Poitiers

**Poitiers** is a city in France, the prefecture of the Vienne department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. The town is picturesque; and its streets are interesting for their remains of ancient architecture, especially of the Romanesque period, and the memories of great historical events.

The city itself is very old. It already existed as a Gaulish fort in the time when Julius Caesar came to Gaul. It was the capital of the Pictones tribe.

## Geography 
Poitiers is in the centre of the Vienne department, between the valleys of the Boivre and the Clain rivers. The old town is on the slopes and the summit of a plateau which rises 130 feet (40 m) above the streams which surround it on three sides.

Poitiers is at about  from Bordeaux,  from Paris,  from Limoges and  from Nantes.

The *commune* has an area of . Its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .

The *commune* of Poitiers is surrounded by the *communes*:

### Climate
The climate of Poitiers, in the Köppen climate classification, is **Cfb** - Oceanic climate with template summers.

## Population 
The inhabitants of Poitiers are known, in French, as *Pictaviens* (women: *Pictaviennes*).

With a population of 87,435, Poitiers has a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

**Evolution of the population in Poitiers**

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 bar:1990 at: 78894 fontsize:S text: 78,894 shift:(-13,5)
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 bar:2006 at: 88776 fontsize:S text: 88,776 shift:(-13,5)
 bar:2014 at: 87435 fontsize:S text: 87,435 shift:(-13,5)

Poitiers forms, with seven other *communes*, the urban area of Poitiers with a population of 128,111 inhabitants (2013) and an area of . This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Poitiers, formed by 97 *communes*, with a population of 257,233 inhabitants (2013) and an area of .

## Administration 
Poitiers is the prefecture of the Vienne department, the capital of the *arrondissement* of Poitiers and the administrative centre () of five canton:
* Poitiers-1, with 23,086 inhabitants (2014).
* Poitiers-2, with 25,371 inhabitants (2014).
* Poitiers-3, with 26,843 inhabitants (2014).
* Poitiers-4, with 20,756 inhabitants (2014).
* Poitiers-5, with 22,170 inhabitants (2014).

It is part of the intercommunality *Grand Poitiers* ().

### Sister cities 
Poitiers is twinned with:
*  Northampton, UK
*  Marburg, Germany
*  Lafayette, USA
*  Coimbra, Portugal
*  Yaroslavl, Russia
*  Moundou, Chad
*  Iaşi, Romania

## Notable people
This is a list of people of interest who were born or resided in Poitiers:
*René Descartes studied law at the University of Poitiers
*Michel Foucault, French philosopher
*Jean-Pierre Thiollet, French author
*Brian Joubert, French ice skating champion

## Gallery

File:Poitiers Cathédrale Saint Pierre.jpg|Cathedral of St. Peter, west side.
File:PoitiersEglise Notre Dame.JPG|*Notre-Dame-La Grande* church.
File:PA00105619poitiers-hotel-deville2.JPG|Poitiers town hall.
File:PA00105586poitiers-cathedrale-saint-pierre2.JPG|Saint Pierre de Poitiers cathedral.

## Related pages 
* Arrondissement of Poitiers
* Communes of the Vienne department

## References 
## Other websites 
* City council website  (in French)
* Visiting Poitiers  (in English)
* Tourisme Poitiers  (official site, in French)
* Tourism Poitiers  (official site, in English).