Haute-Auvergne
| Cantal | |||
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| Department | |||
Prefecture building of the Cantal department, in Aurillac
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 Location of Cantal in France |
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| Coordinates: 45°2′N 3°6′E / 45.033°N 3.100°ECoordinates: 45°2′N 3°6′E / 45.033°N 3.100°E | |||
| Country | France | ||
| Region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | ||
| Prefecture | Aurillac | ||
| Subprefectures |
Mauriac Saint-Flour |
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| Government | |||
| • President of the General Council | Vincent Descoeur (UMP) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 5,726 km2 (2,211 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2013) | |||
| • Total | 147,035 | ||
| • Rank | 97th | ||
| • Density | 26/km2 (67/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Department number | 15 | ||
| Arrondissements | 3 | ||
| Cantons | 15 | ||
| Communes | 251 | ||
| ^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | |||
Cantal (French pronunciation: [kɑ̃.tal]) is a department in south-central France, with its capital at Aurillac. Its residents are known as Cantalians (French: Cantaliens or Cantalous). Its principal towns are Aurillac, Saint-Flour, and Mauriac. Cantal is part of the current region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and borders the departments of Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Aveyron, Lot, Lozère, and Corrèze. Along with Lozère and Creuse, Cantal is among the most sparsely populated and geographically isolated French departments and Aurillac is the departmental capital farthest removed from a major motorway.
The department is named for the Plomb du Cantal, the central peak of the bare and rugged Monts du Cantal mountain chain which traverses the area.
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 1,858 meters (6,096 ft). Its neighbors are Puy Mary (elev. 1,787 meters or 5,863 feet) and Puy Chavaroche (elev. 5,722 feet or 1,744 meters). To their north lie the Cézallier and Dore ranges and the arid Artense Plateau. Immediately to their east is the fertile Planèze Plateau, bound on its east by the Monts de la Margeride. The principal rivers are the Alagnon, which is tributary to the Allier; the Celle and Truyère, tributary to the Lot; and the Cere and Rhue, tributary to the Dordogne. At an elevation of 250 meters (820 ft) 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 Monts d'Aubrac, whose foothills include the thermal springs of Chaudesaigues. The western area of the department consists of grassy plateaus and beautiful river valleys.
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