Centre-Val de Loire
French administrative region
Centre-Val de Loire (; French pronunciation: [sɑ̃tʁ(ə) val də lwaʁ], lit. 'Centre-Loire Valley'), or simply Centre as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France and one of five without a coastline. It straddles the middle Loire Valley in the interior of the country, encompassing six departments (Cher, Eure-et-Loir, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Loiret), with a population of 2,572,853 as of 2018. Its prefecture is Orléans, and its largest city is Tours.
Naming and etymology
Like many current regions of France, the region of Centre-Val de Loire was created from parts of historical provinces: Touraine, Orléanais and Berry. First, the name Centre was chosen by the government purely on the basis of geography, in reference to its location in northwest-central France (the central part of the original French language area). The name was criticised as being too dull and undistinguished. Proposed names for the region included Val de Loire after the Loire Valley (a principal feature of the region) or Cœur de Loire (Heart of Loire). On 17 January 2015, as part of the reorganisation of French regions, the region's official name was changed to Centre-Val de Loire. A new logo was also created for the region.
Geography
Bordering six out of eighteen, Centre-Val-de-Loire is the region that has the highest number of shared borders with other French regions.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Centre-Val de Loire” as french administrative region. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as french administrative region. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q13947. VIAF identifies the subject as 136050044. The Library of Congress control number is n81048085. Authority coordinates are 47.500, 1.750. 4 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2015 and 2018.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Centre-Val de Loire”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Centre-Val de Loire primary sources, Centre-Val de Loire archive and Centre-Val research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Centre-Val de Loire”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Centre-Val de Loire” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.