Loire

Département in the Rhône-Alpes region of southeast France; area 4,773 sq km/1,843 sq mi; population (1999 est) 728,500. The département is largely mountainous, but the plains of Forez and Roanne provide good agricultural and pasture lands. Vines are grown in the Rhône valley. The main goods manufactured are glass, silk, cast steel, hardware, machinery, and cutlery. The principal towns are St-Etienne (the capital), and Roanne.

Loire is drained in the north by the River Loire and its tributaries and in the southeast by the tributaries of the Rhône. The basin of the St-Etienne was an important coal district before World War II. Iron and lead are mined.

Loire was formed from the old district of Forez together with parts of Beaujolais and Lyonnais. It is bounded on the north by the département of Saône-et-Loire, to the south by Ardèche and Haute-Loire.