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Saône-et-Loire
Department
Prefecture building of the Saône-et-Loire department, in Mâcon
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Saône-et-Loire in France
Coordinates: 46°40′N 04°42′E / 46.667°N 4.700°E / 46.667; 4.700Coordinates: 46°40′N 04°42′E / 46.667°N 4.700°E / 46.667; 4.700
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Prefecture	Mâcon
Subprefectures	Autun Chalon-sur-Saône Charolles Louhans
Government
• President of the General Council	André Accary
Area 1
• Total	8,575 km2 (3,311 sq mi)
Population (2013)
• Total	556,222
• Rank	47th
• Density	65/km2 (170/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	71
Arrondissements	5
Cantons	29
Communes	567
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Saône-et-Loire (French pronunciation: ​[sonelwaʁ]; Arpitan: Sona-et-Lêre) is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.

History

When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern Burgundy and Bresse, uniting lands that had no previous common history nor political unity and which have no true geographical unity. Thus its history is that of Burgundy, and is especially to be found in the local histories of Autun, Mâcon, Chalon-sur-Saône, Charolles and Louhans.

Geography

Saône-et-Loire is the seventh largest department of France. It is part of the region Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. In the west, the department is composed of the hills of the Autunois, the region around Autun, in the southwest the Charollais, and the Mâconnais in the south.

In the centre, the department is traversed from north to south by the Saône in its wide plain; the Saône is a tributary of the River Rhône that joins it at Lyon and thus is connected to the Mediterranean Sea. The source of the Loire, is south of the department, in the department of Ardèche. It then makes its way in the opposite direction, forming the southwest border of the department, and eventually draining into the Atlantic Ocean. The Canal du Centre links the Saône to the Loire between Chalon-sur-Saône and Digoin, thereby linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Atlantic ocean. In the east, the department occupies the northern part of the plain of Bresse. In the west, its industrial heart is in Le Creusot and Montceau-les-Mines, formerly noted for their coal mines and metallurgy.

Principal towns

Subdivisions

The department consists of five arrondissements:

• Autun


• Chalon-sur-Saône


• Charolles


• Louhans


• Mâcon

There are 29 cantons in the department and 567 communes.

Tourism

Touristic sites :

• 
  Roche de Solutré,


• 
  Charolles,


• 
  Abbaye de Cluny,


• 
  Taizé and Taizé Community
  


• 
  Dompierre-les-Ormes (Galerie européenne de la forêt et du bois, Arboretum de Pézanin).

• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Lamartine's statue in Mâcon
  

  
  

  
  


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  Temple of Janus in Autun
  

  
  

  
  


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  Cluny Abbey
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Chalon-sur-Saône
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Tournus
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Lake of Pézanin
  

  
  

  
  

See also

• 
  Mâcon - Capital


• Cantons of the Saône-et-Loire department


• Communes of the Saône-et-Loire department


• Arrondissements of the Saône-et-Loire department


• Chizerots

References

External links

• 
  (in French) General Council website
  


• 
  (in French) Prefecture website
  


• 
  (in English) Saone-et-Loire at Curlie