Departments of France
In the administrative divisions of France, the department is one of the three levels of government below the national level, between the administrative regions and the commune. Ninety-six departments are in metropolitan France, five are overseas departments, which are classified as regions. Departments are further subdivided into 334 arrondissements, themselves divided into cantons; each department is administered by an elected body called a departmental council. From 1800 to April 2015, these were called general councils; each council has a president. Their main areas of responsibility include the management of a number of social and welfare allowances, of junior high school buildings and technical staff, local roads and school and rural buses, a contribution to municipal infrastructures. Local services of the state administration are traditionally organised at departmental level, where the prefect represents the government; the departments were created in 1790 as a rational replacement of Ancien Régime provinces with a view to strengthen national unity.
All of them were named after physical geographical features, rather than after historical or cultural territories which could have their own loyalties. The division of France into departments was a project identified with the French revolutionary leader the Abbé Sieyès, although it had been discussed and written about by many politicians and thinkers; the earliest known suggestion of it is from 1764 in the writings of d'Argenson. They have inspired similar divisions in some of them former French colonies. Most French departments are assigned a two-digit number, the "Official Geographical Code", allocated by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques. Overseas departments have a three-digit number; the number is used, for example, in the postal code, was until used for all vehicle registration plates. While residents use the numbers to refer to their own department or a neighbouring one, more distant departments are referred to by their names, as few people know the numbers of all the departments.
For example, inhabitants of Loiret might refer to their department as "the 45". In 2014, President François Hollande proposed to abolish departmental councils by 2020, which would have maintained the departments as administrative divisions, to transfer their powers to other levels of governance; this reform project has since been abandoned. The first French territorial departments were proposed in 1665 by Marc-René d'Argenson to serve as administrative areas purely for the Ponts et Chaussées infrastructure administration. Before the French Revolution, France gained territory through the annexation of a mosaic of independent entities. By the close of the Ancien Régime, it was organised into provinces. During the period of the Revolution, these were dissolved in order to weaken old loyalties; the modern departments, as all-purpose units of the government, were created on 4 March 1790 by the National Constituent Assembly to replace the provinces with what the Assembly deemed a more rational structure.
Their boundaries served two purposes: Boundaries were chosen to break up France's historical regions in an attempt to erase cultural differences and build a more homogeneous nation. Boundaries were set so that every settlement in the country was within a day's ride of the capital of a department; this was a security measure, intended to keep the entire national territory under close control. This measure was directly inspired by the Great Terror, during which the government had lost control of many rural areas far from any centre of government; the old nomenclature was avoided in naming the new departments. Most were named after other physical features. Paris was in the department of Seine. Savoy became the department of Mont-Blanc; the number of departments 83, had been increased to 130 by 1809 with the territorial gains of the Republic and of the First French Empire. Following Napoleon's defeats in 1814–1815, the Congress of Vienna returned France to its pre-war size and the number of departments was reduced to 86.
In 1860, France acquired the County of Nice and Savoy, which led to the creation of three new departments. Two were added from the new Savoyard territory, while the department of Alpes-Maritimes was created from Nice and a portion of the Var department; the 89 departments were given numbers based on the alphabetical order of their names. The department of Bas-Rhin and parts of Meurthe, Moselle and Haut-Rhin were ceded to the German Empire in 1871, following France's defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. A small part of Haut-Rhin became known as the Territoire de Belfort; when France regained the ceded departments after World War I, the Territoire de Belfort was not re-integrated into Haut-Rhin. In 1922, it became France's 90th department; the Lorraine departments were not changed back to their original boundaries, a new Moselle department was created in the regaine
Massif Central
The Massif Central is a highland region in the middle of Southern France, consisting of mountains and plateaus. It covers about 15% of mainland France. Subject to volcanism that has subsided in the last 10,000 years, these central mountains are separated from the Alps by a deep north–south cleft created by the Rhône River and known in French as the sillon rhodanien; the region was a barrier to transport within France until the opening of the A75 motorway, which not only made north–south travel easier, but opened up the massif itself. The Massif Central is an old massif, formed during the Variscan orogeny, consisting of granitic and metamorphic rocks, it was powerfully raised and made to look geologically younger in the eastern section by the uplift of the Alps during the Paleogene period and in the southern section by the uplift of the Pyrenees. The massif thus presents a asymmetrical elevation profile with highlands in the south and in the east dominating the valley of the Rhône and the plains of Languedoc and by contrast, the less elevated region of Limousin in the northwest.
These tectonic movements may be the origin of the volcanism in the massif. In fact, above the crystalline foundation, one can observe many volcanoes of many different types and ages: volcanic plateaus and small recent monogenic volcanoes; the entire region contains a large concentration of around 450 extinct volcanoes. The Chaîne des Puys, a range running north to south and less than 160 km2 long, contains 115 of them; the Auvergne Volcanoes regional natural park is in the massif. In the south, one remarkable region, made up of features called causses in French, consists of raised chalky plateaus cut by deep canyons; the most famous of these is the Gorges du Tarn. Mountain ranges, with notable individual mountains, are: Chaîne des Puys Puy de Dôme Puy de Pariou Puy de Lassolas Puy de la Vache Monts Dore Puy de Sancy Monts du Lyonnais Pilat massif Crêt de la Perdrix Mounts of Cantal Plomb du Cantal Puy Mary Forez Pierre-sur-Haute L'Aubrac Signal de Mailhebiau Monts de La Margeride Signal de Randon Monts du Vivarais Mont Mézenc Mont Gerbier de Jonc Cévennes Mont Lozère, the highest non-volcanic summit Mont Aigoual, near Le Vigan, Florac Monts de Lacaune Montgrand Monts de l'Espinouse Sommet de l'Espinouse Montagne Noire Pic de Nore Causse du Larzac Plateau de Millevaches Plateau de Lévézou Causse du Comtal Causse de Sauveterre Causse de Sévérac Causse Méjean Causse Noir Causse de Blandas The following departments are considered as part of the Massif Central: Allier, Ardèche, Aveyron, Corrèze, Gard, Haute-Loire, Haute-Vienne, Hérault, Lot, Lozère, Puy-de-Dôme, Rhône, Tarn.
The largest cities in the region are Clermont-Ferrand and Saint-Étienne. Geography of France Media related to Massif Central at Wikimedia Commons
Lyon
Lyon is the third-largest city and second-largest urban area of France. It is located in the country's east-central part at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, about 470 km south from Paris, 320 km north from Marseille and 56 km northeast from Saint-Étienne. Inhabitants of the city are called Lyonnais. Lyon had a population of 513,275 in 2015, it is the capital of the region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The Lyon metropolitan area had a population of 2,265,375 in 2014, the second-largest urban area in France; the city is known for its cuisine and gastronomy, historical and architectural landmarks. Lyon was an important area for the production and weaving of silk. Lyon played a significant role in the history of cinema: it is where Auguste and Louis Lumière invented the cinematograph, it is known for its light festival, the Fête des Lumières, which begins every 8 December and lasts for four days, earning Lyon the title of Capital of Lights. Economically, Lyon is a major centre for banking, as well as for the chemical and biotech industries.
The city contains a significant software industry with a particular focus on video games, in recent years has fostered a growing local start-up sector. Lyon hosts the international headquarters of Interpol, the International Agency for Research on Cancer and Euronews, it was ranked 19th globally and second in France for innovation in 2014. It ranked second in 39th globally in Mercer's 2015 liveability rankings. According to the historian Dio Cassius, in 43 BC, the Roman Senate ordered the creation of a settlement for Roman refugees of war with the Allobroges; these refugees had been expelled from Vienne and were now encamped at the confluence of the Saône and Rhône rivers. The foundation was built on Fourvière hill and called Colonia Copia Felix Munatia, a name invoking prosperity and the blessing of the gods; the city became referred to as Lugdunum. The earliest translation of this Gaulish place-name as "Desired Mountain" is offered by the 9th-century Endlicher Glossary. In contrast, some modern scholars have proposed a Gaulish hill-fort named Lugdunon, after the Celtic god Lugus, dúnon.
The Romans recognised that Lugdunum's strategic location at the convergence of two navigable rivers made it a natural communications hub. The city became the starting point of the principal Roman roads in the area, it became the capital of the province, Gallia Lugdunensis. Two Emperors were born in this city: Claudius, whose speech is preserved in the Lyon Tablet in which he justifies the nomination of Gallic Senators, Caracalla. Early Christians in Lyon were martyred for their beliefs under the reigns of various Roman emperors, most notably Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus. Local saints from this period include Blandina and Epipodius, among others. In the second century AD, the great Christian bishop of Lyon was Irenaeus. To this day, the archbishop of Lyon is still referred to as "Primat des Gaules". Burgundians fleeing the destruction of Worms by the Huns in 437 were re-settled at Lugdunum. In 443 the Romans established the Kingdom of the Burgundians, Lugdunum became its capital in 461.
In 843, by the Treaty of Verdun, Lyon went to the Holy Roman Emperor Lothair I. It was made part of the Kingdom of Arles. Lyon did not come under French control until the 14th century. Fernand Braudel remarked, "Historians of Lyon are not sufficiently aware of the bi-polarity between Paris and Lyon, a constant structure in French development...from the late Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution". In the late 15th century, the fairs introduced by Italian merchants made Lyon the economic counting house of France; the Bourse, built in 1749, resembled a public bazaar where accounts were settled in the open air. When international banking moved to Genoa Amsterdam, Lyon remained the banking centre of France. During the Renaissance, the city's development was driven by the silk trade, which strengthened its ties to Italy. Italian influence on Lyon's architecture is still visible among historic buildings. In the 1400s and 1500s Lyon was a key centre of literary activity and book publishing, both of French writers and of Italians in exile.
In 1572, Lyon was a scene of mass violence by Catholics against Protestant Huguenots in the St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Two centuries Lyon was again convulsed by violence when, during the French Revolution, the citizenry rose up against the National Convention and supported the Girondins; the city was besieged by Revolutionary armies for over two months before surrendering in October 1793. Many buildings were destroyed around the Place Bellecour, while Jean-Marie Collot d'Herbois and Joseph Fouché administered the execution of more than 2,000 people; the Convention ordered that its name be changed to "Liberated City" and a plaque was erected that proclaimed "Lyons made war on Liberty. A decade Napoleon ordered the reconstruction of all the buildings demolished during this period; the Convention was not the only target within Lyon during the 1789-1799 French Revolution. After the National Convention faded into history, the French Directory appeared and days after the September 4, 1797, Coup of 18 Fructidor, a Directory's commissioner was assassinated in Ly
National Assembly (French Revolution)
During the French Revolution, the National Assembly, which existed from 14 June 1789 to 9 July 1789, was a revolutionary assembly formed by the representatives of the Third Estate of the Estates-General. The Estates-General had been called on 4 May 1789 to deal with France's financial crisis, but promptly fell to squabbling over its own structure, its members been elected to represent the estates of the realm: the 1st Estate, the 2nd Estate and the 3rd Estate. The Third Estate had been granted "double representation"—that is, twice as many delegates as each of the other estates—but at the opening session on the 5th of May 1789 they were informed that all voting would be "by power" not "by head", so their double representation was to be meaningless in terms of power, they proceeded to meet separately. Shuttle diplomacy among the estates continued without success until 27 May on 28 May the representatives of the 3rd Estate began to meet on their own, calling themselves the Communes and proceeding with their "verification of powers" independently of the other bodies.
On 13 June this group began to call itself the National Assembly. This newly created assembly attached itself onto the capitalists—the sources of the credit needed to fund the national debt—and to the common people, they consolidated the public debt and declared all existing taxes to have been illegally imposed, but voted in these same taxes provisionally, only as long as the Assembly continued to sit. This restored the confidence of the capitalists and gave them a strong interest in keeping the Assembly in session; as for the common people, the Assembly established a committee of subsistence to deal with food shortages. Jacques Necker, finance minister of Louis XVI, had earlier proposed that the king hold a Séance Royale in an attempt to reconcile the divided Estates; the king agreed. All debates were to be put on hold. Events soon overtook Necker's complex scheme of giving in to the Communes on some points while holding firm on others. No longer interested in Necker's advice, Louis XVI, under the influence of the courtiers of his privy council, resolved to go in state to the Assembly, annul its decrees, command the separation of the orders, dictate the reforms to be effected by the restored Estates-General.
On 19 June he ordered the Salle des États, the hall where the National Assembly met and remained at Marly for several days while he prepared his address. Two days deprived of use of the tennis court as well, the National Assembly met in the Church of Saint Louis, where the majority of the representatives of the clergy joined them: efforts to restore the old order had served only to accelerate events. When, on 23 June in accord with his plan, the king addressed the representatives of all three estates, he encountered a stony silence, he concluded by ordering all to disperse. The nobles and clergy obeyed. Where are the enemies of the nation? Is Catiline at our gates? I demand, investing yourselves with your dignity, with your legislative power, you inclose yourselves within the religion of your oath, it does not permit you to separate till you have formed a constitution." The deputies stood firm. Necker, conspicuous by his absence from the royal party on that day, found himself in disgrace with Louis, but back in the good graces of the National Assembly.
Those of the clergy who had joined the Assembly at the church of Saint Louis remained in the Assembly. The French military began to arrive in large numbers around Versailles. In the séance royale of 23 June the King granted a Charte octroyée, a constitution granted of the royal favour, which affirmed, subject to the traditional limitations, the right of separate deliberation for the three orders, which constitutionally formed three chambers; this move failed. The Estates-General had ceased to exist, having become the National Assembly, though these bodies consisted of the same deputies elected by the separate orders. Messages of support poured into the Assembly from other French cities. On 9 July 1789, the Assembly, reconstituting itself as the National Constituent Assembly, addressed the king in polite but firm terms, requesting the removal of the troops, but Louis declared that he alone could judge the need for troops, assured them that the troops had deployed as a precautionary measure. Louis "offered" to move the assembly to Noyon or Soissons:, to say, to place it between two armies and deprive it of the support of the Parisian people.
Public outrage over this troop pr
Ambert
Ambert is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Ambert is the seat of the arrondissement of Ambert, it is a sub-prefecture of the department. The arrondissement consists of eight cantons. Ambert lies on a tributary of the Allier River. Ambert is famous for its fourme d'Ambert cheese - "Fourme d'Ambert", its paper mills - "Le moulin Richard de Bas" - and its circular town market hall - "La Mairie" -; the Agrivap Chemin de Fer Touristique operates out of Ambert. There is a steam engine that makes a local run, but to see the line in full a ride on the Panoramique Autorail is not to be missed. There is an industrial museum with an interesting collection of small steam engines. In the town the Museum of Cheese is worth a visit, as is the old paper mill a few kilometres outside the main town. Ambert was the birthplace of the mathematician Michel Rolle, composer Emmanuel Chabrier, anthropologist Henri Pourrat, who collected the oral traditions of the Auvergne, it is the birthplace of actor and director Pierre-Loup Rajot.
Ambert is twinned with: Annweiler, since 1988 Higashichichibu, Japan, since 1989 Gorgonzola, since 2002. Both cities, known for their blue cow's-milk cheeses, have the same latitude: 45° 32' N for Gorgonzola, 45° 33' N for Ambert; some semi-famous places to go when visiting Ambert, France are: La Mairie Le Moulin Richard-de-Bas Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department INSEE statistics
Issoire
Issoire is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Issoire is located on the Couze River, near its junction with the Allier, 40 km SSE of Clermont-Ferrand on the Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée railway to Nîmes. Issoire is situated in one of the fertile plains of the Petites Limagnes—basins that follow the Allier River from its source in the Massif Central to the Grande Limagne north of Clermont-Ferrand and on to the Loire. Issoire is said to have been founded by the Arverni, in Roman times rose to some reputation for its schools. In the 5th century the Christian community established there by Stremonius in the same century was overthrown by the fury of the Vandals. During the religious wars of the Reformation, Issoire suffered severely. Merle, the leader of the Protestants, captured the town in 1574, treated the inhabitants with great cruelty; the Roman Catholics retook it in 1577, the ferocity of their retaliation may be inferred from the inscription "Ici fut Issoire" carved on a pillar, raised on the site of the town.
In the contest between the Leaguers and Henry IV, Issoire sustained further sieges, never wholly regained its early prosperity. Voxan motorcycles are manufactured at Issoire. Tourists visit the village to see the church of Saint-Austremoine; the church of Saint-Austremoine is built on the site of an older chapel raised over the tomb of St. Austremoine, affords an excellent specimen of the Romanesque architecture of Auvergne. There is a clock tower and the museum of the philosopher's stone. François Albert-Buisson Agénor Altaroche Auguste Bravard Antoine Duprat François George-Hainl Auguste Pomel Florent Sauvadet Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz, since 1971. Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department INSEE commune file This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed.. "Issoire". Encyclopædia Britannica. 14. Cambridge University Press. P. 886. Official website
Thiers, Puy-de-Dôme
Thiers is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Thiers is a French municipality situated in the department of Puy-de-Dôme in region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, it is one of the four sub-prefectures of the department with Ambert and Riom. The district of Thiers consists of forty-three municipalities distributed among six cantons; the inhabitants are known as Bitords. Thiers is the world capital of knife manufacturing, with about one hundred companies in this business and a museum of the cutlery industry; the know-how of the Thiernois cutlers draws its origins from a continuous tradition over more than seven centuries. The city is "stretched" across more than 7 kilometres on a rocky spur overhanging the nearby mountains and the nearby villages, is divided into two different parts: the lower city and the upper city, its city center, picturesque appearance, its cutlery industry have made it a popular city with tourists, it is the sixth most popular tourist destination in Auvergne.
The geography of Thiers is marked by its staggering along the steep hills overlooking the Durolle valley. The high gradient provides the water-driven force needed for grinding mills; the city is divided into many neighborhoods. The upper town consists of several neighborhoods such as the medieval center, the Pontel the Jaiffours. Much of the city's history took place in the hills of the city given the long history of human settlement. In fact, the lower city developed from 50–60 years; the lower city began its development from the 50's. Called the city of hypermarkets, due to the large number of supermarkets and hypermarkets, the lower city is composed of businesses and services. Le Moutier is a privileged area for the city of Thiers, it is located between the many centre-ville. De passages in the history of the cutlery of Thiers passed; the mouth of Hell and the plants of the valleys are depicted on the church of Saint-Symphorien, near the abbey and Logis du Moutier. Many knife manufacturing workshops are always present.
A Thiers-many places known and propagates parties, belins, the end of the world, Chassignol, Château-Gaillard, Cizolles, Courty, Dégoulat, Gardelle, the garniers, the Great Change, Granetias the Horts, Lamirand, Matussière, Molles, Nohat, Panthèze, Pinion, Ravailloux the ribbes the Rigaudie, the Roche Noire, the Salomon, sauvage- Billetoux, Les Tavards, Trois Villes, Vidalie the round oak, etc. Thiers is subject to various natural hazards. Thiers had two landslides in 1984 on the north of the city, along the A89 and a landslide in the Valley of the Mills. Earthquakes can occur and Thiers is classified in zone 3 seismic: moderate seismicity. Thiers has sometimes been flooded, in fact, the city is crossed by the Dore, the Durolle and numerous streams. Exceptional meteorological phenomena occur every few decades over the city. Winds of 150 kilometres per hour were recorded in the city centre in 1999. In addition to natural hazards, the city is exposed to risks related to human activities; the city is subject to the risk of rupture of the Membrun dam in the Durolle a kilometer from the city's first buildings.
The city of Thiers is concerned about the presence of several "facilities classified for the protection of the environment" and is located in low risk areas. Thiers, with the passage of the A89, national route 106 and National Route 89 is subject to the risk of transport of hazardous materials. In 1999 the whole mountain overlooking the city was the target of arsonists who set fire to the forest not far from the Margerides cliff; the Verdun Square: A WWI monument is placed in this location to commemorate French efforts during the war. Les Jardins de Saint-Jean, they are located under the bed of the old Thiers hospital until the Durolle. This park has Durolle street north to the St. Jean area to the south; the Orangerie Park is located in the Moutier district. The host park of a mansion converted into a retirement home, open to the public, the park has a view of the former Thiers center in the mountains as well as the church of Saint-Symphorien and the abbey of Moutier just in front of the main entrance.
Le Breuil park is an old campsite, now a public park. Local locker rooms / showers / camping toilets are still visible at the bottom of the park; the Jo-cognet function room is installed in the park. Castles located in the town of Thiers offer parks with a certain cache. Thus, the Chassaigne Castle offers visitors a beautiful English garden, for example. Field of the fair is a park located between the park of the park Breuil, it serves, as the site of a fair on the penultimate weekend in September. The station square is a small green area opposite the Gare de Thiers; the square of Saint-Exupery offers small green spaces and more "space". It is the old ` Forail' Thiers. A street near the place is called "Rue du Forail"; the game'Intercity' 1973 edition was held in the square. Several natural areas surrounding the urban area: The plain of the Limagne.
listen); Auvergnat: lo Puèi de Doma or lo Puèi Domat) is a department in the centre of France named after the famous dormant volcano, the Puy de Dôme. Inhabitants were called Puydedomois until December 2005. With effect from Spring 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, and this is the name that has since then been used in all official documents and publications.
