Like 82 other departments, Mayenne was created on 4 March 1790 during the early stages of the French Revolution by order of the National Constituent Assembly. The new departments were to be uniformly administered and

Mayenne is a department in northwestern France and is part of the region of Pays de la Loire. The department does not have a sea coast, but about thirty kilometres to the northwest is Mont Saint-Michel Bay. The capital and largest town is Laval in the centre of the department.

The department is largely rural with about 80% being used for agriculture, 8% being urban area and the remainder forest, heath and plantations. Livestock farming predominates, with the breeding of cattle, horses and pigs, and also bee-keeping being important. The soil

• Cantons of the Mayenne department
• Communes of the Mayenne department
• Arrondissements of the Mayenne department

Mayenne has a diversity of habitat types such as forest, heathland, bog and farmland. Some 1445 species of plants, 63 species of mammals, 280 species of birds, 16 species of amphibians and 11 species of reptiles have been recorded, as well as thousands of species of

• Laval
• View from the Armorican Massif
• Abbey in Château-Gontier
• Château de Sainte-Suzanne

• (in French) Prefecture website
• (in French) General council website