Map of Loire Atlantique

What you need to know about the Loire-Atlantique department ?

Here we present to you the French department 44, which is part of the Pays de la Loire region. Formerly, this department was called Loire-Inférieure. Its location is in the western part of the country, and the name Loire-Atlantique obviously comes from the fact that the department is crossed by the Loire River and has a coastline overlooking the Atlantic.

Historically, the Loire-Atlantique department was a very old department that was created following the French Revolution of 1790. Since it was part of the Brittany region, many associate this department as being the capital of that region when this is not the case.

In fact, the Loire-Atlantique department has Nantes as its prefecture and administrative capital, while its subprefectures are Saint-Nazaire, Châteaubriant-Ancenis, and Rezé. Governed by a departmental council, department 44 is divided into 3 arrondissements, 31 cantons, and 207 municipalities. The area of department 44 is 6,815 km², and its population currently stands at 1,481,269 inhabitants, giving it a population density of 217 inhabitants per km².

Which departments border the Loire-Atlantique department?

Indeed, since department 44 is an integral part of Pays de la Loire, its neighboring departments are: the Ille-et-Vilaine department, the Morbihan department, the Maine-et-Loire department, and the Vendée department. It is also bordered by the Atlantic Ocean along its western section.

What is the climate like in the Loire-Atlantique department?

Since the department faces the Atlantic Ocean on its western side, its climate is therefore classified as a temperate oceanic climate. This may vary somewhat when moving from one place to another within the Loire-Atlantique department, except in the southwest section. In this area, winters have an average temperature of 5 °C, and during the summer periods, average temperatures hover around 18 °C.

Regarding rainfall, it is high because it rains a lot during the winter and spring seasons. But the rains are not heavy. That is to say, there is about 820 mm of annual precipitation. Furthermore, the rainfall is irregular and not evenly distributed throughout the year.

In the southwest section, temperatures are warmer and reach about 3 °C during winter. This means that this season is milder. However, on the beaches, temperatures are higher because of the proximity to the sea.

But it should still be noted that sunshine durations are lower when you are in the Loire-Atlantique department. This is somewhat less compared to the sunshine in Vendée and Morbihan. That is to say, the sunshine hours are not very high, with a duration of 1850 hours per year.

What are the most important cities in the Loire-Atlantique department?

The cities listed below are the most populated cities in the Loire-Atlantique department:

• Nantes
• Saint-Nazaire
• Saint-Herblain
• Rezé
• Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire
• Orvault
• Vertou
• Couëron
• Carquefou
• La Chapelle-sur-Erdre

What are the largest municipalities in the Loire-Atlantique department ?

We based this ranking on area size. So, here are the largest municipalities in the Loire-Atlantique department:

• Guémené-Penfao
• Blain
• Saint-Joachim
• Avessac
• Herbignac
• Plessé
• Pornic
• Guérande
• Héric
• Guenrouet

We based these 10 municipalities on population density per km2, so here are the most populated municipalities in the Loire-Atlantique department:

• Nantes
• Saint-Herblain
• Saint-Sébastien-sur-Loire
• Vertou
• Carquefou
• Saint-Nazaire
• Rezé
• Orvault
• Couëron
• La Chapelle-sur-Erdre

FAQ – Loire-Atlantique map