Haute-Auvergne

Cantal (; oc, Cantal or ) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, with its prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour (the episcopal see) and Mauriac; its residents are known as Cantalians (french: link=no, Cantaliens / Cantaliennes or '). Cantal borders the departments of Puy-de-Dôme, Aveyron, Lot, Lozère and Corrèze, in the Massif Central natural region.

Along with neighbouring Lozère and Creuse, Cantal is among the most sparsely populated and geographically isolated departments of France and Aurillac is the departmental capital farthest removed from a major motorway. It had a population of 144,692 in 2019,Populations légales 2019: 15 Cantal
INSEE making it the country's 98th most populated department. Of the 96 metropolitan departments, it is the fifth least populated.

Etymology

The department is named for the Plomb du Cantal, the central peak of the bare and rugged mounts of Cantal (French: ''Monts du Cantal'') mountain chain which traverses the area.

Geography

Cantal lies in the middle of France's central plateau. The Cantal range is a group of extinct and eroded volcanic peaks. Its highest point is the Plomb du Cantal, which reaches an elevation of . Its neighbors are Puy Mary (elev. ) and Puy Chavaroche (elev. ). To their north lie the ' and Dore ranges and the arid Artense Plateau. Immediately to their east is the fertile Planèze Plateau, bound on its east by the '.

The principal rivers are the Alagnon, which is tributary to the Allier; the Celle and Truyère, tributary to the Lot; and the Cère and Rhue, tributary to the Dordogne. At an elevation of above sea level, the low point of the province lies in the Lot valley. The Truyère valley skirts the Planèze on the south and divides it from the ', whose foothills include the thermal springs of Chaudesaigues. The western area of the department consists of grassy plateaus and river valleys.

At first, Cantal was divided into four arrondissements—Aurillac, Mauriac, Saint-Flour and Murat (later merged with Saint-Flour).

Climate

The climate of the department varies considerably. Prevailing winds and mountain ranges divide Cantal into four climatic zones:
* The west is subject to oceanic winds which bring rains.
* The mountains of the Cantal and the Cézallier create a rain shadow: it rains and snows quite often.
* The Planèze of Saint-Flour and the region of Massiac receive less precipitation, owing to winds coming from the north and south.
* The plateaux of the Margeride and the Aubrac have harsh winters and pleasant summers.

Generally, the weather is mild and dry in the alluvial plain between Murat and Saint-Flour and around Aurillac, while summer storms and winters can be long and severe in the northern and central areas. The west—nearer precipitation coming in from the Atlantic—is well watered. There is abundant snowfall which can remain up to six months on the mountaintops. Winter temperatures can fall to below , whereas in summer is often reached. The southern part of the department, on its borders with Aveyron and Lot, is the hottest region. Aurillac averaged 2080 hours of sunlight per year over the period from 1991 to 2000. Fog is rare and disappears quickly. Wind is usually not very strong, but the lightning flashes in this department are among the most spectacular in France.

Televised French weather forecasts often note Aurillac as the coldest city in France in the mornings. This status should be understood in light of their derivation from temperature readings by . Of the 30 cities included on its maps, Aurillac is by far the one with the highest altitude, at above sea level.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Aurillac, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 5 communes with more than 3,000 inhabitants:

History

The area of Cantal was historically part of the Haute-Auvergne (').

Cantal is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. Prior to the First World War, it comprised parts of the XIII. Army Corps military region and the Clermont-Ferrand educational division (').

Diocese of Cantal

After the 1790 Constitution Civile du Clergé, the Diocese of Saint-Flour in Cantal (whose bishop refused to swear the republican oath of allegiance, constituting a schism from Rome) was among the almost half of the French sees being abolished to realign the new bishoprics to coincide with the new departments, such as Cantal, where outsider parish priest Anne-Alexandre-Marie Thibault was elected Bishop. It was formally abolished in turn after the Napoleonic Concordat of 1801 (Thibault refusing to resign), in favor of the reinstated bishopric of Saint Poul, but actually retained the departemental borders.

Economy

The climate being generally too cool and damp for grain, much of Cantal is given over to pasture for Aubrac and Salers cattle, sheep, and, formerly, horses. This in turn supports a dairy industry responsible for butter and Roquefort cheese and the appellation-controlled cheeses Cantal, Salers, and Bleu d'Auvergne. Cantal is the French department with the greatest number of appellation-controlled cheeses, although proper Roquefort is now restricted to cheese produced in the Aveyron department. The region's mineral products include coal, copper, lead, iron, antimony, granite, slate and lime, but the department's isolation and poor infrastructure long precluded their exploitation. Before the First World War, the primary exports were livestock, cheese, butter, and coal and the main imports were coal, wine, grain, flour, and pottery. By then, it had been connected to both the Orleans and Midi railways.

Traditionally, many Cantalians roamed France during the year plying humble trades but now the area's relative lack of industry and development permits tourism. An area has been set aside as the Auvergne Volcanos Regional Park (').

Demographics

The Occitan language was historically spoken in Cantal.

The official population count for 2019 was 144,692. The population peaked at 262,117 in 1836. It has been below 200,000 for the last 90 years. The department has experienced a particularly drastic level of depopulation, although the phenomenon was a feature of many of the country's rural departments throughout the twentieth century, as agricultural wages failed to keep pace with those available in the industrialising regions outside the department.

Population development since 1791:

Tourism

Architecture

The department counts several remarkable buildings. Among them, the Romanesque religious buildings like the churches of Cheylade (eleventh century), Dieno or Massiac. The area's Catholic cathedral—dependent on the archdiocese of Bourges—is the 15th-century St Pierre de St-Flour, erected in the Gothic style.

* Castle of Val in Lanobre ( visitors/year)
* Castle of Anjony in Tournemire ( visitors/year)
* Castle of Pesteils in Polminhac ( visitors/year)
* Castle de la Vigne in Ally ( visitors/year)
* Castle of Clavières in Ayrens
* Castle of Carbonat in Arpajon-sur-Cère
* Chateau de Conros, near Aurillac

Festivals

* International Festival of Street Theatre, Aurillac.
* World Music Festival, Murat
* 36 hours : Various little scenes with dances
* Festival International de Boogie Woogie, Laroquebrou

Art

The characteristic folk dance in Cantal is ''La Bourrée''. In the countryside it would be danced in folk costumes with accompaniment by accordion. The dance form was long ago adapted for use in courtly music and features prominently in the Baroque dance suites of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Prominent museums in Cantal include:
* Museum of Art and Arqueologia, Aurillac ( visitors/year)
* The House of Fauna, Murat ( visitors/year)
* Museum of the Géothermia, Chaudes-Aigues ( visitors/year)
* Museum of the Volcanos, Aurillac ( visitors/year)
* Museum of the ray, Marcenat ( visitors/year)
* Museum of the "Haute Auvergne", Saint-Flour ( visitors/year)
* The House of the Chestnut Mourjou

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