Loire

For ither uises, see Loire (disambiguation).

The Loire (French pronunciation: ​[lwaʁ]; Laitin: Liger; Occitan: Léger; Breton: Liger) is the langest river in Fraunce.^[3] Wi a length o 1,012 kilometre (629 mi), it drains an auriea o 117,054 km² (45,195 sq mi), which represents mair nor a fift o Fraunce's land aurie.^[1] It is the 170t langest river in the warld. It rises in the Cévennes in the département o Ardèche at 1,350 m (4,430 ft) near Mont Gerbier de Jonc, an flaws for ower 1,000 km (620 mi) north through Nevers tae Orléans, then wast through Tours an Nantes till it reaches the Bay o Biscay at St Nazaire. Its main tributaries include the Maine, Nièvre an the Erdre rivers on its richt bank, an the Allier, Cher, Indre, Vienne, an the Sèvre Nantaise rivers frae the left bank. The Loire gies its name tae sax départements: Loire, Haute-Loire, Loire-Atlantique, Indre-et-Loire, Maine-et-Loire, an Saône-et-Loire. The central part o the Loire Valley wis addit tae the Warld Heritage Steids leet o UNESCO on December 2, 2000. The banks are characterized bi vineyards an chateaux in the Loire Valley.

Loire
River Loire Maine-et-Loire
Kintra	France
Tributaries
- left	Allier, Cher, Indre, Vienne, Sèvre Nantaise
- right	Maine, Nièvre, Erdre
Soorce	Massif Central
- location	Sainte-Eulalie, Ardèche
- elevation	1,408 m (4,619 ft) [1]
- coordinates	44°49′48″N 4°13′20″E
Mooth	Atlantic Ocean
- location	Saint-Nazaire, Loire-Atlantique
- elevation	0 m (0 ft)
- coordinates	47°16′09″N 2°11′09″E
Lenth	1,012 km (629 mi) [1]
Basin	117,000 km2 (45,174 sq mi) [1]
Discharge	for Montjean
- average	835.3 m3/s (29,498 cu ft/s) [2]
- max	4,150 m3/s (146,600 cu ft/s)
- min	60 m3/s (2,119 cu ft/s)
Cairt o Fraunce wi the Loire heichlichtit

The Loire Valley haes been cried the "Garden o Fraunce" an is studded wi ower a thoosand chateaux, each wi distinct airchitectural embellishments coverin a wide range o variations,^[4] frae the early medieval tae the late Renaissance periods.^[5] Thay wur oreeginally creatit as feudal stranghaulds, ower centuries past, in the strategic divide atween soothren an northren Fraunce; nou mony are privately awned.^[6]