Country France ISO 3166 code FR-F Area 39,151 km² Population 2.56 million (1 Jan 2013) | Time zone CET (UTC+1) GDP (2012) Ranked 9th Capital Orléans Prefecture Orléans | |
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Departments 6
Cher
Eure-et-Loir
Indre
Indre-et-Loire
Loir-et-Cher
Loiret Total €67.1 billion (US$86.3 bn) Destinations Tours, Orléans, Blois, Joué-lès-Tours, Amboise Points of interest Château de Chenonceau, Château de Chambord, ZooParc de Beauval, Château de Villandry, Château d'Amboise Colleges and Universities François Rabelais University, University of Orléans, Centre‑Val de Loire INSA, École supérieure de comm, Ecole Polytechnique de l'Unive | ||
Centre-Val de Loire ([sɑ̃tʁ val də lwaʁ]), French for Centre-Loire Valley), is one of the 18 administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley in the interior of the country. The administrative capital is Orléans, but the largest city is Tours.
Contents
Map of Centre-Val de Loire, France
Naming and etymology
Like many contemporary regions of France, the region of Centre was created from parts of three historical provinces: Touraine, Orléanais, and Berry. The name Centre was chosen by the French government purely on the basis of geography, in reference to its location in north-central France (the central part of the original French language area),
However, Centre is not situated in the geographical centre of France, and the name was criticized as being too dull and nondescript. Proposed names for the region included Val de Loire after the Loire Valley (the main feature of the region) or Cœur de Loire (i.e. Heart of Loire). On 17 January 2015, as part of the reorganization of French regions, the region's official name was changed to Centre-Val de Loire. Val de Loire is associated with positive images of the Loire Valley, such as the châteaux, the gentle and refined lifestyle, the wine, and the mild and temperate climate, all of which attract many tourists to the region. A new logo was also created.
Largest cities
Economy
An economic development agency, called Centréco, was created in 1994 by the Centre Regional Council of the Centre-Loire valley region (France) to promote the inflow of investments and the establishment setting-up of new businesses French and foreign companies in the Centre region. This ensures a mission of economic promotion, international support to regional companies and enhancement promotion of regional agrofood products via a regional signature, © du Centre.