Puy-de-Dôme is a French department in the centre of France in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and named after the dormant volcano the Puy de Dôme. Its prefecture is the city of Clermont-Ferrand.

History
Puy-de-Dôme was created in 1790 during the French Revolution, when the whole of France was divided into departments, replacing the old provinces. Puy-de-Dôme was formed with part of the old province of Auvergne.

It was divided in eight districts: Ambert, Besse, Billom, Clermont-Ferrand, Issoire, Montaigu, Riom and Thiers, with Clermont-Ferrand as is capital.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the eight districts were changed into five arrondissements: Ambert, Clermont-Ferrand, Issoire, Riom and Thiers. On 10 September 1926, the arrondissement of  Ambert was eliminated but, in 1942 Ambert became again an arrondissement of the department.

Geography
Puy-de-Dôme is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in east-central France, with an area of .

The department borders with 2 other departments in 2 regions:
 Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
 Corrèze (west)
 Creuse (west)
 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
 Allier (north)
 Loire (east)
 Haute-Loire (southeast)
 Cantal (southwest)

The department is in the Massif Central and there are several mountain chains; some of the chains and mountains are:
 Chaîne des Puys, to the northwest of the department; here is the Puy de Dôme, a dormant volcano.
 Monts Dore, to the southwest of the department. Here is the highest mountain of the department and of the Massif Central: Puy de Sancy, an extinct volcano (); it is  high.
 Monts du Forez, to the east of the department
 Livradois, to the south.
 Massif des Bois Noirs, to the northeast.
 Cézallier, to the southwest.

Climate
The climate of the Puy-de-Dôme department, in the city of Clermont-Ferrand, is an oceanic climate, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

The average temperature for the year in Clermont-Ferrand, at an altitude of , is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Clermont-Ferrand is . The month with the most precipitation on average is May with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is January with an average of .

Administration
Puy-de-Dôme is part of the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The department is managed by the Departamental Council of the Puy-de-Dôme in Clermont-Ferrand.

Administrative divisions
There are 5 arrondissements (districts), 31 cantons and 467 communes (municipalities) in Puy-de-Dôme.

The following is a list of the 31 cantons of the Puy-de-Dôme department (with their INSEE codes), in France, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Aigueperse (6301)
 Ambert (6302)
 Aubière (6303)
 Beaumont (6304)
 Billom (6305)
 Brassac-les-Mines (6306)
 Cébazat (6307)
 Chamalières (6308)
 Châtel-Guyon (6309)
 Clermont-Ferrand-1 (6310)
 Clermont-Ferrand-2 (6311)
 Clermont-Ferrand-3 (6312)
 Clermont-Ferrand-4 (6313)
 Clermont-Ferrand-5 (6314)
 Clermont-Ferrand-6 (6315)
 Cournon-d'Auvergne (6316)
 Gerzat (6317)
 Issoire (6318)
 Lezoux (6319)
 Maringues (6320)
 Les Martres-de-Veyre (6321)
 Les Monts du Livradois (6322)
 Orcines (6323)
 Pont-du-Château (6324)
 Riom (6325)
 Saint-Éloy-les-Mines (6326)
 Saint-Georges-de-Mons (6327)
 Saint-Ours (6328)
 Le Sancy (6329)
 Thiers (6330)
 Vic-le-Comte (6331)

Demographics
The inhabitants of Puy-de-Dôme are known, in French, as Puydômois (women: Puydômoises).

Puy-de-Dôme has a population, in 2014, of 644,216, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Clermont-Ferrand, with 375,518 inhabitants, is by far the largest.

Evolution of the population in Puy-de-Dôme

The most important cities in the department are:

Gallery

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Puy-de-Dôme department
 Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department

References

Other websites

 Departamental Council website 
 Prefecture website 

Puy-de-Dome