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.

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.

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**

Colors=
  id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9)
  id:darkgrey  value:gray(0.7)
  id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1)
  id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8)

ImageSize = width:500 height:373
PlotArea = left:50 bottom:30 top:30 right:30
DateFormat = x.y
Period = from:0 till:350000
TimeAxis = orientation:vertical
AlignBars = justify
ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:50000 start:0
ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:25000 start:0
BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo

BarData=
 bar:1968 text:1968
 bar:1975 text:1975
 bar:1982 text:1982
 bar:1990 text:1990
 bar:1999 text:1999
 bar:2006 text:2006
 bar:2014 text:2014

PlotData=
 color:barra width:30 align:left

 bar:1968 from:0 till: 304601
 bar:1975 from:0 till: 316350
 bar:1982 from:0 till: 320174
 bar:1990 from:0 till: 321559
 bar:1999 from:0 till: 314428
 bar:2006 from:0 till: 314676
 bar:2014 from:0 till: 310270

PlotData=
 bar:1968 at: 304601 fontsize:S text: 304,601 shift:(-13,5)
 bar:1975 at: 316350 fontsize:S text: 316,350 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1982 at: 320174 fontsize:S text: 320,174 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1990 at: 321559 fontsize:S text: 321,559 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1999 at: 314428 fontsize:S text: 314,428 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2006 at: 314676 fontsize:S text: 314,676 shift:(-18,10)
 bar:2014 at: 310270 fontsize:S text: 310,270 shift:(-18,10)

The main cities in the department are:

## Gallery

File:Bourges - 002 - Low Res.jpg|The *Saint-Etienne* cathedral in Bourges.
File:BourgesMaisons.JPG|Houses in Bourges.
File:Jacques Coeur Palace main tower.JPG|Bourges.
File:Apremont sur Allier.jpg|Apremont-sur-Allier.
File:Noirlac abbey facade east.jpg|Noirlac Abbey.
File:Meillant 01 2009.jpg|*Château* de Meillant.

## References
## Related pages
* Arrondissements of the Cher department
* Communes of the Cher department

## Other websites
* Departmental Council website 
* Prefecture website