Loir-et-Cher

Loir-et-Cher is a department in the centre of France in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It is named after the Loir and the Cher, two rivers that flow through the department.
Its prefecture is Blois and there are two subprefectures at Romorantin-Lanthenay and Vendôme.
History.
The department is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. The department was created from part of the former province of Orléanais together with small parts of other provinces.
The new department had six districts: Blois, Vendôme, Romorantin, Mondoubleau, Mer and Saint-Aignan. The capital (now prefecture) was Blois.
In 1800, with the creation of the "arrondissements" in France, the six districts were changed into three "arrondissements": Blois, Romorantin and Vendôme.
After the Battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815), the department was occupied by the Prussian army from June 1815 to November 1818.
On 10 September 1926, the "arrondissement" of Romorantin was eliminated but in 1943 it was made again an "arrondissement". In 1961, Romorantin was merged with Lanthenay and the name, of the "commune" and of the "arrondissement", was changed to Romorantin-Lanthenay.
Geography.
Loir-et-Cher is part of the Centre-Val de Loire region. It has an area of .
The highest point of the department is in the "Bois des Vallèes" (), in the "commune" of Bouffry, and that is above sea level.
The department is bordered by the 6 departments in 2 regions:
The main rivers are:
Climate.
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Vendôme is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Marine West Coast Climate) and of the subtype Cfb.
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Vendôme is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of .
The average temperature for the year in Vendôme is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .
Administration.
The department is managed by the "Departmental Council of the Loir-et-Cher" in Blois. Loir-et-Cher is part of the region of Centre-Val de Loire.
Administrative divisions.
There are 3 "arrondissements" (districts), 15 "cantons" and 276 "communes" (municipalities) in Loir-et-Cher.
The following is a list of the 13 cantons of the Loir-et-Cher department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
Demographics.
The inhabitants of Loir-et-Cher are known, in French, as "Loir-et-Chériens" (women: "Loir-et-Chériennes").
Loir-et-Cher has a population, in 2014, of 333,567, for a population density of inhabitants/km2. The "arrondissement" of Blois, with 173,125 inhabitants, is by far the largest.
Evolution of the population in Loir-et-Cher
The main cities in the department are: