Puy-de-Dôme

Puy-de-Dôme (French: [pɥi də dom] (listen); Auvergnat: lo Puèi de Doma or lo Puèi Domat) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2016, it had a population of 650,700. Its prefecture is Clermont-Ferrand and subprefectures are Ambert, Issoire, Riom and Thiers.

For the volcano, see Puy de Dôme.
Puy-de-Dôme

Puèi Domat  (Occitan)
Department of France
Location of Puy-de-Dôme in France
Coordinates: 45°42′N 3°13′E
CountryFrance
RegionAuvergne-Rhône-Alpes
PrefectureClermont-Ferrand
SubprefecturesAmbert
Issoire
Riom
Thiers
Government
 • President of the Departmental CouncilJean-Yves Gouttebel (MR)
Area
 • Total7,970 km2 (3,080 sq mi)
Population
 (2016)
 • Total650,700
 • Rank38th
 • Density82/km2 (210/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number63
Arrondissements5
Cantons31
Communes464
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Named after the Puy de Dôme dormant volcano, its inhabitants were called Puydedomois in French until 2005. With effect from 2006, in response to a letter writing campaign, the name used for the inhabitants was changed by the Puy-de-Dôme General Council to Puydômois; this is the name that has since then been used in all official documents and publications.

History

Puy-de-Dôme is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Auvergne. Originally, the department was to be called Mont-d'Or ("Golden Mountain"), but this was changed to Puy-de-Dôme following the intervention of Jean-François Gaultier de Biauzat, a local deputy, because of a concern that the name originally chosen risked attracting excessive unwelcome attention from the national taxation authorities.

Geography

Puy-de-Dôme is part of the current region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Haute-Loire, Cantal, Corrèze, Allier, and Creuse.

The department is in the Massif Central and boasts more than 80 volcanic craters. It is three hours from Paris and an hour from Lyon by highways A71 and A89. The A75 links it to the Mediterranean Sea.

Its main cities are Clermont-Ferrand, Thiers, Riom, Issoire, Ambert, and Cournon-d'Auvergne. Parts of the department belong to the Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1801507,128—    
1806542,834+1.37%
1821553,410+0.13%
1831573,106+0.35%
1841591,458+0.32%
1851596,897+0.09%
1861576,409−0.35%
1872566,463−0.16%
1881566,064−0.01%
1891564,266−0.03%
1901544,194−0.36%
1911525,916−0.34%
1921490,560−0.69%
1931500,590+0.20%
1936486,130−0.58%
1946478,903−0.15%
1954481,380+0.06%
1962508,928+0.70%
1968547,743+1.23%
1975580,033+0.82%
1982594,365+0.35%
1990598,213+0.08%
1999604,266+0.11%
2006623,463+0.45%
2011632,311+0.28%
2016650,700+0.57%
source:[1]

Economy

The departmental seat, Clermont-Ferrand, is home to one of the country's best known manufacturing businesses and brands, Michelin. Thiers is the oldest industry place in Auvergne with its cutlery tradition from the 14th century.

The countryside lends itself to tourism and Puy-de-Dôme is a weekend destination for city dwellers. The 1999 census found that 11.7% of the usable homes in the department were being kept as second homes.

Politics

The department was the electoral constituency of Valery Giscard d'Estaing, who served as President of the Republic from 1974 to 1981.

Current National Assembly Representatives
ConstituencyMember[2]Party
Puy-de-Dôme's 1st constituency Valérie Thomas La République En Marche!
Puy-de-Dôme's 2nd constituency Christine Pirès-Beaune Socialist Party
Puy-de-Dôme's 3rd constituency Laurence Vichnievsky MoDem
Puy-de-Dôme's 4th constituency Michel Fanget MoDem
Puy-de-Dôme's 5th constituency André Chassaigne French Communist Party

Tourism
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See also

References
  1. Site sur la Population et les Limites Administratives de la France
  2. http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/
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