Pays de la Loire

Agricultural region of western France, comprising the départements of Loire-Atlantique, Maine-et-Loire, Mayenne, Sarthe, and La Vendée; area 32,082 sq km/12,387 sq mi; population (1999 est) 3,222,100. The administrative centre is Nantes. Industries include shipbuilding and wine production.

The region is bisected by the lower Loire River valley and its estuary below Nantes. The valley, known as the Val de Loire, is where the region's renowned agricultural production (dominated by livestock raising) is centred, and where its cultural life is focused. Industry and shipping activities are concentrated in the Nante-Saint-Nazaire corridor (France's fourth-largest seaport), while the famous Loire chateau and wine country stretches upriver. Le Mans, which gives its name to the yearly 24-hour motor race, is located on the Sarthe, in the north.