kids encyclopedia robot

Arrondissements of the Indre-et-Loire department facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

In France, a department is like a big region. Inside each department, there are smaller areas called arrondissements. You can think of an arrondissement as a district or a borough. The Indre-et-Loire department has three of these arrondissements.

The main town or city of an arrondissement is called a subprefecture. If the main city of the whole department (which is called the prefecture) is inside an arrondissement, then that city acts as both the prefecture and the subprefecture for that arrondissement. Arrondissements are then divided into even smaller areas called communes, which are like local towns or villages.

Understanding Arrondissements in Indre-et-Loire

The Indre-et-Loire department has three main arrondissements. Each one has its own capital city, population, and area. This helps manage the different parts of the department more easily.

Arrondissements of Indre-et-Loire
INSEE
code
Arrondissement Capital Population
(2014)
Area
(km²)
Density
(Inh./km²)
Communes
371 Chinon Chinon 86,952 1,694.2 51.3 106
372 Tours Tours 466,232 2,629.2 177.3 54
373 Loches Loches 50,740 1,803.4 28.1 113

A Brief History of Indre-et-Loire's Arrondissements

The way the Indre-et-Loire department is organized has changed a few times over the years.

How the Department Was First Set Up

  • 1790: The Indre-et-Loire department was first created. It had seven smaller areas called districts: Tours, Amboise, Château-Renault, Loches, Chinon, Preuilly, and Langeais. The main city for the whole department was Tours.

Changes Over Time

  • 1800: The seven districts were changed into three larger arrondissements: Chinon, Loches, and Tours.
  • 1926: The arrondissement of Loches was removed for a while.
  • 1943: Loches was made an arrondissement again, and it has stayed that way since.

See Also

Images for kids

kids search engine
Arrondissements of the Indre-et-Loire department Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.