Hérault

**Hérault** () is a department in the region of Occitanie in southern France. It is named after the Hérault river.

The inhabitants of Hérault are known, in French, as _Héraultais_ (women: _Héraultaises_).

## History

Hérault was created in 1790 during the French Revolution, when the whole of France was divided into departments, replacing the old provinces. Aude was formed with part of the old province of Languedoc.

It was divided in four districts: Montpellier, Béziers, Lodève and Saint-Pons, with Montpellier as is capital.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the four districts were changed into four _arrondissements_. On 10 September 1926, the _arrondissements_ of Lodève and Saint-Pons were eliminated but on 1 June 1942 Lodève became again an _arrondissement_.

## Geography

Hérault has an area of . It is surrounded by the departments of Aude, Aveyron, Tarn, and Gard, with the Gulf of Lion (Mediterranean Sea) to the east and southeast.

The main rivers in the department are the Orb and the Hérault which gives its name to the department.

### Climate

The climate in Montpellier, in the northeast of the department near the Mediterranean coast, is a Mediterranean climate, a "dry-summer subtropical" climate, **Csa** in the Köppen climate classification.

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Montpellier is . The month with the most precipitation on average is October with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of . There are an average of 73.4 days of precipitation, with the most precipitation occurring in December with 9.2 days and the least precipitation occurring in July with 2.3 days.

The average temperature for the year in Montpellier 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 .

## Administration

The département is managed by the _Departamental Council of the Hérault_ in Montpellier. Hérault is part of the region of Occitanie.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 25 _cantons_ and 343 _communes_ (municipalities) in Hérault.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! width=75px | Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|341|Béziers|Béziers|312,443|2,986.8||152|
|342|Lodève|Lodève|94,714|1,819.6||98|
|343|Montpellier|Montpellier|700,241|1,294.6||93|

The following is a list of the 25 cantons of the **Hérault** department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Agde <small>(3401)</small>
1. Béziers-1 <small>(3402)</small>
1. Béziers-2 <small>(3403)</small>
1. Béziers-3 <small>(3404)</small>
1. Cazouls-lès-Béziers <small>(3405)</small>
1. Clermont-l'Hérault <small>(3406)</small>
1. Le Crès <small>(3407)</small>
1. Frontignan <small>(3408)</small>
1. Gignac <small>(3409)</small>
1. Lattes <small>(3410)</small>
1. Lodève <small>(3411)</small>
1. Lunel <small>(3412)</small>
1. Mauguio <small>(3413)</small>
1. Mèze <small>(3414)</small>
1. Montpellier-1 <small>(3415)</small>
1. Montpellier-2 <small>(3416)</small>
1. Montpellier-3 <small>(3417)</small>
1. Montpellier-4 <small>(3418)</small>
1. Montpellier-5 <small>(3419)</small>
1. Montpellier - Castelnau-le-Lez <small>(3420)</small>
1. Pézenas <small>(3421)</small>
1. Pignan <small>(3422)</small>
1. Saint-Gély-du-Fesc <small>(3423)</small>
1. Saint-Pons-de-Thomières <small>(3424)</small>
1. Sète <small>(3425)</small>

## Demographics

The Hérault department has a population, in 2014, of 1,107,398, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Montpellier, with 700,241 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two _arrondissements_, Béziers and Lodève, have respectively 312,443 and 94,714 inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Hérault**

The _communes_ in the department with more of 10,000 inhabitants are:

|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Montpellier|275,318|Montpellier|
|Béziers|75,701|Béziers|
|Sète|44,136|Montpellier|
|Agde|26,111|Béziers|
|Lunel|24,873|Montpellier|
|Frontignan|22,896|Montpellier|
|Castelnau-le-Lez|19,157|Montpellier|
|Mauguio|16,765|Montpellier|
|Lattes|15,963|Montpellier|
|Mèze|11,196|Montpellier|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Hérault department
- Communes of the Hérault department

## Other websites

- Departamental council website
- Prefecture website
- The Hérault Tourist Board

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Hérault
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Prefecture of Montpellier.jpg
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Hérault department, in Montpellier
- **image caption**: Prefecture building of the Hérault department, in Montpellier
- **image flag**: Drapeau culturel fr département Hérault.svg
- **flag alt**: Flag
- **image shield**: Blason_département_fr_Hérault.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Hérault-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Hérault in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Occitanie
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Montpellier
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Béziers
Lodève
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Kléber Mesquida
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 6101
- **population total**: 1107398
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population rank**: 21st
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Héraultais
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 25
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 343
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-34
- **website**: [http://www.herault.fr/ http://www.herault.fr/]