Cher (department)

Cher
Department
Prefecture of Cher, in Bourges
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Cher in France
Coordinates: 47°0′N 2°35′E
Country	France
Region	Centre-Val de Loire
Prefecture	Bourges
Subprefectures	Saint-Amand-Montrond Vierzon
Government
• President of the General Council	Michel Autissier (LR)
Area 1
• Total	7,235 km2 (2,793 sq mi)
Population  (2016)
• Total	307,110
• Rank	73rd
• Density	42/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	18
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	19
Communes	287
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Cher (French pronunciation: [ʃɛʁ]; Berrichon: Char) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. It is named after the Cher River.

History

Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. Most of it was created, along with the adjacent department of Indre from the former province of Berry. The southeastern corner of the department, however, was part of the Duchy of Bourbon.

Geography

The department is part of the current administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire. It is surrounded by the departments of Indre, Loir-et-Cher, Loiret, Nièvre, Allier, and Creuse.

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1791	207,541	—
1801	217,785	+0.48%
1806	228,158	+0.93%
1821	239,561	+0.33%
1831	256,059	+0.67%
1841	273,645	+0.67%
1851	306,261	+1.13%
1861	323,393	+0.55%
1872	335,392	+0.33%
1881	351,405	+0.52%
1891	359,276	+0.22%
1901	345,543	−0.39%
1911	337,810	−0.23%
1921	304,800	−1.02%
1931	293,918	−0.36%
1936	288,695	−0.36%
1946	286,070	−0.09%
1954	284,376	−0.07%
1962	293,514	+0.40%
1968	304,601	+0.62%
1975	316,350	+0.54%
1982	320,174	+0.17%
1990	321,559	+0.05%
1999	314,428	−0.25%
2006	314,676	+0.01%
2016	307,110	−0.24%
source:

The inhabitants of the department are called Berrichons from the former province of Berry.

Politics

The President of the General Council is Alain Rafesthain of the Socialist Party.

Party		seats
style="background-color: Template:Union for a Popular Movement/meta/color" |	Union for a Popular Movement	10
style="background-color: Template:Socialist Party (France)/meta/color" |•	Socialist Party	9
style="background-color: Template:French Communist Party/meta/color" |•	French Communist Party	7
style="background-color: Template:Miscellaneous Right/meta/color" |	Miscellaneous Right	5
style="background-color: Template:Miscellaneous Left/meta/color" |•	Miscellaneous Left	4

Current National Assembly representatives

Constituency		Member	Party
style="background-color: Template:La République En Marche!/meta/color" |	1st	François Cormier-Bouligeon	La République En Marche!
style="background-color: Template:Democratic Movement (France)/meta/color" |	2nd	Nadia Essayan	MoDem
style="background-color: Template:En Marche!/meta/color" |	3rd	Loïc Kervran	La République En Marche!

Tourism

The Bourges Cathedral of St. Étienne is a major tourist attraction.

• 
  Bourges Cathedral
• 
  Bourges
• 
  Apremont-sur-Allier
• 
  Noirlac Abbey
• 
  Château de Meillant

See also

• Cantons of the Cher department
• Communes of the Cher department
• Arrondissements of the Cher department
• Coat of arms of Cher

Languages

The historical languages are Berrichon and the northern version of Bourbonais. These are both dialects of French, or the Langues d'oïl. They are named respectively after the former Province of Berry and the former Duchy of Bourbon. Some 11 communes in the extreme South used to speak Occitan.

The old dialects were in widespread use until the middle decades of the twentieth century and incorporated major regional variations within the department, influenced by the dialects of adjacent regions near the departmental frontiers. During the twentieth century government educational policy promoted a more standardised version of the French language.

In the extreme south of the department influence from the southern Occitan language begins to appear, with "chambrat" being used in place of "grenier a foin" (hayloft), "betoulle" in place of "bouleau" (birch tree) and "aigue" in place of "eau" (water).

External links

• (in French) General Council of Cher
• (in French) Prefecture of Cher
• (in English) Cher at Curlie
• https://web.archive.org/web/20051203082547/http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/bourges.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20041204220326/http://www.sitesatlas.com/Europe/France/Bourges.htm
• http://berrichou.free.fr/