Puy-de-Dôme (; or ''lo Puèi Domat'') is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in the centre of France. In 2021, it had a population of 662,285.Legal populations 2021: 63 Puy-de-Dôme
INSEE. Retrieved 31 March 2024. Its prefecture is Clermont-Ferrand and subprefectures are Ambert, Issoire, Riom, and Thiers. Named after the Puy de Dôme dormant

volcano A volcano is commonly defined as a vent or fissure in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most oft ...

, its inhabitants were called ''Puydedomois'' in French until 2005. With effect from 2006, in response to a letter writing campaign, the name used for the inhabitants was changed by the Puy-de-Dôme General Council to ''Puydômois''; this is the name that has since then been used in all official documents and publications.

History

Puy-de-Dôme is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Auvergne. Originally, the department was to be called ''Mont-d'Or'' ("Golden Mountain"), but this was changed to Puy-de-Dôme following the intervention of Jean-François Gaultier de Biauzat, a local deputy, because of a concern that the name originally chosen risked attracting excessive unwelcome attention from the national taxation authorities.

Geography

Puy-de-Dôme is part of the current

of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and is bordered by the departments of Loire, Haute-Loire,

Cantal Cantal (; or ) is a rural Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Aurillac. Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour, Cantal, Saint-Flou ...

, Corrèze, Allier, and Creuse. Parts of the department belong to the Parc naturel régional des Volcans d'Auvergne and Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez. The department is in the Massif Central and boasts more than 80 volcanic craters. It is three hours from Paris and an hour from

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

by highways A71 and A89. The A75 links it to the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Clermont-Ferrand, the prefecture. As of 2021, there are 10 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:

Demographics

Population development since 1801:

Economy

The departmental seat, Clermont-Ferrand, is home to one of the country's best known manufacturing businesses and brands, Michelin. Thiers is the oldest industry place in Auvergne with its cutlery tradition from the 14th century. The countryside lends itself to tourism and Puy-de-Dôme is a weekend destination for city dwellers. As of 2019, 10.1% of the usable homes in the department were being kept as second homes.Logement en 2019
INSEE

Politics

The department was the electoral constituency of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who served as President of the Republic from 1974 to 1981. The president of the Departmental Council is Lionel Chauvin, elected in July 2021.

Current National Assembly Representatives

National Assembly Representatives to the 15th Legislature

Tourism

File:Clermont vu de Montjuzet.JPG, The black Cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand File:Saint-Floret1.JPG, Saint-Floret, one of the most beautiful villages of France File:Puy de dome 2001-12-15.jpg, The Puy de Dôme volcano File:Lac de Guéry5.JPG, The Lac de Guéry in the Massif Central

References

External links

Prefecture website

Departmental Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puy-De-Dome Massif Central 1790 establishments in France Departments of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes States and territories established in 1790