LOIR-ET-CHER

dpartement, Centre rgion, north-central France, created from the southwestern part of the historic province of Orlanais and small parts of Maine and Touraine. Its area of 2,449 square miles (6,343 square km) is bisected by the Loire River, while the Loir River flows through Vendme and Montoire-sur-le-Loir in the northwest and the Cher through Mennetou-sur-Cher and Montrichard in the south. Blois (q.v.), the departmental capital, Chambord, Chaumont, and Beaugency have historic chteaus that attract thousands of visitors annually to the Loire River valley. The dpartement is mainly agricultural: mixed farming is practiced in the wooded Perche hill country northwest of the Loir. The so-called Petite Beauce, which is the southern prolongation of the Beauce Plain (the main granary of France), is situated between the Loir and the Loire rivers. The lush Loire valley is cultivated for vines, fruit, and vegetables. In the reclaimed marshland of Sologne, famed for its game, asparagus has become an important crop. The dpartement as a whole has benefited from the decentralization of industry away from Paris. Some industries have been developed in the Blois region. A nuclear station has been built in Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux on an artificial island in the Loire, northeast of Blois. The wool industry, formerly dispersed across the local countryside, has been concentrated at Romorantin-Lanthenay. Romorantin and Vendme are picturesque, historic towns. The dpartement has three arrondissementsBlois, Romorantin-Lanthenay, and Vendmeand is in the educational division of Orlans. Pop. (1990) 305,937.