Saint-Flour, Cantal

**Saint-Flour** () is a commune in south central France in the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is a subprefecture of the Cantal department. It is also the capital of the *arrondissement* of the same name.

## History
Saint-Flour is the historical capital of the old region of *Haute-Auverge* ("Upper Auvergne"), one of the two divisions of Auvergne.

After the creation of the Cantal department on 4 March 1790, Saint-Flour was named as the capital (prefecture) of the new department alternating with Aurillac. In 1794, Saint-Flour became the only capital but, in 1795, the capital was moved to Aurillac and Saint-Flour became a subprefecture.

## Geography
Saint-Flour is in the eastern part of Cantal. The city is divided in two parts:
* The upper city () is on a volcanic dike
* The lower city () is on the sides of the Ander river, a right tributary of the Truyère river.

The *commune* of Saint-Flour has an area of  and is surrounded by the *communes* Alleuze, Andelat, Coren, Roffiac, Saint-Georges and Villedieu.

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

## Population
The inhabitants of Saint-Flour are known, in French, as *Sanflorain* (women: *Sainfloraine*).

With a population of 6,643, Saint-Flour has a population density of  inhabitants/km2.

**Evolution of the population in Saint-Flour**

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 bar:1968 text:1968
 bar:1975 text:1975
 bar:1982 text:1982
 bar:1990 text:1990
 bar:1999 text:1999
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 bar:1968 from:0 till: 5997
 bar:1975 from:0 till: 7272
 bar:1982 from:0 till: 7950
 bar:1990 from:0 till: 7417
 bar:1999 from:0 till: 6625
 bar:2008 from:0 till: 6610
 bar:2014 from:0 till: 6643

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 bar:1968 at: 5997 fontsize:S text: 5,997 shift:(-12,5)
 bar:1975 at: 7272 fontsize:S text: 7,272 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1982 at: 7950 fontsize:S text: 7,950 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1990 at: 7417 fontsize:S text: 7,417 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:1999 at: 6625 fontsize:S text: 6,625 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2008 at: 6610 fontsize:S text: 6,610 shift:(-18,5)
 bar:2014 at: 6643 fontsize:S text: 6,643 shift:(-18,5)

Saint-Flour forms the urban area of Saint-Flour, one of the seven urban areas of Cantal, with a population of 6,626 inhabitants (2013) and an area of . This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Saint-Flour, formed by 17 *communes* with a population of 13,024 inhabitants and an area of .

## Administration 
Saint-Flour is a subprefecture of the Cantal department, the capital of the *arrondissement* of Saint-Flour and the administrative centre () of three cantons: 
# Saint-Flour-1 : 23 *communes* + part of Saint-Flour, with 9,696 inhabitants  (2014)
# Saint-Flour-2 : 18 *communes* + part of Saint-Flour, with 9,171 inhabitants (2014)

It is part of the intercommunality *Saint-Flour Communauté*.

## Sister cities
Saint-Flour is twinned with:
*  Orléans, France, since 1986
*  Haselünne, Germany, since 1992

## Gallery

File:Saint-flour-ville-haute.jpg|Aerial view of the upper town, Saint-Flour
File:Saint-Flour Cathedral.JPG|The Saint-Pierre cathedral of Saint-Flour
File:Saint-Flour (Cantal) Dscn0354-zh.jpg|Saint-Flour
File:Saint-Flour - lycée Notre-Dame.JPG|Lycée Notre-Dame de Saint-Flour

## Related pages
* Arrondissement of Saint-Flour
* Communes of the Cantal department

## References
## Other websites
* City Council website 
* Office de Tourisme Intercommunautaire des Pays de Saint-Flour