Loire

Loire, a department in the south-east of France, formerly part of the province of Lyonnais and the county of Forez, comprises the arrondissements of Montbrison, Roanne, and St Etienne, with St Etienne for its capital. Area, 1838 sq. m.; pop. (1872) 550,611; (1891) 616,227. The basin of the Loire in this department is a rather unfruitful valley, but the mountains yield iron and lead, and the coalfields are the richest in France. Some 17,000 miners are employed in the extraction of nearly 3,000,000 tons of coal annually, 25,000 in the iron industries, 12,000 in the silk, and 5500 in the cotton industries. Woollens, linen, glass, paper, leather, &c. are likewise manufactured. Wine, fruit, fodder, and potatoes are the principal agricultural products. Timber and turpentine are yielded by the pine woods. Mineral springs abound, as at St Galmier, St Alban, &c.