| Main | Births etc |
|---|
Sarthe | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Prefecture building of the Sarthe department, in Le Mans | |||
| |||
 Location of Sarthe in France | |||
| Coordinates: Script error: No such module "ISO 3166". | |||
| Country | France | ||
| Region | Pays de la Loire | ||
| Prefecture | Le Mans | ||
| Subprefectures |
La Flèche Mamers | ||
| Government | |||
| • President of the General Council | Roland du Luart | ||
| Area | |||
• Total |
6,206 km2 (2,396 sq mi) | ||
| ^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | |||
The Château de Boisclaireau, residence of the Gueroust family, Counts of Boisclaireau, in Sarthe.
Sarthe (French pronunciation: [saʁt]) is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire situated in the Grand-Ouest of the country. It is named after the River Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers.
History[]
In the late 18th century, before it was officially Sarthe, the nobility built their Mansions and Chateaux there, as an escape from Paris.
The department was created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, pursuant to the law of 22 December 1789, starting from a part of the province of Maine. The latter was divided into two departments, Sarthe to the east and Mayenne to the west.[1]
In Roman times, this province contained the city of Mans, and many of its ruins are still standing. The Roman Thermal Bathhouse attracts many tourists, as does the Theater of Aubigné-Racan, both located on the outskirts of Anjou, Maine, and Touraine.
Marin Mersenne, perhaps the most important scientific figure in the early 17th century, was born in the vicinity of Sarthe.
Geography[]
The department of Sarthe is at the north end of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire. It is south of Normandy and on the southern edge of the Armorican Massif. It is bordered by the departments of Orne, Eure-et-Loir, Loir-et-Cher, Indre-et-Loire, Maine-et-Loire and Mayenne.
Approximately 300,000 people, comprising more than half of the department's population, live in Le Mans, its conurbation, or the essentially urban communes close by. The rest of the department retains a rural character, with agriculture as the chief part of the economy.
The arrival of the railways in 1854 boosted trade for the local economy. A TGV connection was constructed in 1989, connecting the community to high-speed transport.
In terms of road connections, the A11 autoroute, which was constructed to Le Mans from the east in 1978, enhances Sarthe's strategic position as the gateway to the French west.
Demographics[]
Population development since 1801:
| Historical population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1801 | 388,143 | — |
| 1806 | 410,380 | 1.11% |
| 1821 | 428,432 | 0.29% |
| 1831 | 457,372 | 0.65% |
| 1841 | 470,535 | 0.28% |
| 1851 | 473,071 | 0.05% |
| 1861 | 466,155 | -0.15% |
| 1872 | 446,603 | -0.39% |
| 1881 | 438,917 | -0.19% |
| 1891 | 429,737 | -0.21% |
| 1901 | 422,699 | -0.17% |
| 1911 | 419,370 | -0.08% |
| 1921 | 389,235 | -0.75% |
| 1931 | 384,619 | -0.12% |
| 1936 | 388,519 | 0.2% |
| 1946 | 412,214 | 0.59% |
| 1954 | 420,393 | 0.25% |
| 1962 | 443,019 | 0.66% |
| 1968 | 461,839 | 0.69% |
| 1975 | 490,385 | 0.86% |
| 1982 | 504,768 | 0.41% |
| 1990 | 513,654 | 0.22% |
| 1999 | 529,851 | 0.34% |
| 2006 | 553,484 | 0.62% |
| 2011 | 565,718 | 0.44% |
| 2016 | 567,561 | 0.07% |
| source:[2] | ||
Politics[]
The department was the electoral base of former Prime Minister François Fillon, who since 2012 sits in the National Assembly of France for a constituency in central Paris.
Current National Assembly Representatives[]
| Constituency | Member[3] | Party | |
|---|---|---|---|
| style="background-color: Template:La République En Marche!/meta/color" | | Sarthe's 1st constituency | Damien Pichereau | La République En Marche! |
| Sarthe's 2nd constituency | Marietta Karamanli | Socialist Party | |
| style="background-color: Template:En Marche!/meta/color" | | Sarthe's 3rd constituency | Pascale Fontenel-Personne | La République En Marche! |
| Sarthe's 4th constituency | Stéphane Le Foll | Socialist Party | |
| style="background-color: Template:The Republicans (France)/meta/color" | | Sarthe's 5th constituency | Jean-Carles Grelier | The Republicans |
Tourism[]
.jpg "Le Mans - St Julien SGW (large version).jpg (40.44 MB)")
![The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest continuing sports car race in endurance racing.[4]](/wiki/File:908_lm2008_montagny.jpg "908 lm2008 montagny.jpg (816 KB)")
See also[]
- Arrondissements of the Sarthe department
- Cantons of the Sarthe department
- Circuit de la Sarthe (cycling), an annual road cycling race
- Circuit de la Sarthe, a motor racing track
- Communes of the Sarthe department
References[]
External links[]
 |
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Sarthe. |
- Prefecture (in French)
- General Council (in French)
- Sarthe information (in French)
|
| This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Sarthe. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License. |