Puy-de-Dôme

Puy-de-Dôme
Department
Prefecture building of the Puy-de-Dôme department, in Clermont-Ferrand
Coat of arms
Location of Puy-de-Dôme in France
Coordinates: 45°42′N 3°13′E / 45.700°N 3.217°E / 45.700; 3.217Coordinates: 45°42′N 3°13′E / 45.700°N 3.217°E / 45.700; 3.217
Country	France
Region	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Prefecture	Clermont-Ferrand
Subprefectures	Ambert Issoire Riom Thiers
Government
• President of the General Council	Jean-Yves Gouttebel
Area
• Total	7,970 km2 (3,080 sq mi)
Population (2013)
• Total	640,999
• Rank	38th
• Density	80/km2 (210/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Department number	63
Arrondissements	5
Cantons	31
Communes	467
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Puy-de-Dôme (French pronunciation: ​[pɥi də dom]; (lo Puèi de Doma / lo Puèi Domat in the Auvergnat) 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 departmental General Council to Puydômois, and this is the name that has since then been used in all official documents and publications.

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 , a local deputy, because of a concern that the name originally chosen risked attracting excessive unwelcome attention from the national taxation authorities.

Puy-de-Dôme is part of the current region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and is surrounded by the departments of Loire, Haute-Loire, Cantal, Corrèze, Allier, and Creuse.

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 A72. The A75 links it to the Mediterranean Sea.