Saint-Germain-Laval, Loire

Commune in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France

(2020–2026) Jean-Claude Raymond^[1]Area17.08 km² (6.59 sq mi)Population1,604 • Density94/km² (240/sq mi)Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET) • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)INSEE/Postal codeElevation344–526 m (1,129–1,726 ft)
(avg. 430 m or 1,410 ft)¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Saint-Germain-Laval (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ ʒɛʁmɛ̃ laval] ^ⓘ) is a commune in the Loire department in central France.^[3]

The North American explorer Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut was born in Saint-Germain-Laval.

Geography

The commune is located in the plain of Forez, in the center of departement of Loire, in the center of France, 35 kilometers south of Roanne, 52 kilometers north-west of Saint-Etienne and 37 kilometers east of Thiers.

It is crossed by the Aix river, a tributary of the Loire which flows less than ten kilometers to the east. A The commune is 6 kilometers south of exit 5 of A89 autoroute linking Clermont-Ferrand (Auvergne, 85 km distant) to Saint-Étienne (62 km distant).

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1968	1,721	—
1975	1,777	+0.46%
1982	1,657	−0.99%
1990	1,510	−1.15%
1999	1,488	−0.16%
2009	1,649	+1.03%
2014	1,643	−0.07%
2020	1,610	−0.34%
Source: INSEE[4]

Twin towns

Saint-Germain-Laval is twinned with:

• San Germano, Italy

See also

• Communes of the Loire department
• Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut (c. 1639 – 1710), born in Saint-Germain-Laval. He is the namesake of Duluth, Minnesota as well as Duluth, Georgia

References