What You Need to Know About the Cantal Department
Also part of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Cantal is a French department, it is department number 15 and its capital and prefecture is called Aurillac. However, its sub-prefectures are named Mauriac and Saint-Flour.
The area of the Cantal department covers a total of 5,276 km2, this territory is inhabited by a population of 145,969 residents also called Cantalians or Cantalous. This means that the population density per km2 is 25. It also means that the department is the 96th most populated in France compared to all metropolitan departments, making it the 3rd least populated.
The other less populated and isolated departments are Lozère and Creuse. Administratively, the Cantal department is divided into 3 arrondissements, 15 cantons, and 246 communes.
Which Departments Border Cantal?
The neighbors of Cantal are the departments of Lozère, the Corrèze department which borders it in the Massif Central area. The other bordering departments are Aveyron, Lot, the Puy-de-Dôme department, and finally, the Haute-Loire department.
What is the Climate Like in the Cantal Department?
The Cantal department has an extremely variable climate. This climate is dominated by prevailing cold winds, especially in mountainous areas. The Cantal department can be divided into 4 well-defined climatic zones:
- The western zone: this is where the most winds bring heavy precipitation
- In the mountainous areas of the department as well as in the section where the town of Cézalier is located, precipitation and snowfall are high.
- In the Planèze de Saint-Flour zone, precipitation is abundant but mainly comes from the wind blowing from north to south.
- The last climatic zone is the plateau zone, where the towns of Margeride and Aubrac experience harsh winters and sunny summers.
Overall, in the plains surrounding the towns of Aurillac, Murat, and Saint-Flour, the climate is both mild and dry as one moves towards the northern and central sections. However, there is an increase in rainfall as one approaches the coastline facing the Atlantic.
As altitude increases, there is more snowfall and temperatures become harsh, reaching down to -15 °C, and during summer periods, temperatures can reach up to 25 °C.
In the southern section of the Cantal department, that is, near the borders of Aveyron, it is warmer with 2080 hours of annual sunshine.
What Are the Most Important Towns in the Cantal Department?
Based on population density per km2, here are the most important towns in the Cantal department:
- Aurillac,
- Saint-Flour,
- Arpajon-sur-Cère,
- Mauriac,
- Ytrac,
- Riom-ès-Montagnes,
- Maurs,
- Murat,
- Vic-sur-Cère,
- Naucelles,
- Ydes,
- Massiac,
- Jussac,
- Pleaux,
- Saint-Mamet-la-Salvetat,
- Lanobre,
- Saint-Paul-des-Landes,
- Sansac-de-Marmiesse.
What are the most important municipalities in the Cantal department?
If we refer to the area of the municipalities in the Cantal department, we have listed below the most important municipalities.
- Pleaux
- Champs-sur-Tarentaine-Marchal
- Neuvéglise-sur-Truyère
- Saint-Urcize
- Chaudes-Aigues
- Marcolès
- Saint-Mamet-la-Salvetat
- Marcenat
- Siran
- Allache
If we refer to the population density per km2, the most important municipalities in the Cantal department are:
- Aurillac
- Saint-Flour
- Arpajon-sur-Cère
- Mauriac
- Ytrac
- Riom-ès-Montagnes
- Maurs
- Murat
- Vic-sur-Cère
- Naucelles
