The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pierre, Houdeng-Aimeries, Houdeng-Gœgnies, La Louvière, Maurage, Saint-Vaast, Strépy-Bracquegnies, and Trivières.

La Louvière is the capital of the Centre region, a former coal mining area in the Sillon industriel, between the Borinage to the West and the Pays Noir to the East.

At that time, the forested, and presumably wolf-infested, territory of today’s La Louvière was named Menaulu, from the Old French meaning “wolf’s lair”.

La Louvière has an oceanic climate typical of Belgium with moderated seasons even for its inland position at 50° latitude, as a result of Gulf Stream influence.

Typical of La Louvière’s celebrations is the so-called Brûlage des Bosses (“burning of the humps”), where a puppet dressed as a Gilles is burnt to symbolize the end of carnival and beginning of a new life.