Puy-de-Dôme

Puy-de-Dôme
Department

Prefecture building of the Puy-de-Dôme department, in Clermont-Ferrand

Coat of arms

Location of Puy-de-Dôme in France
Coordinates: 45°42′N 3°13′E / 45.700°N 3.217°E / 45.700; 3.217Coordinates: 45°42′N 3°13′E / 45.700°N 3.217°E / 45.700; 3.217
Country France
Region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture Clermont-Ferrand
Subprefectures Ambert
Issoire
Riom
Thiers
Government
 • President of the General Council Jean-Yves Gouttebel
Area1
 • Total 7,970 km2 (3,080 sq mi)
Population (2013)
 • Total 640,999
 • Rank 38th
 • Density 80/km2 (210/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
Department number 63
Arrondissements 5
Cantons 31
Communes 467
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Puy-de-Dôme (French pronunciation: ​[pɥi də dom]; (lo Puèi de Doma / lo Puèi Domat in the Auvergnat) is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy de Dôme. Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005. With effect from Spring 2006, in response to a letter writing campaign, the name used for the inhabitants was changed by the departmental General Council to Puydômois, and 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 A72. 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.

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 popular 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.

Tourism

See also

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