Pays De La Loire
Pays-de-la-Loire is one of the 26 régions of France. It is one of these régions of France created artificially in the late 20th century to serve as an hinterland and zone of influence for its capital, Nantes, one of a handful so-called "balancing metropolises" (métropoles d'équilibre). Other examples of artificially created régions include Rhône-Alpes, which was created as the région for Lyon, and Midi-Pyrénées, which was created as the région for Toulouse.
Pays-de-la-Loire is made up of the following historical provinces:
-a part of Brittany, with its old capital Nantes: Loire-Atlantique département. This is only 20% of Brittany. The other 80% of Brittany make up the région of Bretagne.
-Anjou: Maine-et-Loire département. The whole of the former province of Anjou is contained inside Pays-de-la-Loire.
-Maine: Mayenne and Sarthe départements. The whole of the former province of Maine is contained inside Pays-de-la-Loire.
-a part of Poitou: Vendée département. Most of the old province of Poitou is inside the Poitou-Charentes région.
-a part of Perche: northeast of Sarthe département. The rest of Perche is inside the Basse-Normandie and Centre régions.
-a small part of Touraine: southeast of Maine-et-Loire département. Most of the former province of Tourraine is inside the Centre région.
Consequently, the name of the région, chosen by the French central government, was not based on history, but purely on geographical references: Pays (i.e. "lands") -de-la-Loire (i.e. "of the Loire River"). It should be noted that the world famous châteaux of the Loire Valley are located in the Centre région, and not inside Pays-de-la-Loire, despite the confusing name.
