Allier

**Allier** is a department in the centre of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It is named after the river Allier, a tributary of the Loire. Its prefecture is Moulins.

## History

Allier is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790 with Moulins as its capital. It was formed from most of all the former province of _Bourbonnais_ (the Duchy of Bourbonnais); Saint-Amand-Montrond, in the Cher department, was the only part of the old province that was not made part of Allier.

It was divided in seven districts: Cérilly, Moulins, Le Donjon, Cusset, Gannat, Montmarault and Montluçon.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the seven districts were changed into four _arrondissements_: Moulins, Gannat, Lapalisse and Montluçon.

On 10 September 1926, the _arrondissement_ of Gannat was eliminated and in 1941 Vichy became the capital of one _arrondissement_ of the department instead of Lapalisse.

In 1940, during World War II, the city of Vichy was the capital of Vichy France.

## Geography

Allier is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. It has an area of .

It is  long from east to west and  wide from north to south.

The department borders with 6 other departments in 4 regions:
- Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
    - Nièvre (north)
    - Saône-et-Loire (east)
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
    - Loire (southeast)
    - Puy-de-Dôme (south)
- Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
    - Creuse (west)
- Centre-Val de Loire region
    - Cher (northwest)

There are four main geographical zones in the department:
1. The **Bourbonnais Bocage** covers about one third of the departement, covering most of the western and central parts of the department.
1. The **Bourbonnais Sologne** is to the east of the department, between the valley of the river Allier and the borders of Nièvre and Saône-et-Loire departments in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.
1. The **Bourbonnais Mountains** are in the southeast of the department. In these mountains, where the departments Allier, Puy-de-Dome and Loire meet, is the highest point of the department, Puy de Montoncel (); it is  high.
1. The **Bourbonnais Limagne**, commonly called as _Val d'Allier_ ("Valley of the Allier"), found on both sides of the river between Vichy and Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule.

The main rivers in the department are:
- Cher in the western part of the department.
- Allier and its tributary the Sioule, in the centre.
- Loire and its tributary the Besbre, in the east.

### Climate

The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Nevers is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Maritime Temperate climate) and of the subtype "Cfb".

There are two periods of maximum precipitation in June and October and a minimum in January and February with average of  Montluçon (altitude: 207 m),  in Moulins (245 m)  in Vichy (251 m); and  in Lapalisse (285 m).

## Administration

Allier is managed by the _Departmental Council of Allier_ in Moulins. The department is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 19 _cantons_ and 317 _communes_ (municipalities) in Allier.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density <small>(Inh./km²)</small> !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|031|Montluçon|Montluçon|114,756|2,327.9||89|
|032|Moulins|Moulins|106,039|2,996.2||109|
|033|Vichy|Vichy|122,267|2,016.0||119|

The following is a list of the 19 cantons of the **Allier** department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Bellerive-sur-Allier <small>(0301)</small>
1. Bourbon-l'Archambault <small>(0302)</small>
1. Commentry <small>(0303)</small>
1. Cusset <small>(0304)</small>
1. Dompierre-sur-Besbre <small>(0305)</small>
1. Gannat <small>(0306)</small>
1. Huriel <small>(0307)</small>
1. Lapalisse <small>(0308)</small>
1. Montluçon-1 <small>(0309)</small>
1. Montluçon-2 <small>(0310)</small>
1. Montluçon-3 <small>(0311)</small>
1. Montluçon-4 <small>(0312)</small>
1. Moulins-1 <small>(0313)</small>
1. Moulins-2 <small>(0314)</small>
1. Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule <small>(0315)</small>
1. Souvigny <small>(0316)</small>
1. Vichy-1 <small>(0317)</small>
1. Vichy-2 <small>(0318)</small>
1. Yzeure <small>(0319)</small>

## Demographics

There is not a traditional demonym to name the inhabitants of the Allier department. Some names used are _Alliérins_, _Bourbonnais_, _Elavérins_, or simply _habitants de l'Allier_ ("inhabitants of Allier").

Of these names, the most used is _Bourbonnais_ followed by _habitants de l'Allier_.

Allier had a population, in 2014, of 343,062, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Vichy, with 122,267 inhabitants, is the _arrondissement_ with more inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Allier**

The 10 _communes_ in the department with more inhabitants are:

|City|Population (2014)|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Montluçon|37,289|Montluçon|
|Vichy|25,279|Vichy|
|Moulins|19,762|Moulins|
|Cusset|13,386|Vichy|
|Yzeure|13,069|Moulins|
|Domérat|8,985|Montluçon|
|Bellerive-sur-Allier|8,533|Vichy|
|Commentry|6,395|Montluçon|
|Gannat|5,862|Vichy|
|Saint-Pourçain-sur-Sioule|5,039|Moulins|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Allier department
- Communes of the Allier department

## Other websites

- General Council website
- Prefecture website
- Allier tourism

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Allier
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: FR-03-Moulins11.JPG
- **image alt**: Prefecture building of the Allier department, in Moulins
- **image caption**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture building of the Allier department, in Moulins, Allier, Moulins
- **image flag**: Drapeau fr département Allier.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **image shield**: Blason comte fr Clermont (Bourbon).svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **image map**: Allier-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Allier in France
- **subdivision type**: Country
- **subdivision name**: France
- **subdivision type1**: Regions of France, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
- **established title**: Département
- **established date**: 4 March 1790
- **seat type**: Prefectures in France, Prefecture
- **seat**: Moulins, Allier, Moulins
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Montluçon
- **p2**: Vichy
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Gérard Dériot
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 7340.1
- **population total**: 343062
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population density km2**: auto
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 19
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 317
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-03
- **website**: [http://www.allier.fr/ http://www.allier.fr]