Cantal

**Cantal** is a French department in south-central France in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Its prefecture is Aurillac.

It is named after the Mounts of Cantal, a group of mountains in the Massif Central.

## History

Cantal is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. It was created with part of the territory of the old province of Auvergne in south central France. It was divided in four districts: Aurillac, Mauriac, Murat and Saint-Flour; its capital in Saint-Flour, alternating with Aurillac.

In 1794, Saint-Flour became the only capital but, in 1795, the capital was moved to Aurillac.

In 1800, with the creation of the _arrondissements_ in France, the districts were changed into _arrondissements_: Aurillac, Mauriac, Murat and Saint-Flour. On 10 September 1926, the _arrondissement_ of Murat was eliminated.

## Geography

Cantal is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in south central France, with an area of .

The department borders with 3 regions and 7 other departments:
- Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
    - Puy-de-Dôme (north)
    - Haute-Loire (northeast)
- Occitanie region
    - Aveyron (south)
    - Lot (southwest)
    - Lozère (southeast)
- Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
    - Corrèze (west)

Cantal is in the middle half of the central plateau (_Massif Central_) of France where is the Mounts of Cantal mountain range, a group of extinct volcanoes. The highest point in the Cantal mountains, and in the department is _Plomb du Cantal_ () that is  high. Other high mountains near Plomb du Cantal in the Cantal department are:
- _Puy du Rocher_ (),  high;
- _Puy de Peyre Arse_ (),  high; and
- _Puy Mary_ (),  high.

The lowest point of the department, , is in the valley of the Lot river where it leaves the department.

The main rivers are the Alagnon, a tributary to the Allier; the Célé and Truyère rivers, tributaries to the Lot river; and the Cère and Rhue rivers, tributaries to the Dordogne river.

### Climate

The climate of Cantal has with few extremes of temperature and ample precipitation in all months. It belongs to the subtype **Cfb** (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.

The average temperature for the year in Aurillac, 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 Aurillac is . The month with the most precipitation on average is December with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is June with an average of .

## Administration

Cantal is part of the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The department is managed by the _Departamental Council of the Cantal_ in Aurillac.

### Administrative divisions

There are 3 _arrondissements_ (districts), 15 _cantons_ and 255 _communes_ (municipalities) in Cantal.

|INSEE code !! Arrondissement !! Capital !! Population <small>(2014)</small> !! Area <small>(km²)</small> !! Density (Inh./km²) !! _Communes_|||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|151|Aurillac|Aurillac|82,347|1,937||94|
|152|Mauriac|Mauriac|26,192|1,278||55|
|153|Saint-Flour|Saint-Flour|38,079|2,511||106|

The following is a list of the 15 cantons of the Cantal department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

1. Arpajon-sur-Cère <small>(1501)</small>
1. Aurillac-1 <small>(1502)</small>
1. Aurillac-2 <small>(1503)</small>
1. Causses-Rougiers <small>(1504)</small>
1. Mauriac <small>(1505)</small>
1. Maurs <small>(1506)</small>
1. Murat <small>(1507)</small>
1. Naucelles <small>(1508)</small>
1. Neuvéglise <small>(1509)</small>
1. Riom-ès-Montagnes <small>(1510)</small>
1. Saint-Flour-1 <small>(1511)</small>
1. Saint-Flour-2 <small>(15012)</small>
1. Saint-Paul-des-Landes <small>(15013)</small>
1. Vic-sur-Cère <small>(1514)</small>
1. Ydes <small>(1514)</small>

## Demographics

The inhabitants of Cantal are known, in French, as _Cantaliens_ (women: _Cantaliennes_) or _Cantalous_ (women: _Cantalouses_).

Cantal has a population, in 2014, of 146,618, for a population density of  inhabitants/km<sup>2</sup>. The _arrondissement_ of Aurillac, with 82,347 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other two, Saint-Flour and Mauriac, have respectively 38,079 and 26,192 inhabitants.

The city with more people living in it is the capital, Aurillac (26,135). The subprefectures of Saint-Flour and Mauriac have, respectively, 6,643 and 3,682 inhabitants.

**Evolution of the population in Cantal**

The 10 most important cities in the department are:
|City|Population <small>(2014)</small>|Arrondissement|
| --- | --- | --- |
|Aurillac|26,135|Aurillac|
|Saint-Flour|6,643|Saint-Flour|
|Arpajon-sur-Cère|6,233|Aurillac|
|Ytrac|4,121|Aurillac|
|Mauriac|3,682|Mauriac|
|Riom-ès-Montagnes|2,661|Mauriac|
|Maurs|2,170|Aurillac|
|Jussac|2,010|Aurillac|
|Naucelles|1,942|Aurillac|
|Vic-sur-Cère|1,917|Aurillac|

## Related pages

- Arrondissements of the Cantal department
- Communes of the Cantal department

## Other websites

- Departamental Council website
- Prefecture website

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: Cantal
- **type**: Departments of France, Department
- **image skyline**: Chateau de Pesteil.jpg
- **image alt**: Chateau of Pesteil
- **image caption**: _Chateau of Pesteil_ in Polminhac, Cantal
- **image flag**: Drapeau fr département Cantal.svg
- **flag size**: 125px
- **flag alt**: Flag of Cantal
- **image shield**: Blason département fr Cantal.svg
- **shield size**: 80px
- **shield alt**: Coat of arms
- **image map**: Cantal-Position.svg
- **map caption**: Location of Cantal 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**: Aurillac
- **parts type**: Prefectures in France, Subprefectures
- **parts style**: para
- **p1**: Mauriac, Cantal, Mauriac
- **p2**: Saint-Flour, Cantal, Saint-Flour
- **leader title**: President of the Departmental Council, President
- **leader name**: Vincent Descoeur
- **unit pref**: Metric
- **area total km2**: 5726
- **population total**: 146618
- **population as of**: 2014
- **population rank**: List of French departments by population, 78th
- **population density km2**: auto
- **population demonym**: Cantalians
- **blank name sec2**: Arrondissements of France, Arrondissements
- **blank info sec2**: 3
- **blank1 name sec2**: Cantons in France, Cantons
- **blank1 info sec2**: 15
- **blank2 name sec2**: Communes in France, Communes
- **blank2 info sec2**: 255
- **timezone1**: Central European Time, CET
- **utc offset1**: +1
- **timezone1 dst**: Central European Summer Time, CEST
- **utc offset1 dst**: +2
- **iso code**: FR-12
- **website**: [http://www.cantal.fr/ http://www.cantal.fr/]