Pau, France

Pau is a commune in southwestern France, in the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is the prefecture (capital) of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department. It is also the capital of 6 cantons in the department: Jurançon, Pau-Centre, Pau-Est, Pau-Nord, Pau-Ouest and Pau-Sud.

Pau is the second city of Aquitaine, after Bordeaux. Pau was also the capital of the old historical province of Béarn.

Geography
Pau is at about  from Bordeaux and from Toulouse, on a 200 m elevation overlooking the valley of a mountain river called the Gave de Pau, and at  from the Atlantic Ocean and at  from the Pyrenees.

It has an area of  and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .
+ Pau and its neighboring communes 350px|Map of the commune of Pau

Pau is surrounded by the communes Buros, Montardon, Morlaàs, Bizanos, Idron, Gelos, Jurançon,Lons and Billère.

Climate
The climate of Pau is Marine West Coast Climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb), with mild winters and warm summers.

The average temperature for the year in Pau is 13.5 °C (56.3 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 20.7 °C (69.3 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 6.6 °C (43.9 °F).

The average amount of precipitation for the year in Pau is . The month with the most precipitation on average is December with  of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is February with an average of .

Population
With a population of 77,575, Pau has a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

The inhabitants of Pau are known, in French, as Palois (women: Paloises).

Administration
Pau is the prefecture of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department since 1796. It is also the capital of four Cantons:
 Pau-1, formed with a part of Pau
 Pau-2, formed with a part of Pau and the commune Idron
 Pau-3, formed with a part of Pau and the communes of Bizanos and Mazères-Lezons
 Pau-4, formed with a part of Pau and the commune Gelos

Gallery

 Twin towns 
Pau is twinned with:
 Zaragoza, Spain (since 1970)
 Mobile, Alabama, United States (since 1975)
 Pistoia, Italy (since 1975)
 Kōfu, Yamanashi, Japan (since 1977)
 Setúbal, Portugal (since 1981) Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom (since 1982)
 Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany (since 1983)
 Daloa, Côte d'Ivoire (since 1984)
 Xi'an, Shaanxi, China (since 1986)

Related pages
 Arrondissement of Pau
 Communes of the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department

References

Other websites

 Ville de Pau - Official site  
 General Council of Pyrénées-Atlantiques  
 Prefecture official website  
 Région Aquitaine  
 Grand Pau