Puy-de-Dôme facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Puy-de-Dôme
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Prefecture building of the Puy-de-Dôme department, in Clermont-Ferrand
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Location of Puy-de-Dôme in France
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| Country | France | ||
| Region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | ||
| Prefecture | Clermont-Ferrand | ||
| Subprefectures | Ambert Issoire Riom Thiers |
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| Area | |||
| • Total | 7,970 km2 (3,080 sq mi) | ||
| Population
(2016)
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| • Total | 650,700 | ||
| • Rank | 38th | ||
| • Density | 81.64/km2 (211.46/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) | ||
| Department number | 63 | ||
| Arrondissements | 5 | ||
| Cantons | 31 | ||
| Communes | 464 | ||
| French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | |||
Puy-de-Dôme 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 Puy-de-Dôme General Council to Puydômois, and this is the name that has since then been used in all official documents and publications.
Contents
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.
Images for kids
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The black Cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand
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Saint-Floret, one of the most beautiful villages of France
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The Puy de Dôme volcano
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The Lac de Guéry in the Massif Central
See also
In Spanish: Puy-de-Dôme para niños
