Saône-et-Loire

Saône-et-Loire (Sona-et-Lêre in language) is a , named after the  and the  rivers between which it lies.

History
When it was formed during the, as of , in fulfillment of the law of  , the new department combined parts of the  of southern  and , uniting lands that had no previous common history nor political unity and which have no true geographical unity. Thus its history is that of, and is especially to be found in the local histories of , , , and.

Geography
Saône-et-Loire is the seventh largest department of France and the most densely populated in the of. In the west the department is composed of the hills of the Autunois, the region around, of the and of the. In the center it is traversed from north to south by the Saône in its wide plain; the Saône is a tributary of the River that joins it at  and thus is connected to the. The Loire makes its way in the opposite direction, draining into the. A canal (canal du centre) links the Saône to the Loire between and, thereby linking the  to the. In the east the department occupies the northern part of the plain of Bresse. In the west its industrial heart is in and.