Centre (France)
Encyclopedia : C : CE : CEN : Centre (France)
| |||||
| |||||
| Capital | Orléans | ||||
| Ranked_list_of_French_regions#By_area>Land area¹ | 39,151 km² | ||||
| President of the regional council>Regional President | Michel Sapin (PS) (1998 to 2000, and since 2004) | ||||
| Population - Jan.1, 2005 estimate - March 8, 1999 census - Density | (Ranked 9th) 2,490,000 2,440,329 64/km² (2005) | ||||
| Arrondissement in France>Arrondissements | 20 | ||||
| Canton in France>Cantons | 198 | ||||
| Commune in France>Communes | 1,842 | ||||
| Département in France>Départements | Cher Eure-et-Loir Indre Indre-et-Loire Loir-et-Cher Loiret | ||||
| 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 régions of France, located towards the northwest of the country. Its capital is Orléans.
History
The région Centre is made up of the following former provinces of France:
- Orléanais
- Touraine
- Berry
- a part of Perche (the rest of Perche lies in the Lower Normandy région and in the Pays-de-la-Loire région)
Name
The very bland name Centre is criticized by many in France. It was chosen by the French central government and based purely on geography, since the Centre région is made up of too many historical provinces to use an historical name. However, the région Centre is not really at the center of France, and the name is criticized as being dull and nondescript.
It has been proposed to rename the région "Val de Loire" (i.e. "Valley of the Loire"), which would give more character to the name of the région. Val de Loire is a name associated with positive images, such as the châteaux of the Loire Valley, the gentle and refined lifestyle of the Loire Valley, the wines of the Loire Valley, the mild and temperate climate of the Loire Valley, and so on. However, so far the name has not been adopted as the official name of the région. It is only sometimes used next to the name of the région, as in "Centre - Val de Loire".
Features
The main feature of the région Centre is the Loire Valley. It includes the rich, fertile valleys of the Loire River and its tributaries: Cher, Indre, Eure, etc. It is in the Centre région that are located the famous châteaux of the Loire Valley, which attract many tourists to the région.
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.