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 adjacent regions are Normandy to the northwest, Île-de-France to the northeast, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté to the east, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes to the southeast, Nouvelle-Aquitaine to the southwest and Pays de la Loire to the west.

Centre-Val de Loire comprises six departments: Cher, Eure-et-Loir, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, and Loiret.

The gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 72.4 billion euros in 2018, accounting for 3.1% of French economic output.

GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 25,200 euros or 84% of the EU27 average in the same year.