Ambert

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Commune of Ambert

Town hall of Ambert
Location
Longitude 03° 44' 33" E
Latitude 45° 33' 01" N
Administration
Country France
Région Auvergne
Département Puy-de-Dôme
(sous-préfecture)
Arrondissement Ambert
Canton Chief town of the canton of Ambert
Intercommunality Communauté
de communes
du Pays d'Ambert
Mayor Jean Aulagnier
(2001-2008)
Statistics
Altitude 514 m–1,365 m
(avg. 527 m)
Land area¹ 60.48 km²
Population²
(1999)
7,309
 - Density (1999) 120.8/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 63003/ 63600
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq. mi. or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).
France

Ambert is a commune of France, loctated in the former province of Auvergne.

Contents

[edit] Administration

Ambert is the chief town of the canton of Ambert and the arrondissement of Ambert. It is a sous-préfecture of the Puy-de-Dôme département, in the Auvergne région. The arrondissement consists of 8 cantons.

[edit] Geography

Ambert lies on the Dore River, a tributary of the Allier River.

[edit] Demography

Demographic evolution of Ambert between 1962 and 1999
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999
7 160 7 328 7 603 7 722 7 420 7 309

source : http://www.insee.fr/fr/ffc/docs_ffc/psdc.htm

[edit] Miscellaneous

Ambert is famous for its fourme-d'Ambert cheese, its paper mills (the first edition of Diderot's Encyclopédie was printed on paper made in Ambert) and its circular town hall (popularized by Jules Romain in his novel "Les copains").

Ambert was the birthpace of Michel Rolle (1652-1719), mathematician.

The Agrivap Chemin de Fer Touristique operated out of Ambert. There is a steam engine that makes a local run, but to see the line in full a ride on the Panoramique Autorail is not be missed.

There is an industrial museum with an interesting collection of tractors and small steam engines.

In the town the Museum of Cheese is worth a visit, as is the old paper mill a few kilometers outside the main town.

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