From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This page is about the administrative region in France. For
other similarly named regions, see Centre
Region.
Centre is one of the 26 regions of
France, located towards the
northwest of the actual centre of the country, around the Loire Valley. Its
capital is Orléans,
although its largest city is Tours.
Features
The main feature of Centre is the Loire Valley. It includes the rich,
fertile valleys of the Loire River and its tributaries: Cher,
Indre, Loiret, etc. It is in
Centre that are located the famous châteaux of the Loire Valley,
which attract many tourists to the region.
Name
The name Centre was chosen by the French central
government based purely on geography, as Centre is composed of too
many historical provinces to use a historical name. However, Centre
is not in the geographical centre of France, and the name has been
criticized as being overly dull and nondescript.
It has been proposed to rename the region Val de Loire
(i.e. "Valley of the Loire"), which would give more character to
the name of the region. Val de Loire is a name associated
with positive images of the Loire Valley, such as the chateaux, the gentle and refined lifestyle,
wine, the mild and temperate climate. The name change has not yet
been adopted, but the term is sometimes juxtaposed with the
region's name, as in Centre - Val de Loire.
Major
communities
See also
External
links
Coordinates: 47°30′N 1°45′E / 47.5°N
1.75°E / 47.5;
1.75
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