Loire-Atlantique (; Gallo: ''Louére-Atantique''; ; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', ) is a department in

Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; but can also mean 'Lower Loire') is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, located on the country's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital an ...

on the west coast of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, named after the river

Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. It rises in the so ...

and the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

. It had a population of 1,429,272 in 2019.Populations légales 2019: 44 Loire-Atlantique
INSEE

History

Loire-Atlantique is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally, it was named Loire-Inférieure, but its name was changed in March 9, 1957 to Loire-Atlantique. The area was formed from the

Province of Brittany The Province of Brittany was a division of France that existed from 1532 until 1790. It was formed at the time that the previous Duchy of Brittany became unified with France by an edict. It was dissolved after the French Revolution in 1790 along wit ...

, and contains what many people still consider to be Brittany's capital,

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

. However, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Vichy Government Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the defeat against ...

set up a system of regional prefectures whereby on 19 April 1941 Loire-Atlantique was excluded from the Region of Brittany and united with neighbouring French departments, under the lead of

Angers Angers (, , ;) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Duchy of Anjou, Anjou until the French Revolution. The i ...

. After the war these administrative changes were reimplemented in the 1955 boundary changes intended to optimise the management of the regions. There has since been a series of campaigns reflecting a strong local mood to have the department reintegrated with Brittany.

Geography

Loire-Atlantique is part of the current region of

and is surrounded by the department of

Morbihan The Morbihan ( , ; ) is a departments of France, department in the administrative region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany, situated in the northwest of France. It is named after the Gulf of Morbihan, Morbihan (''small sea'' in Breton ...

Ille-et-Vilaine Ille-et-Vilaine (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Ill-e-Vilaenn'', ) is a departments of France, department of France, located in the regions of France, region of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in the northwest of the country. It is named a ...

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () 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, Indr ...

, and

Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 9 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Culture

Upper Brittany Upper Brittany (; ; Gallo: ''Haùtt-Bertaèyn'') is the eastern part of Brittany, France, which is historically associated with the Gallo language. The name is in counterpoint to Lower Brittany, the western part of the ancient province and presen ...

's indigenous language is Gallo, a romance language related to French. The number of Gallo language speakers has been in steady decline since the early 20th century. The language is neither official nor taught in primary or secondary education. In the south of the ''département'' (

Pays de Retz The Pays de Retz (; ; ) is a historical subregion of France that currently forms part of the Loire-Atlantique department, but once formed part of the Duchy of Brittany. The area lies between the southern shore of the Loire estuary and the '' Mara ...

), the local language was

Poitevin dialect Poitevin (; endonym: ''poetevin'') is a dialect of Poitevin–Saintongeais, one of the regional languages of France, spoken in the historical province of Poitou, now administratively divided between Pays de la Loire (Loire countries) and Nouvell ...

. The

Breton language Breton (, , ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic languages, Celtic language group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albei ...

, a

Celtic language The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yves ...

, native to

Lower Brittany Lower Brittany (; ) denotes the parts of Brittany west of Ploërmel, where the Breton language has been traditionally spoken, and where the culture associated with this language is most prolific. The name is in distinction to Upper Brittany, th ...

, was historically spoken in the western area of Loire-Atlantique, and up to 1920 in

Batz-sur-Mer Batz-sur-Mer (, literally ''Batz on Sea''; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Borg-de-Baz'', ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France. The commune is situated on a former island, which ...

. This area (

Guérande Guérande (; , ; ) is a medieval town located in the departments of France, department of Loire-Atlantique, and the administrative regions of France, region of Pays de la Loire, Western France. The inhabitants are referred to as ''Guérandais'' ...

Le Croisic Le Croisic (; ; ) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department, western France. It is part of the urban area of Saint-Nazaire. History In the autumn of 1583, while the Catholic Church in Ireland was illegal and underground, Archbishop Der ...

, and

La Baule La Baule-Escoublac (; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Écoubiâ'', , ), commonly referred to as La Baule, is a communes of France, commune in Loire-Atlantique, a departments of France, department in Pays de la Loire, western France. History Seaside re ...

) has a rather Breton

toponymy Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' ( proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for a proper na ...

: for instance, ''Guérande'' originates from the Breton ''Gwenn Rann'' (white or pure place). The folklore and musical traditions of eastern or Upper Brittany are generally similar to those of western or Lower Brittany.

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Michel Menard, elected in July 2021.

Current Deputies of the National Assembly

Current Senators

Political movements

The capital of the administrative region is

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

, although

is considered the capital of historic Brittany and is located in Loire-Atlantique. The reunification of historic Brittany is supported by a majority of Loire-Atlantique and is considered a prerequisite to further autonomy of Brittany as a whole.

Transport

The ''département'' operates the Lila network ( fr) of interurban buses, which link its villages, towns and cities. The urban areas of

and

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire-Atlantique Departments of France, department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Oc ...

operate their own urban transport networks, known as TAN and STRAN ( fr) respectively. By rail, the regional trains and buses of the

TER Pays de la Loire TER Pays de la Loire is the regional rail network serving Pays de la Loire, France. TER Network The rail and bus network as of May 2022:Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; but can also mean 'Lower Loire') is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, located on the country's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital an ...

and adjoining regions, including those of the ''département''. Nantes is on the

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

network, with high speed trains running to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

by the

LGV Atlantique The LGV Atlantique (; ) is a high-speed rail line running from Gare Montparnasse in Paris towards the Atlantic coast of France. It opened in 1989–1990 and has two intermediate stations: Massy TGV station and Vendôme-Villiers-sur-Loir TGV s ...

in just over 2 hours.

Nantes Atlantique Airport Nantes Atlantique Airport (, formerly known as ''Aéroport Château Bougon'') is an international airport serving Nantes, France. It is located southwest of the city, in Bouguenais. The airport is operated by the ''Chambre de commerce et d'i ...

, located 8 km to the southwest of the city of Nantes, serves the ''département'' and surrounding areas. It is the biggest airport in northwestern France, linking with several French, North African and European cities, as well as

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

in Canada.

Tourism

File:Feydeau Nantes 2.JPG,

File:Batz-s-M St Guénolé.jpg, Stained glass-window of the church of

File:CroisicClocher.jpg,

File:Eglise notre dame clisson.jpg,

Clisson ''For other uses, see Clisson (disambiguation)'' Clisson (; Gallo: ''Cliczon'', ), is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department, in the region of Pays de la Loire, western France. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Sèvre Nan ...

File:Le Pouliguen Grande Côte 1.jpg, Coast near

Le Pouliguen Le Pouliguen (; ) is a commune of western France, located in the Loire-Atlantique department, Pays de la Loire. Le Pouliguen is situated between La Baule-Escoublac and Batz-sur-Mer. Port The port is located at the border between Le Pouliguen a ...

References

External links

*
Prefecture
*
Departmental Council
*
Loire-Atlantique Tourism
{{Authority control Pays de la Loire 1790 establishments in France Departments of Pays de la Loire States and territories established in 1790