Centre-Val de Loire (, , ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (french: région Centre, link=no, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen

administrative regions Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley in the interior of the country, with a population of 2,572,853 as of 2018. Its

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

is Orléans, and its largest city is Tours.

Naming and etymology

Like many contemporary regions of France, the region of Centre-Val de Loire was created from parts of historical provinces: , and . First, the name was chosen by the government purely on the basis of geography, in reference to its location in northwest-central France (the central part of the original French language area). However, Centre is not situated in the geographical centre of France (except the

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

); the name was criticised as being too dull and nondescript. Proposed names for the region included after the Loire Valley (the main feature of the region) or (Heart of Loire). On 17 January 2015, as part of the reorganisation of French regions, the region's official name was changed to . is associated with positive images of the Loire Valley, such as the , the gentle and refined lifestyle, wine, as well as the mild and temperate climate, all of which attract many tourists to the region. A new logo was also created.

Geography

1789 et 2022, Centre-Val de Loire et Île-de-France, noms

Bordering six other regions, Centre-Val-de-Loire borders the most of all eighteen regions in France. The bordering regions are Normandy on the northwest, Île-de-France on the northeast, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté on the east,

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ARA; ; frp, Ôvèrgne-Rôno-Ârpes; oc, Auvèrnhe Ròse Aups; it, Alvernia-Rodano-Alpi) is a region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Au ...

on the southeast, Nouvelle-Aquitaine on the southwest and

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; ; br, Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France, in the west of the mainland. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful of "balancing metropolises" (). ...

on the west.

Departments

Centre-Val de Loire comprises six departments:

, Eure-et-Loir,

Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

, Indre-et-Loire,

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Its name is originated from two rivers which cross it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher in its southern part. Its prefecture is Blois. The INSEE and La P ...

and Loiret.

Largest cities

* Tours with 136,463 inhabitants (2018) * Orléans with 116,238 inhabitants (2018) *

Bourges Bourges () is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre. It is the capital of the department of Cher, and also was the capital city of the former province of Berry. History The name of the commune derives either from the Bituriges, t ...

with 64,668 inhabitants (2018) * Blois with 45,871 inhabitants (2018) * Châteauroux with 43,442 inhabitants (2018) *

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

with 38,426 inhabitants (2018) * Joué-lès-Tours with 38,250 inhabitants (2018), Tours Métropole Val de Loire *

Dreux Dreux () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France. Geography Dreux lies on the small river Blaise, a tributary of the Eure, about 35 km north of Chartres. Dreux station has rail connections to Argentan, Paris and Granvi ...

with 30,664 inhabitants (2018) * Vierzon with 25,725 inhabitants (2018) * Olivet with 22,168 inhabitants (2018), Orléans Métropole

Economy

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 72.4 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 3.1% of French economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 25,200 euros or 84% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 99% of the EU average. An economic development agency, called Centréco, was created in 1994 by the Regional Council of Centre 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.

Gallery

File:Bridge of Jacques-Gabriel in Blois 02.jpg, alt=, Blois File:Cathédrale Saint-Étienne 7SC2336CFP.jpg, alt=,

File:Notre Dame de Chartres.jpg, alt=,

File:Châteauroux Église Saint-André Chor 2.jpg, alt=, Châteauroux File:France Orleans Cathedrale Pont Georges V 01.JPG, alt=, Orléans File:Loire Indre Tours2 tango7174.jpg, alt=, Tours

Notes

References

External links

*
Centre : on the road of the châteaux
- Official French website (in English) *
Website of the agency for promotion and economic development of the Centre / Loire Valley region
- overview of the region and main attractions

- information on the region and its departments {{Coord, 47, 30, N, 1, 45, E, region:FR_type:adm1st_source:GNS-enwiki, display=title Regions of France NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union Centre region articles needing translation from French Wikipedia States and territories established in 2015