Pays de Loire
| Pays de la Loire | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Region of France | |||
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| Country |
 France
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| Prefecture | Nantes | ||
| Departments | |||
| Government | |||
| • President | Bruno Retailleau (The Republicans (France)) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 32,082 km2 (12,387 sq mi) | ||
| Population | |||
| • Total | 3,553,353 | ||
| • Density | 110/km2 (290/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| ISO 3166 code | FR-R | ||
| GDP (2012) | Ranked 5th | ||
| Total | €101.2 billion (US$130.2 bn) | ||
| Per capita | €27,775 (US$35,725) | ||
| NUTS Region | FR5 | ||
| Website | paysdelaloire.fr | ||
Pays de la Loire (French pronunciation: [pe.i də la lwaʁ]; Breton: Broioù al Liger) is one of the 18 regions of France. It is one of the regions created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful so-called "balancing metropolises" (métropoles d'équilibre)¹.
Pays de la Loire is made up of the following historical provinces:
Thus the name of the region, chosen by the French central government, was not based on history, but purely on geographical references: Pays ("lands") de la Loire ("of the Loire"). The majority of the châteaux of the Loire Valley are located in the Centre-Val de Loire region, and not in Pays de la Loire.
The Pays de la Loire has numerous prominent monuments, such as the castles of Angers, Laval, and Mayenne, and the Nantes Château des Ducs de Bretagne, the Royal Fontevraud Abbey (the widest monastic ensemble in Europe), and the old city of Le Mans. In addition, it also has many natural parks such as the Brière and the Marsh of Poitou.
Evolution of the population listed by departments:
An increase in the population was seen particularly as people migrated from all over France to the Loire region due to the rise of Nantes to prominence.
The biggest city in Pays de la Loire is Nantes, which is the sixth most populated city in France with over 290,000 people (city proper) and a metropolitan population of almost 900,000.
Angers is another metropolis of the region. It has a metropolitan population of about 400,000 and is the third biggest job provider in north-western France, just behind Nantes and Rennes.
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Wikipedia