Lion
• The Château de Challain-la-Potherie

• Château d'Angers
  Château d'Angers
• Saumur
  Saumur
• Cadre Noir
  Cadre Noir
• Fontevraud Abbey
  Fontevraud Abbey
• Montreuil-Bellay
  Montreuil-Bellay
• Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art
  Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art

See also

• Cantons of the Maine-et-Loire department
• Communes of the Maine-et-Loire department
• Arrondissements of the Maine-et-Loire department
• Anjou wine
• Château de Challain-la-Potherie

External links

• Template:In lang Prefecture website
• Template:In lang Departmental Council website
• Template:In lang Anjou Tourism Board website Template:Webarchive
• Template:Cite Collier's