Puy-de-Dôme

Puy-de-Dôme
Puy-de-Dôme
	Depairtment
	Prefectur biggin o the Puy-de-Dôme depairtment, in Clermont-Ferrand
	Coat airms
	Location o Puy-de-Dôme in Fraunce
	Coordinates: 45°42′N 03°13′E / 45.700°N 3.217°E
Kintra	Fraunce
Region	Auvergne
Prefectur	Clermont-Ferrand
Subprefecturs	Ambert; Issoire; Riom; Thiers
Govrenment
• Preses o the General Cooncil	Jean-Yves Gouttebel
Area
• Total	7970 km2 (3,080 sq mi)
Population (2007)
• Total	626,639
• Rank	36t
• Density	79/km2 (200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Depairtment nummer	63
Arrondissements	5
Cantons	61
Communes	470
	^1 French Laund Register data, which exclude estuars, an lochs, ponds, an glaciers lairger than 1 km2

Puy-de-Dôme (French pronunciation: [pɥi də dom]; lo Puèi de Doma / lo Puèi Domat in the Auvergnat dialect o the Occitan leid) is a depairtment in the centre o Fraunce namit efter the famous dormant volcano, the Puy de Dôme.

Indwallers wur cried Puydedomois till December 2005. Wi effect frae Ware 2006, in response tae a letter writin campaign, the name uised for the inhabitants wis chyngit bi the depairtmental General Cooncil tae Puydômois, an this is the name that haes syne then been uised in aw offeecial documents an publications.

History

Puy-de-Dôme is ane o the oreeginal 83 depairtments creatit durin the French Revolution on 4 Mairch 1790. It wis creatit frae the umwhile province o Auvergne. Oreeginally, the depairtment wis tae be cried Mont-d'Or ("Gowden Muntain"), but this wis chyngit tae Puy-de-Dôme follaein the intervention o Jean-François Gaultier de Biauzat, a local deputy, acause o a concern that the name oreeginally chosen riskit attractin excessive unwalcome attention frae the naitional taxation authorities.

Geografie

Puy-de-Dôme is pairt o the current region o Auvergne an is surroondit bi the depairtments o Loire, Haute-Loire, Cantal, Corrèze, Allier, an Creuse.

The depairtment is in the Massif Central an boasts mair nor 80 volcanic craters. It is three hours from Paris an a oor frae Lyon byi heichhs A71 an A72. The A75 links it tae the Mediterranean Sea.

Its main ceeties are Clermont-Ferrand, Thiers, Riom, Issoire, Ambert, an Cournon-d'Auvergne. Pairts o the depairtment belang tae the Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.

Economy

The Prefectur, Clermont-Ferrand, is hame tae ane o the kintra's best kent manufacturin businesses an buists, Michelin. Thiers is the auldest industrie place in Auvergne wi its cutlery tradeetion frae the 14t century.

The kintraside lends itsel tae tourism an Puy-de-Dôme is a popular weekend destination for ceety dwellers. The 1999 census foond that 11.7% o the uisable hames in the depairtment wur bein kept as seicont hames.