Puy-de-Dôme (; or lo Puèi Domat) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in the centre of France. In 2023, it had a population of 664,453. Its prefecture is Clermont-Ferrand and subprefectures are Ambert, Issoire, Riom, and Thiers.
Named after the Puy de Dôme dormant volcano, its inhabitants were called Puydedomois in French until 2005. With effect from 2006, in response to a letter writing campaign, the name used for the inhabitants was changed by the Puy-de-Dôme General Council to Puydômois; this is the name that has since then been used in all official documents and publications.
History Puy-de-Dôme is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Auvergne. Originally, the department was to be called Mont-d'Or ("Golden Mountain"), but this was changed to Puy-de-Dôme following the intervention of Jean-François Gaultier de Biauzat, a local deputy, because of a concern that the name originally chosen risked attracting excessive unwelcome attention from the national taxation authorities.
Geography Puy-de-Dôme is part of the current region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and is bordered by the departments of Loire, Haute-Loire, Cantal, Corrèze, Allier, and Creuse. Parts of the department belong to the Parc naturel régional des Volcans d'Auvergne and Parc naturel régional Livradois-Forez.
The department is in the Massif Central and boasts more than 80 volcanic craters. It is three hours from Paris and an hour from Lyon by highways A71 and A89. The A75 links it to the Mediterranean Sea.
Principal towns The most populous commune is Clermont-Ferrand, the prefecture. As of 2023, there are 10 communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:Populations de référence 2023: 63 Puy-de-Dôme, INSEE
Commune Population (2023) Clermont-Ferrand 146,351 Cournon-d'Auvergne 19,951 Riom 18,820 Chamalières 17,509 Issoire 15,115 Pont-du-Château 12,412 Thiers 11,637 Beaumont 10,728 Aubière 10,459 Gerzat 10,335 Source: INSEE - Municipal population
Demographics Population development since 1801:
Economy The departmental seat, Clermont-Ferrand, is home to one of the country's best known manufacturing businesses and brands, Michelin. Thiers is the oldest industry place in Auvergne with its cutlery tradition from the 14th century.
The countryside lends itself to tourism and Puy-de-Dôme is a weekend destination for city dwellers. As of 2019, 10.1% of the usable homes in the department were being kept as second homes.Logement en 2019, INSEE
Transport The department is served by Clermont-Ferrand Auvergne Airport, which serves a small number of mostly domestic destinations. The nearest international airport is Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport. It is also served by numerous high-speed rail stations.
Politics The department was the electoral constituency of Valéry Giscard d'Estaing, who served as President of the Republic from 1974 to 1981. The president of the Departmental Council is Lionel Chauvin, elected in July 2021.
Current National Assembly Representatives
National Assembly Representatives to the 15th Legislature
ConstituencyMemberParty Puy-de-Dôme's 1st constituency Marianne Maximi La France Insoumise Puy-de-Dôme's 2nd constituency Christine Pirès-Beaune Socialist Party Puy-de-Dôme's 3rd constituency Nicolas Bonnet The Ecologists Puy-de-Dôme's 4th constituency Delphine Lingemann MoDem Puy-de-Dôme's 5th constituency André Chassaigne French Communist Party
Tourism
See also Cantons of the Puy-de-Dôme department Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department Arrondissements of the Puy-de-Dôme department Maurice Persat
References
External links
Prefecture website Departmental Council website