Chalon-sur-Saône

**Chalon-sur-Saône** is a city and a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France. It is the largest city of the department; however, the department capital is the smaller city of Mâcon.

## History

Though the place where is Chalon-sur-Saône now was an important town of the Aedui (Celtic people that lived between the Saône and Loire rivers) and objects of La Tène culture have been found here, the first mention of the town, as ***Cavillonum*** or ***Cabillonum***, is found in Julius Caesar's _Gallic Wars_ (VII, chs. 42 and 90).

## Geography

Chalon-sur-Saône is on the sides of the Saône river, in the south of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. The city is at  to the southeast of Paris and at  to the north of Lyon.

It has an area of , and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .

The Saône river flows through the eastern part of the city and the small river Thalie flows through the western part of the _commune_.

Chalon-sur-Saône is surrounded by the _communes_ Fragnes, Crissey, Châtenoy-en-Bresse, Saint-Marcel, Lux, Saint-Rémy, Châtenoy-le-Royal and Champforgeuil.

### Climate

The climate of Chalon-sur-Saône, in the Köppen climate classification, is **Cfb** - Oceanic climate with template summers.

## Population

The inhabitants of Chalon-sur-Saône are known, in French, as _Chalonnais_ (women: _Chalonnaises_).

With a population of 44,985, Chalon-sur-Saône has a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>.

**Evolution of the population in Chalon-sur-Saône**

Chalon-sur-Saône forms, with other 9 _communes_, the urban area of Chalon-sur-Saône, with a population of 74.357 inhabitants (2013) and an area of . This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Chalon-sur-Saône, formed by 90 _communes_ with a population of 134,568 inhabitants (2013) and an area of .

## Administration

Chalon-sur-Saône is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department since 1800. It is also the capital of the _arrondissement_ of Chalon-sur-Saône and the administrative centre () of three cantons:
- Chalon-sur-Saône-1 formed by 5 _communes_ and part of Chalon-sur-Saône, with 19,093 inhabitants <small>(2014)</small>.
- Chalon-sur-Saône-2 formed by part of Chalon-sur-Saône, with 20,983 inhabitants <small>(2014)</small>.
- Chalon-sur-Saône-3 formed by the _commune_ Châtenoy-le-Royal and part of Chalon-sur-Saône, with 19,559 inhabitants <small>(2014)</small>.

It is part of the intercommunality _Le Grand Chalon_ ().

### Twin cities

Chalon-sur-Saône is a twin town of:
- St. Helens, United Kingdom
- Solingen, Germany
- Novara, Italy
- Næstved, Denmark

## Places of interest

Some interesting places in Chalon-sur-Saône are:
- **St. Vincent's Cathedral** on the Saint-Vincent Square, which has some elements from the eighth century.
- **Musée Nicéphore-Niépce**, a museum on photography.
- **Musée Vivant-Denon**, an art museum.

## People from Chalon-sur-Saône

- Nicéphore Niépce (1765-1833), pioneer of photography.

## Related pages

- Arrondissement of Chalon-sur-Saône
- Communes of the Saône-et-Loire department

## Other websites

- Chalon-sur-Saône - official website
- Le Grand Chalon Agglomération

## Infobox (french commune)

- **name**: Chalon-sur-Saône
- **commune status**: Subprefectures in France, Subprefecture and Communes of France, commune
- **image coat of arms**: Blason Chalon Ville.svg
- **image**: Chalon-sur-Saône.jpg
- **arrondissement**: Chalon-sur-Saône
- **canton**: Canton of Chalon-sur-Saône-1, Chalon-sur-Saône-1, Canton of Chalon-sur-Saône-2, 2 and Canton of Chalon-sur-Saône-3, 3
- **insee**: 71076
- **postal code**: 71100
- **mayor**: Gilles Platret
- **term**: 2014–2020
- **intercommunality**: Le Grand Chalon
- **elevation m**: 185
- **elevation min m**: 172
- **elevation max m**: 190
- **area km2**: 15.22
- **population**: 44985
- **population date**: 2014
- **population demonym**: Chalonnais
- **website**: [http://www.chalon.fr/ www.chalon.fr]