Title: Castres, Tarn Content: Castres  is a commune in the region of Midi-Pyrénées, in southwestern France. It is the sous-prefecture (capital) of the arrondissement of the same name in the Tarn department. Castres is (after Toulouse, Tarbes and Albi) the fourth largest industrial centre of the mainly rural Midi-Pyrénées région and the largest in that part of Languedoc between Toulouse and Montpellier. ==History== The name of the town comes from Latin castrum, and means "fortified place". Castres grew up round the Benedictine abbey of Saint Benoît. Castres became an important stop on the international pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela in Spain because its abbey-church, built in the 9th century, was keeping the relics of Saint Vincent, the renowned martyr of Spain. It was a place of some importance as early as the 12th century, and ranked as the second town of the Albigeois behind Albi. ==Geography== Castres is in southern France, in the southwestern part of the Tarn department, to the north of the Montagne Noire, a mountain range in central southern France. Castres is crossed from north to south by the Agout river, a tributary of the Tarn. The commune has an area of and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is . Castres is at southeast of Albi and at east of Toulouse.  ===Climate=== The climate of Castres, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with template summers. ==Population== The inhabitants of Castres are known, in French, as Castrais (women: Castraises). The city of Castres has a population, in 2014, of 41,382; its population density is of inhabitants/km2. Evolution of the population in Castres Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width:500 height:373 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:30 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:60000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:5000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:2500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1968 text:1968 bar:1975 text:1975 bar:1982 text:1982 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:1999 text:1999 bar:2006 text:2006 bar:2011 text:2011 bar:2014 text:2014 PlotData= color:barra width:30 align:left bar:1968 from:0 till: 40457 bar:1975 from:0 till: 45978 bar:1982 from:0 till: 45578 bar:1990 from:0 till: 44812 bar:1999 from:0 till: 43496 bar:2006 from:0 till: 43141 bar:2011 from:0 till: 42222 bar:2014 from:0 till: 41382 PlotData= bar:1968 at: 40457 fontsize:S text: 40,457 shift:(-12,5) bar:1975 at: 45978 fontsize:S text: 45,978 shift:(-18,5) bar:1982 at: 45578 fontsize:S text: 45,578 shift:(-18,5) bar:1990 at: 44812 fontsize:S text: 44,812 shift:(-18,5) bar:1999 at: 43496 fontsize:S text: 43,496 shift:(-18,5) bar:2006 at: 43141 fontsize:S text: 43,141 shift:(-18,5) bar:2011 at: 42222 fontsize:S text: 42,222 shift:(-18,5) bar:2014 at: 41382 fontsize:S text: 41,382 shift:(-18,5) ==Administration== Castres is a subprefecture of the Tarn department and the capital of the arrondissement of Castres in the same department. It is also the capital of three Cantons: # Castres-1, formed with a part of Castres (16,890 inhabitants) (2014) # Castres-2, formed with a part of Castres and 6 other communes (15,422 inhabitants) (2014) # Castres-3, formed with a part of Castres and the commune Navès (15,319 inhabitants) (2014) It is part of the intercommunality Castres - Mazamet . == Education == * Institut national universitaire Jean-François Champollion ==Sister cities== Castres is twinned with: * Linares, Spain * Wakefield, England * Butare, Rwanda ==Gallery== File:Castres (Tarn, Fr) Hotel de ville et musée.JPG|Castres Town Hall File:Quai sur l'Agout.JPG|Castres and the Agout river File:Place Jean Jaurès à Castres.JPG|Jean Jaurès square, Castre File:Castres Theatre.jpg|Municipal theatre, Castre ==Related pages== * Arrondissement of Castres * Communes of the Tarn department