Mende, Lozère

**Mende** is a *commune* and prefecture of the department of Lozère, part of the Occitanie region. It is also the capital of the *arrondissement* of Mende.

The inhabitants of this city are known, in French, as *Mendois* (women: *Mendoises*).

## Geography
Mende is located in the southern Massif Central, to the north of the *Cévennes*, near the Mont Lozère, the highest point of the Lozère department. The Lot river flows through the city and most of Mende is on the left side of the river.

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

The *commune* of Mende is surrounded by the *communes* Chastel-Nouvel, Badaroux, Lanuéjols, Brenoux, Saint-Bauzile, Balsièges, Barjac and Servières.

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

## Population
The city of Mende had 11,542 inhabitants for a density of  persons/km2.

**Evolution of the population in Mende**

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 bar:1975 text:1975
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 bar:1968 from:0 till: 9713
 bar:1975 from:0 till: 10451
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 bar:1990 from:0 till: 11286
 bar:1999 from:0 till: 11804
 bar:2006 from:0 till: 12378
 bar:2011 from:0 till: 12163
 bar:2014 from:0 till: 11542

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 bar:1975 at: 10451 fontsize:S text: 10,451 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1982 at: 10929 fontsize:S text: 10,929 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1990 at: 11286 fontsize:S text: 11,286 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1999 at: 11804 fontsize:S text: 11,804 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2006 at: 12378 fontsize:S text: 12,378 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2011 at: 12163 fontsize:S text: 12,163 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2014 at: 11542 fontsize:S text: 11,542 shift:(-18,5)

## Administration
Mende is the prefecture of the Lozère department since 1790. It is also the capital of the Mende *arrondissement* and of two *cantons*:
# Mende-1, formed with a part of Mende (5,513 inhabitants) (2014)
# Mende-2, formed with a part of Mende (6,029  inhabitants) (2014)

It is part of the intercommunality *Cœur de Lozère* ().

## Twinned and partner towns
Mende is twinned with:
*  Wunsiedel, Germany, since 1980
*  Volterra, Italy, since 1993
*  Vila Real, Portugal, since 2003

## Gallery 

Cathedrale Mende.jpg|Mende cathedral with different bell towers.
Mende-place-republique-1.JPG|The *Place de la République*
Préfecture de Mende, Lozère, France.JPG|The prefecture building at Mende
FR-48-Mende16.JPG|The town hall
Mende Tour des Penitents.jpg|The Tower of the Penitents

## Related pages
* Arrondissement of Mende
* Communes of the Lozère department

## References
## Other websites
* City council website 
* Mende Tourist Office