Chalon-sur-Saône

Chalon-sur-Saône is a city and a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France. It is the largest city of the department; however, the department capital is the smaller city of Mâcon.
History.
Though the place where is Chalon-sur-Saône now was an important town of the Aedui (Celtic people that lived between the Saône and Loire rivers) and objects of La Tène culture have been found here, the first mention of the town, as Cavillonum or Cabillonum, is found in Julius Caesar's "Gallic Wars" (VII, chs. 42 and 90).
Geography.
Chalon-sur-Saône is on the sides of the Saône river, in the south of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. The city is at to the southeast of Paris and at to the north of Lyon.
It has an area of , and its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .
The Saône river flows through the eastern part of the city and the small river Thalie flows through the western part of the "commune".
Chalon-sur-Saône is surrounded by the "communes" Fragnes, Crissey, Châtenoy-en-Bresse, Saint-Marcel, Lux, Saint-Rémy, Châtenoy-le-Royal and Champforgeuil.
Climate.
The climate of Chalon-sur-Saône, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with template summers.
Population.
The inhabitants of Chalon-sur-Saône are known, in French, as "Chalonnais" (women: "Chalonnaises").
With a population of 44,985, Chalon-sur-Saône has a population density of inhabitants/km2.
Evolution of the population in Chalon-sur-Saône
Chalon-sur-Saône forms, with other 9 "communes", the urban area of Chalon-sur-Saône, with a population of 74.357 inhabitants (2013) and an area of . This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Chalon-sur-Saône, formed by 90 "communes" with a population of 134,568 inhabitants (2013) and an area of .
Administration.
Chalon-sur-Saône is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department since 1800. It is also the capital of the "arrondissement" of Chalon-sur-Saône and the administrative centre () of three cantons:
It is part of the intercommunality "Le Grand Chalon" ().
Twin cities.
Chalon-sur-Saône is a twin town of:
Places of interest.
Some interesting places in Chalon-sur-Saône are: