Puy-de-Dôme

Puy-de-Dôme is a French department in the centre of France in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and named after the dormant volcano the Puy de Dôme. Its prefecture is the city of Clermont-Ferrand.
History.
Puy-de-Dôme was created in 1790 during the French Revolution, when the whole of France was divided into departments, replacing the old provinces. Puy-de-Dôme was formed with part of the old province of Auvergne.
It was divided in eight districts: Ambert, Besse, Billom, Clermont-Ferrand, Issoire, Montaigu, Riom and Thiers, with Clermont-Ferrand as is capital.
In 1800, with the creation of the "arrondissements" in France, the eight districts were changed into five "arrondissements": Ambert, Clermont-Ferrand, Issoire, Riom and Thiers. On 10 September 1926, the "arrondissement" of Ambert was eliminated but, in 1942 Ambert became again an "arrondissement" of the department.
Geography.
Puy-de-Dôme is part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, in east-central France, with an area of .
The department borders with 2 other departments in 2 regions:
The department is in the Massif Central and there are several mountain chains; some of the chains and mountains are:
Climate.
The climate of the Puy-de-Dôme department, in the city of Clermont-Ferrand, is an oceanic climate, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.
The average temperature for the year in Clermont-Ferrand, at an altitude of , is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Clermont-Ferrand is . The month with the most precipitation on average is May with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is January with an average of .
Administration.
Puy-de-Dôme is part of the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The department is managed by the "Departamental Council of the Puy-de-Dôme" in Clermont-Ferrand.
Administrative divisions.
There are 5 "arrondissements" (districts), 31 "cantons" and 467 "communes" (municipalities) in Puy-de-Dôme.
The following is a list of the 31 cantons of the Puy-de-Dôme department (with their INSEE codes), in France, following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:
Demographics.
The inhabitants of Puy-de-Dôme are known, in French, as "Puydômois" (women: "Puydômoises").
Puy-de-Dôme has a population, in 2014, of 644,216, for a population density of inhabitants/km2. The "arrondissement" of Clermont-Ferrand, with 375,518 inhabitants, is by far the largest.
Evolution of the population in Puy-de-Dôme
The most important cities in the department are: