Cantal is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was created with part of the territory of the old province of Auvergne in south central France. It was divided in four districts: Aurillac, Mauriac, Murat and Saint-Flour; its capital in Saint-Flour, alternating with Aurillac.[3]
In 1794, Saint-Flour became the only capital but, in 1795, the capital was moved to Aurillac.
In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the districts were changed into arrondissements: Aurillac, Mauriac, Murat and Saint-Flour. On 10 September 1926, the arrondissement of Murat was eliminated.[3]
Geography
Cantal is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpesregion, in south central France, with an area of 5,726 km2 (2,211 sq mi).
The department borders with 3 regions and 7 other departments:[3]
The climate of Cantal has with few extremes of temperature and ample precipitation in all months. It belongs to the subtype Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.
The average temperature for the year in Aurillac, at an altitude of 633 m (2,077 ft), is 10.2 °C (50.4 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 18.3 °C (64.9 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 2.9 °C (37.2 °F).
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Aurillac is 856 mm (33.7 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is December with 109.2 mm (4.3 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is June with an average of 45.7 mm (1.8 in).[5]
Administration
Cantal is part of the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The department is managed by the Departamental Council of the Cantal in Aurillac.
The following is a list of the 15 cantons of the Cantal department (with their INSEE codes),[6] following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:[7]
The inhabitants of Cantal are known, in French, as Cantaliens (women: Cantaliennes) or Cantalous (women: Cantalouses).[8]
Cantal has a population, in 2014, of 146,618,[2] for a population density of 25.6 inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Aurillac, with 82,347 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Saint-Flour and Mauriac, have respectively 38,079 and 26,192 inhabitants.[6]
The city with more people living in it is the capital, Aurillac (26,135). The subprefectures of Saint-Flour and Mauriac have, respectively, 6,643 and 3,682 inhabitants.[6]
Evolution of the population in Cantal
The 10 most important cities in the department are:
