Bloisian (''Blésois'' in French) is a natural region of France located around the city of

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the mos ...

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region of France. It is named after two rivers which run through it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher (river), Cher in its southern p ...

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (; ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley in the interior ...

. This term also refers to the locals living there. Historically, Bloisian was part of the

County of Blois The County of Blois was a feudal principality centred on Blois, south of Paris, France. It was created just after king Clovis I conquered Roman Gaul around AD 500. Between the 8th and the 13th centuries, it was amongst the most powerful vassal ...

, and from 1498 part of the

Orléanais The Duchy of Orléanais () is a former province of France, which was created during the Renaissance by merging four former counties and towns. However after the French Revolution, the province was dissolved in 1791 and succeeded by five ''départ ...

province.

Situation

This natural region is located in the center of the

department. With Val de Loire orléanais, Val de Loire tourangeau and Val d'Anjou, it is part of a larger natural region called

Val de Loire The Loire Valley (, ), spanning , is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about . It is r ...

. Bloisian is between the following natural regions: * In the North,

Beauce Beauce may refer to: * Beauce, France, a natural region in north-central France * Beaucé, a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department, Brittany, France * Beauce, Quebec Beauce (; ) is a historical and traditional region of Quebec, Canada, lo ...

and Val de Loire orléanais; * In the East,

Sologne Sologne (; ) is a natural region in Centre-Val de Loire, France, extending over portions of the departements of Loiret, Loir-et-Cher and Cher. Its area is about . To its north is the river Loire, to its south the river Cher, while the district ...

; * In the South, Val de Loire tourangeau; * In the East, Gâtine tourangelle.

Terminology

The word “Bloisian” comes from the city of

, whose name was firstly given by

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

to the surroundings as ''

pagus In ancient Rome, the Latin word (plural ) was an administrative term designating a rural subdivision of a tribal territory, which included individual farms, villages (), and strongholds () serving as refuges, as well as an early medieval geograp ...

'' ''Blesensi'', and seems to derivate itself from the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

word ''bleiz'', meaning “

wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

”. As a result, Bloisian was originally the “land of wolves”, even though this animal disappeared in this region. By analogy, this refers to a local

dialect A dialect is a Variety (linguistics), variety of language spoken by a particular group of people. This may include dominant and standard language, standardized varieties as well as Vernacular language, vernacular, unwritten, or non-standardize ...

too. The French term is “Blésois”, but the former “Blaisois” was once correct, but it has to be avoided since it can be confused with the Blaise river surroundings.

Local wild fauna

Aalscholver - Great Cormorant (15380885176).jpg, Anas platyrhynchos male female quadrat.jpg, Castor fiber vistulanus2.jpg, Salamandre tachetée-cadrage.png, Common Kingfisher Alcedo atthis.jpg, Red Deers on a path in a forest of Haute-Normandie.jpg, Ardea cinerea 2 (Marek Szczepanek).jpg, Chevreuil repos.jpg, Mute swans (Cygnus olor) and cygnets.jpg, Erinaceus europaeus (Linnaeus, 1758).jpg, Дві сови на гілці.jpg,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blesois Loir-et-Cher Geography of France