Cher (department)

Cher is a department in the centre of France in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It is named after the Cher river, the most important river in the department.

Its prefecture is Bourges.

History
The department is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790. The department was created from part of the former province of Berry.

The new department had seven districts: Aubigny, Sancerre, Sancoins, Saint-Amand, Châteaumeillant, Bourges and Vierzon. The capital (now prefecture) was Bourges.

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the seven districts were changed into three arrondissements: Bourges, Saint-Amand-Mont-Rond and Sancerre.

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissement of Sancerre was eliminated. In 1984, a new arrondissement was created: Vierzon.

Geography
Cher is part of the Centre-Val de Loire region. It has an area of .

The highest point of the department is Le Magnoux (), in the south end of the department in the commune of Préveranges, and that is   above sea level.

The department is bordered by 6 departments in 4 regions:
 Centre-Val de Loire region
 Loir-et-Cher (northwest)
 Indre (west)
 Loiret (north)
 Nouvelle-Aquitaine region
 Creuse (south)
 Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
 Allier (southeast)
 Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
 Nièvre (east)

The main rivers are:
 Cher, a left tributary of the Loire; it is  long. The department is named after this river.
 Allier, also a left tributary of the Loire; it is  long.
 Indre, also a left tributary of the Loire; it is  long.
 Sauldre, a right tributary of the Cher; it is  long.

 Climate 
The Köppen climate classification type for the climate at Bourges is an "Oceanic climate" (also known as Marine West Coast Climate) and of the subtype Cfb.

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

The average temperature for the year in Bourges 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 department is managed by the Departmental Council of the Cher in Bourges. Cher is part of the region of Centre-Val de Loire.

Administrative divisions
There are 3 arrondissements (districts), 19 cantons and 290 communes (municipalities) in Cher.
 INSEEcode Arrondissement  Capital  Population(2014)  Area(km²)  Density(Inh./km²)  Communes 181  Bourges  Bourges 173,889  2,797.8    131 182  Saint-Amand-Montrond  Saint-Amand-Montrond  65,145  2,669.8    116 183  Vierzon  Vierzon  71,236  1,767.4    43

The following is a list of the 19 cantons of the Cher department, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:

 Aubigny-sur-Nère (1801)
 Avord (1802)
 Bourges-1 (1803)
 Bourges-2 (1804)
 Bourges-3 (1805)
 Bourges-4 (1806)
 Chârost (1807)
 Châteaumeillant (1808)
 Dun-sur-Auron (1809)
 La Guerche-sur-l'Aubois (1810)
 Mehun-sur-Yèvre (1811)
 Saint-Amand-Montrond (1812)
 Saint-Doulchard (1813)
 Saint-Germain-du-Puy (1814)
 Saint-Martin-d'Auxigny (1815)
 Sancerre (1816)
 Trouy (1817)
 Vierzon-1 (1818)
 Vierzon-2 (1819)

Demographics
The inhabitants of Cher are known, in French, as Chériens (women: Chériennes) or Berrichons (women: Berrichonnes).

Cher has a population, in 2014, of 310,270, for a population density of  inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Bourges, with 173,889 inhabitants, is by far the largest.

Evolution of the population in Cher

The main cities in the department are:

 City  Population(2014) Arrondissement Bourges  66,528  Bourges Vierzon  27,050  Vierzon Saint-Amand-Montrond  10,161  Saint-Amand-Montrond Saint-Doulchard  9,363  Bourges Mehun-sur-Yèvre  6,717  Vierzon Saint-Florent-sur-Cher  6,616  Bourges Aubigny-sur-Nère  5,560  Vierzon Saint-Germain-du-Puy  5,063  Bourges Dun-sur-Auron  3,948  Saint-Amand-Montrond Trouy  3,917  Bourges
Gallery

References

Related pages
 Arrondissements of the Cher department
 Communes of the Cher department

Other websites

 Departmental Council website 
 Prefecture website