Maine-et-Loire (French pronunciation: [mɛn e lwaʁ] ) is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indre-et-Loire to the east, Vienne and Deux-Sèvres to the south, Vendée to the south-west, and Ille-et-Vilaine to the north-west. It also borders Ille-et-Vilaine in the north for just 20 yards (19 m), France's shortest department boundary. Its prefecture is Angers; its subprefectures are Cholet, Saumur and Segré-en-Anjou Bleu. Maine-et-Loire had a population of 818,273 in 2019.

Maine-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, mostly out of the southern portion of the former province of Anjou. Originally it was called Mayenne-et-Loire, but its name was changed to Maine-et-Loire in 1791. Its present name is drawn from the rivers Maine and Loire, which meet within the department.

Maine-et-Loire is part of the current region of Pays de la Loire. The principal city is Angers, the seat of a bishopric and of a court of appeal.

It has a varied landscape, with forested ranges of hills in the south and north separated by the valley of the Loire. The highest point is Colline des Gardes at 210 m (690 ft). Part of the Loire Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site lies in Maine-et-Loire.

The area has many navigable rivers such as the Loire, Sarthe, Mayenne, Loir, and Authion.

The most populous commune is Angers, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 6 communes with more than 20,000 inhabitants:

Commune	Population (2019)
Angers	155,850
Cholet	54,037
Saumur	26,467
Sèvremoine	25,162
Beaupréau-en-Mauges	23,419
Chemillé-en-Anjou	20,828

The inhabitants of Maine-et-Loire have no official qualifier. They are sometimes known as Angevins, from the former province of Anjou, or Mainéligériens, from the name of the department.

Population development since 1801:

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1801 375,544 —     1806 404,134 +1.48% 1821 442,859 +0.61% 1831 467,871 +0.55% 1841 488,472 +0.43% 1851 515,452 +0.54% 1861 526,012 +0.20% 1872 518,471 −0.13% 1881 523,491 +0.11% 1891 518,589 −0.09% 1901 514,658 −0.08% 1911 508,149 −0.13% 1921 474,786 −0.68%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 475,991 +0.03% 1936 477,690 +0.07% 1946 496,068 +0.38% 1954 518,241 +0.55% 1962 556,272 +0.89% 1968 584,704 +0.83% 1975 629,849 +1.07% 1982 675,321 +1.00% 1990 705,882 +0.55% 1999 733,813 +0.43% 2006 766,659 +0.63% 2011 790,343 +0.61% 2016 810,934 +0.52%
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Sources:

The president of the Departmental Council is Florence Dabin, elected in July 2021.

Constituency		Member	Party
	Maine-et-Loire's 1st constituency	Matthieu Orphelin	Ecology Democracy Solidarity
	Maine-et-Loire's 2nd constituency	Stella Dupont	La République En Marche!
	Maine-et-Loire's 3rd constituency	Jean-Charles Taugourdeau	The Republicans
	Maine-et-Loire's 4th constituency	Laëtitia Saint-Paul	La République En Marche!
	Maine-et-Loire's 5th constituency	Denis Masséglia	La République En Marche!
	Maine-et-Loire's 6th constituency	Nicole Dubré-Chirat	La République En Marche!
	Maine-et-Loire's 7th constituency	Philippe Bolo	MoDem

Châteaux of the Loire Valley

• Château de Montsoreau.
• Royal Abbey of Fontevraud.
• Château de Brissac.
• Château de Saumur.
• Château d'Angers.
• Château de Brézé.

Anjou traditions

• The largest vineyard of the Loire Valley.
• The boule de fort, the traditional boules game in Anjou

Angers and around:

• The Angers castle and the Apocalypse Tapestry, the largest tapestry in the world.
• The Cointreau museum, in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou
• The Château de Brissac, the tallest castle of the Loire Valley.
• The crooked spires in Baugé region.

Saumur and around:

• The Cadre Noir, one of the most famous horsemanship school in the world.
• Montsoreau Flea Market is the largest Flea Market in the Loire Valley taking place every second Sunday of the month.
• Château de Montsoreau-Museum of contemporary art, featuring the Philippe Méaille Collection, largest collection of works by the British conceptual artists, Art & Language.
• The Royal Abbey of Fontevraud and the graves of the House of Plantagenet, including Richard I of England.
• The Tank museum of Saumur, which display the largest tank collection in France.
• Around Saumur, the largest concentration of troglodyte house in Europe.

Cholet and around:

• The textile museum of Cholet, and the creation of the famous red and white handkerchief.
• The Château de Touvois
• The Parc Oriental de Maulévrier, the largest Japanese garden of France

Segré and around:

• The fortified city of Pouancé and its medieval castle.
• The Blue Mine, a slate mine, with a funicular which goes 130 meters under the surface.
• The National stud of Le Lion-d'Angers, which host every year Le Mondial du Lion
• The Château de Challain-la-Potherie

• 
  Château d'Angers
• 
  Saumur
• 
  Cadre Noir
• 
  Fontevraud Abbey
• 
  Montreuil-Bellay
• 
  Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art

• Cantons of the Maine-et-Loire department
• Communes of the Maine-et-Loire department
• Arrondissements of the Maine-et-Loire department
• Anjou wine
• Château de Challain-la-Potherie

• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) Departmental Council website
• (in English) Anjou Tourism Board website Archived 2004-12-09 at the Wayback Machine
• "Maine-et-Loire" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.