Touraine, former province in west central France, bounded by the provinces of Anjou on the west, Maine on the north, Orléanais on the northeast, Berry on the east and southeast, and Poitou on the southwest. The capital of Touraine was Tours. In 1790 the province was divided among the present administrative departments of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Indre, and Vienne.

The Turones, a Gallic people, submitted to Julius Caesar during his first campaign in Gaul but in 52 bc joined in the revolt led by the Gallic leader Vercingetorix. During the Germanic invasions the region was conquered by the Visigoths in 475 and by the Franks between 494 and 507. Under Frankish rule and under Emperor Charlemagne, Touraine was a countship. In 1044 it came under the rule of Anjou and passed with that province to the ruling house of England. In 1203 Philip II of France confiscated the English holdings. In 1356 John II made Touraine a duchy for his son Philip, who later became duke of Burgundy. It continued as an endowment for the sons of the royal family until, on the death of the duke d'Alençon, it was united to the crown in 1584.

Four important residences of the French kings were in Touraine: Loches, Plessis-les-Tours, Blois, and Chinon, where Joan of Arc asked Charles VII to form an army for her. The old place-names of Touraine are among the best known in France, as a result of the writings of the bishop and historian Gregory of Tours, who lived from 538 to 594 and wrote a history of the Merovingian kingdom to 591.