Indre-et-Loire

Its prefecture is Tours and subprefectures are Chinon and Loches. A touristic destination for its numerous monuments that are part of the Châteaux of the Loire Valley.

• Name — Indre-et-Loire • Type — Department of France • Subdivision Type — Country • Subdivision Name — France • Subdivision Type1 — Region • Subdivision Name1 — Centre-Val de Loire • Seat Type — Prefecture • Seat — Tours • Parts Type — Subprefectures • Parts Style — para • P1 — Chinon Loches • Leader Party — LR • Leader Title — President of the Departmental Council • Leader Name — Jean-Gérard Paumier • Unit Pref — Metric • Area Total Km2 — 6127 • Population Rank — 41st • Population Density Km2 — auto • Custom Label Sec1 — Department number • Custom Data Sec1 — 37 • Custom Label Sec2 — Arrondissements • Custom Data Sec2 — 3 • Custom Label1 Sec2 — Cantons • Custom Data1 Sec2 — 19 • Custom Label2 Sec2 — Communes • Custom Data2 Sec2 — 272 • Time Zone1 — CET • Utc Offset1 — +1 • Time Zone1 Dst — CEST • Utc Offset1 Dst — +2 • Footnotes — area French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km 2

Indre-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments established during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from the former province of Touraine and of small portions of Orléanais, Anjou and Poitou. Its prefecture, Tours, was a centre of learning in the Early Middle Ages, having been a key focus of Christian evangelisation since St Martin became its first bishop around 375. From the mid-15th century, the royal court repaired to the Loire Valley, with Tours as its capital; the confluence of the Loire River and Cher River became a centre of silk manufacturing and other luxury goods, including the wine trade, creating a prosperous bourgeoisie.

After the creation of the department it remained politically conservative, as Honoré de Balzac recorded in several of his novels. Conservative Tours refused to welcome the railways which instead were obliged to route their lines by way of Saint-Pierre-des-Corps on the city's eastern edge. The moderate temper of the department's politics remained apparent after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870: sentiments remained predominantly pro-royalist during the early years of the Third Republic. For most of the nineteenth century, Indre-et-Loire was a rural department, but pockets of heavy-duty industrialisation began to appear towards the century's end, accompanied by left-wing politics. 1920 saw the birth of the French Communist Party at the Congress of Tours. By 1920, Saint-Pierre-des-Corps had become a major railway hub and a centre of railway workshops: it had also acquired a reputation as a bastion of working class solidarity.

Indre-et-Loire is part of the region of Centre-Val de Loire; the neighbouring departments are Loir-et-Cher, Indre, Vienne, Maine-et-Loire and Sarthe.

The most populous commune is Tours, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are 10 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants: • Commune — Population (2023) • Tours — 139,259 • Joué-lès-Tours — 38,423 • Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire — 17,029 • Saint-Pierre-des-Corps — 15,898 • Saint-Avertin — 14,999 • Amboise — 12,937 • Chambray-lès-Tours — 12,720 • Montlouis-sur-Loire — 11,335 • Fondettes — 10,954 • La Riche — 10,487

The President of the Departmental Council is Jean-Gérard Paumier of The Republicans. • Party || seats • • — Socialist Party — 18 • Miscellaneous Right — 8 • Union for a Popular Movement — 5 • • — Miscellaneous Left — 2 • New Centre — 2 • • — French Communist Party — 1

• Constituency — Member — Party • Indre-et-Loire's 1st constituency — Charles Fournier — The Ecologists • Indre-et-Loire's 2nd constituency — Daniel Labaronne — Renaissance • Indre-et-Loire's 3rd constituency — Henri Alfandari — Horizons • Indre-et-Loire's 4th constituency — Laurent Baumel — Socialist Party • Indre-et-Loire's 5th constituency — Sabine Thillaye — MoDem