LOIRE-Inférieure

LOIRE-Inférieure, a department of France, situated, as its name indicates, at the embouchure of the River Loire, on the W. coast of that country. It comprises the S.E. extremity of the old province of Bretagne; is bounded on the N. by the department of Ille-et-Vilaine and Morbihan, on the E. by those of Mayenne and Maine-et-Loire, on the S. by that of Vendée, and on the W. by the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated between N. Lat. 46. 53. and 47. 50., and between W. Long. 0. 55. and 2. 32., and has an area of 2595 square miles; is traversed by the Loire from E. to W., and divided by it into two unequal portions, the larger lying

to the N. The most important towns of this department—Ancenis, Nantes, and Paimbeuf—are situate upon the Loire, the affluents of which in this department are very numerous; the more important are,—the Erdre, on the right or N. side, which has its embouchure at Nantes; the Sevre-Nantaise and the Achenau on the left. The Achenau is connected with Grandlieu, the largest lake in France, and the N. tributaries drain the numerous small lakes and extensive bogs and marshes of that district. The Vilaine borders on the department on the N.W. There is a canal between Nantes and Brest; and the former town, the capital of the department, is connected with Paris by a railway through Angers, Tours, and Orleans. The minerals are considerable; the principal being salt, iron, coal, granite, and kaolin. Agriculture is in a more flourishing condition here than in any other part of Bretagne. It is rich in grain, especially rye and buckwheat; and common white wine is produced in great abundance. Cattle of the Breton breed are reared in the rich meadows and pasture-lands along the Loire; also horses, swine, and sheep. Here, as elsewhere in Bretagne, great attention is given to the nurture of bees. The commerce, of which Nantes (pop. 96,000) is the centre, is very extensive; the chief articles of which are grain, wine and spirits, timber, fish, and salt. There are five arrondissements in this department, subdivided as follows:—