Lot-et-Garonne

Lot-et-Garonne (French pronunciation: [lɔt e ɡaʁɔn] ^ⓘ, Occitan: Òlt e Garona) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.^[3] Its prefecture and largest city is Agen.

Lot-et-Garonne Òlt e Garona (Occitan)
Department of France
Top down, from left to right: prefecture building in Agen, Castelnaud-de-Gratecambe, Château de Lauzun and Château de Bonaguil
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Lot-et-Garonne in France
Coordinates: 44°20′N 0°30′E
Country	France
Region	Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Prefecture	Agen
Subprefectures	Marmande Nérac Villeneuve-sur-Lot
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Sophie Borderie[1] (PS)
Area 1
• Total	5,361 km2 (2,070 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	332,226
• Rank	71st
• Density	61.97/km2 (160.5/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	47
Arrondissements	4
Cantons	21
Communes	319
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

History

Lot-et-Garonne is one of the original 83 departments created on 4 March 1790, as a result of the French Revolution. It was created from part of the province of Guyenne and Gascony; originally the territory of the ancient county of Agenais constituted nearly the whole.

The southeastern part of the original department (the former cantons of Auvillar, Montaigu-de-Quercy and Valence) was separated from it in 1808 to become a part of the newly created department of Tarn-et-Garonne.^[4]

Geography

Map of Lot-et-Garonne

Lot-et-Garonne is part of the current region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine and is surrounded by the departments of Lot, Tarn-et-Garonne, Gers, Landes, Gironde, and Dordogne. The north of the department is composed of limestone hills. Between Lot and Garonne, there is a plateau carved by many valleys. In the west of the department, the Landes forest is planted in sand. It is composed of maritime pines. Between the forest and Agen, there is the Albret, a very hilly country.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Agen, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are five communes with more than 7,000 inhabitants:^[3]

Commune	Population (2019)
Agen	32,602
Villeneuve-sur-Lot	21,742
Marmande	17,421
Le Passage	9,400
Tonneins	9,130

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Lot-et-Garonnais.

Population development since 1801:

Historical population
Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 298,940 —     1806 327,444 +1.84% 1821 330,121 +0.05% 1831 346,885 +0.50% 1841 347,073 +0.01% 1851 341,345 −0.17% 1861 332,065 −0.28% 1872 319,289 −0.36% 1881 312,081 −0.25% 1891 295,360 −0.55% 1901 278,740 −0.58% 1911 268,083 −0.39% 1921 239,972 −1.10%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 247,500 +0.31% 1936 252,761 +0.42% 1946 265,449 +0.49% 1954 265,549 +0.00% 1962 275,028 +0.44% 1968 290,592 +0.92% 1975 292,616 +0.10% 1982 298,522 +0.29% 1990 305,989 +0.31% 1999 305,380 −0.02% 2006 322,283 +0.77% 2016 332,833 +0.32% 2020 330,844 −0.15%
Sources:[4][5]

Politics

Departmental Council of Lot-et-Garonne

The Departmental Council of Lot-et-Garonne has 40 seats. In the 2015 departmental elections, the Socialist Party (PS) secured 25 seats while The Republicans (LR) won 15 seats. Sophie Borderie (PS) has presided over the assembly since 2019.

Members of the National Assembly

Lot-et-Garonne elected the following members of the National Assembly during the 2024 legislative election:

Constituency		Member[6]	Party
	Lot-et-Garonne's 1st constituency	Michel Lauzzana	Renaissance
	Lot-et-Garonne's 2nd constituency	Hélène Laporte	National Rally
	Lot-et-Garonne's 3rd constituency	Guillaume Lepers	The Republicans

Economy

Food processing, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals are all major industries of the department.

Tourism

• 
  Agen
• 
  Marmande
• 
  Villeneuve-sur-Lot
• 
  Duras
• 
  Nérac
• 
  Monflanquin

See also

• Cantons of the Lot-et-Garonne department
• Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department
• Arrondissements of the Lot-et-Garonne department
• Roman Catholic Diocese of Agen