Centre, France

Région Centre
Region flag	Region logo
Location
Administration
Capital	Orléans
Regional President	François Bonneau (2007-)
Departments	Cher Eure-et-Loir Indre Indre-et-Loire Loir-et-Cher Loiret
Arrondissements	20
Cantons	198
Communes	1,842
Statistics
Land area1	39,151 km²
Population	(Ranked 9th)
- January 1, 2007 est.	2,515,000
- March 8, 1999 census	2,440,329
- Density (2007)	64/km²
1 French Land Register data, which exclude lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) as well as the estuaries of rivers

Centre is one of the 26 regions of France, located towards the northwest of the actual centre of the country. Its capital is Orléans, although its largest city is Tours.

History

Centre is composed of the following former provinces of France:

• Orléanais
• Touraine
• Berry
• a part of Perche (the rest of Perche lies in the regions of Lower Normandy and Pays-de-la-Loire)

Features

The main feature of Centre is the Loire Valley. It includes the rich, fertile valleys of the Loire River and its tributaries: Cher, Indre, Loiret, etc. It is in Centre that are located the famous châteaux of the Loire Valley, which attract many tourists to the region.

Name

The name Centre was chosen by the French central government based purely on geography, as Centre is composed of too many historical provinces to use an historical name. However, Centre is not in the geographical centre of France, and the name is criticized as being dull and nondescript.

It has been proposed to rename the region Val de Loire (i.e. "Valley of the Loire"), which would give more character to the name of the region. Val de Loire is a name associated with positive images of the Loire Valley, such as the chateaux, the gentle and refined lifestyle, wine, the mild and temperate climate, and so on. The name change has not yet been adopted, but the term is sometimes used next to the name of the region, as in Centre - Val de Loire

Major communities

• Blois
• Bourges
• Chartres
• Châteauroux
• Dreux
• Fleury-les-Aubrais
• Joué-lès-Tours
• Orléans
• Tours
• Vierzon

See also

• Saint-Benoît-du-Sault

External links

• Région Centre Official website
• English languages information
• (English) Centre at the Open Directory Project

v • d • e  Department prefectures of Centre (France)
Orleans (Loiret) • Bourges (Cher) • Chartres (Eure-et-Loir) • Châteauroux (Indre) • Tours (Indre-et-Loire) • Blois (Loir-et-Cher)

v • d • e  Regions of France

Alsace • Aquitaine • Auvergne • Bourgogne • Bretagne • Centre • Champagne-Ardenne • Corsica • Franche-Comté • Île-de-France • Languedoc-Roussillon • Limousin • Lorraine • Midi-Pyrénées • Nord-Pas de Calais • Basse-Normandie • Haute-Normandie • Pays de la Loire • Picardie • Poitou-Charentes • Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur • Rhône-Alpes Overseas regions: French Guiana • Guadeloupe • Martinique • Réunion

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