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Hérault
Hérault
Department
	Prefecture building of the Hérault department, in Montpellier
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Hérault in France
	Coordinates: 43°21′N 3°13′E / 43.350°N 3.217°E
Country	France
Region	Occitanie
Prefecture	Montpellier
Subprefectures	Béziers; Lodève
Government
• President	Kléber Mesquida
Area
• Total	6,101 km2 (2,356 sq mi)
Population (2014)
• Total	1,107,398
• Rank	21st
• Density	180/km2 (470/sq mi)
Demonym	Héraultais
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 code	FR-34
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	25
Communes	343
Website	http://www.herault.fr/

Hérault (Occitan: Erau) is a department in the region of Occitanie in southern France. It is named after the Hérault river.

The inhabitants of Hérault are known, in French, as Héraultais (women: Héraultaises).^[4]

History

Hérault was created in 1790 during the French Revolution, when the whole of France was divided into departments, replacing the old provinces. Aude was formed with part of the old province of Languedoc.

It was divided in four districts: Montpellier, Béziers, Lodève and Saint-Pons, with Montpellier as is capital.^[5]

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the four districts were changed into four arrondissements. On 10 September 1926, the arrondissements of Lodève and Saint-Pons were eliminated but on 1 June 1942 Lodève became again an arrondissement.^[5]

Geography

Hérault has an area of 6,101 km² (2,356 sq mi).^[2] It is surrounded by the departments of Aude, Aveyron, Tarn, and Gard, with the Gulf of Lion (Mediterranean Sea) to the east and southeast.

The main rivers in the department are the Orb and the Hérault which gives its name to the department.

Climate

The climate in Montpellier, in the northeast of the department near the Mediterranean coast, is a Mediterranean climate, a "dry-summer subtropical" climate, Csa in the Köppen climate classification.^[6]

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Montpellier is 629.9 mm (24.8 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is October with 96.5 mm (3.8 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of 15.2 mm (0.6 in). There are an average of 73.4 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in December with 9.2 days and the least precipitation occurring in July with 2.3 days.^[6]

The average temperature for the year in Montpellier is 15.1 °C (59.2 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 24.1 °C (75.4 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 7.2 °C (45.0 °F).^[6]

Administration

The département is managed by the Departamental Council of the Hérault in Montpellier. Hérault is part of the region of Occitanie.

Administrative divisions

There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 25 cantons and 343 communes (municipalities) in Hérault.^[7]

INSEE code	Arrondissement	Capital	Population^[8] (2014)	Area^[9] (km²)	Density (Inh./km²)	Communes
341	Béziers	Béziers	312,443	2,986.8	104.6	152
342	Lodève	Lodève	94,714	1,819.6	52.1	98
343	Montpellier	Montpellier	700,241	1,294.6	540.9	93

The following is a list of the 25 cantons of the Hérault department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:^[10]

Agde (3401)
Béziers-1 (3402)
Béziers-2 (3403)
Béziers-3 (3404)
Cazouls-lès-Béziers (3405)
Clermont-l'Hérault (3406)
Le Crès (3407)
Frontignan (3408)
Gignac (3409)
Lattes (3410)
Lodève (3411)
Lunel (3412)
Mauguio (3413)
Mèze (3414)
Montpellier-1 (3415)
Montpellier-2 (3416)
Montpellier-3 (3417)
Montpellier-4 (3418)
Montpellier-5 (3419)
Montpellier - Castelnau-le-Lez (3420)
Pézenas (3421)
Pignan (3422)
Saint-Gély-du-Fesc (3423)
Saint-Pons-de-Thomières (3424)
Sète (3425)

Demographics

The Hérault department has a population, in 2014, of 1,107,398,^[3] for a population density of 181.5 inhabitants/km². The arrondissement of Montpellier, with 700,241 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two arrondissements, Béziers and Lodève, have respectively 312,443 and 94,714 inhabitants.^[8]

Evolution of the population in Hérault

The communes in the department with more of 10,000 inhabitants are:

City	Population^[8] (2014)	Arrondissement
Montpellier	275,318	Montpellier
Béziers	75,701	Béziers
Sète	44,136	Montpellier
Agde	26,111	Béziers
Lunel	24,873	Montpellier
Frontignan	22,896	Montpellier
Castelnau-le-Lez	19,157	Montpellier
Mauguio	16,765	Montpellier
Lattes	15,963	Montpellier
Mèze	11,196	Montpellier

Gallery

The Hérault river at Agde
Porte du Peyrou in Montpellier
Béziers cathedral
Roquebrun and Orb river

Related pages

References

↑ "Composition de la Commision permanente" (PDF) (in French). Conseil départemental de l'Hérault. Retrieved 27 February 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 "Département de L'Hérault (34) - Résumé statistique". Comparateur de territoire (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 "Populations légales 2014 des départements et des collectivités d'outre-mer" (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
↑ "Hérault (34)" (in French). habitants.fr. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
↑ ^5.0 ^5.1 "Historique de l'Hérault". Le SPLAF (in French). Retrieved 21 July 2015.
↑ ^6.0 ^6.1 ^6.2 "Montpellier, France - Köppen Climate Classification". Weatherbase. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
↑ "Département de l'Hérault (34)" (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
↑ ^8.0 ^8.1 ^8.2 "Régions, départements, arrondissements, cantons et communes" (PDF). Populations légales 2014 (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
↑ "Département de l'Hérault (34)". Comparateur de territoire (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
↑ "Décret n° 2014-258 du 26 février 2014 portant délimitation des cantons dans le département de l'Hérault" (in French). Légifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 21 July 2015.