Lozère (département)

Lozère
Department
Prefecture building of the Lozère department, in Mende
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Lozère in France
Coordinates: 44°20′N 3°36′E / 44.333°N 3.600°E / 44.333; 3.600Coordinates: 44°20′N 3°36′E / 44.333°N 3.600°E / 44.333; 3.600
Country	France
Region	Occitanie
Departement	Since 4 March 1790
Prefecture	Mende
Subprefecture	Florac
Government
• President of the General Council	Sophie Pantel
Area
• Total	5,166.9 km2 (1,995.0 sq mi)
Population (2013)
• Total	76,607
• Rank	101st
• Density	15/km2 (38/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Lozériens
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
ISO 3166 code	FR-48
Arrondissements	2
Cantons	13
Communes	176
Website	http://lozere.fr/

Lozère (French pronunciation: ​[lɔzɛʁ]; Occitan: Losera) is a department in the region of Occitanie in southern France near the Massif Central. It is named after Mont Lozère.

Lozère was created in 1790 during the French Revolution, when the whole of France was divided into departments, replacing the old provinces. Lozère was formed with part of the old province of Languedoc.

Les Sources and Hautes-Cèvennes were two other names proposed for this department but they were not accepted.

Pliny's Natural History praised the cheese of Lozère:

During the period 1764-67, the Beast of Gévaudan was a creature that terrorized the general area of the former province of Gévaudan, with nearly identical borders to today's Lozère, in the Margeride Mountains.

Lozère has an area of 5,166.9 km² (1,995 sq mi). It is the northernmost department of the current Occitanie region and is surrounded by 5 departments belonging to 2 regions: Cantal, Haute-Loire and Ardèche departments of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, and Gard and Aveyron departments of the Occitanie region.