Aurillac () is a French commune, the prefecture of the Cantal department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Aurillac was part of the former province of Auvergne, in the region called Haute-Auvergne.
History
The name of the city comes from , meaning "Roman villa of Aurelius".
Geography
The city of Aurillac is at the foot of the Cantal mountains (Mounts of Cantal), in the Massif Central. The city is along the Jordanne river, a tributary of the Cère river.
It has an area of . Its average altitude is ; at the city hall, the altitude is .
The city of Aurillac is at to the southeast of Paris and at to the south of Toulouse. The commune of Aurillac is surrounded by the communes Crandelles, Naucelles, Saint-Simon, Giou-de-Mamou, Arpajon-sur-Cère, Roannes-Saint-Mary, Sansac-de-Marmiesse and Ytrac.
Climate
Aurillac has an oceanic climate (subtype Cfb in the Köppen climate classification) with cold winters and hot summers due to its distance from the ocean.
The average temperature for the year in Aurillac is . The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of . The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of .
The average amount of precipitation for the year in Aurillac is . The month with the most precipitation on average is December with of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is June with an average of .
Population
The inhabitants of Aurillac are known, in French, as Aurillacois (women: Aurillacoises).
The city of Aurillac has a population, in 2014, of 26,135; its population density is of inhabitants/km2.
Evolution of the population in Aurillac
Administration
Aurillac is the prefecture of the Cantal department, the capital of the arrondissement of Aurillac and the administrative centre () of three cantons: Aurillac-1 : 2 communes with 10,296 inhabitants (2014) Aurillac-2 : 1 commune with 9,591 inhabitants (2014) Aurillac-3 : 1 commune with 10,369 inhabitants (2014)
It is part of the intercommunality Bassin d'Aurillac ().
Sister cities
Aurillac and Arpajon-sur-Cère are twinned with: Bocholt (Germany) since 1972. Bassetlaw (United Kingdom) since 1980. Bougouni (Mali) since 1985. Altea (Spain) since 1992. Vorona (Romania) since 2000.
Sites of interest
Saint-Géraud d'Aurillac Abbey (11th century) Notre-Dame-aux-Neiges church (1332) Chateau of Saint-Etienne (9th century) Aurillac Town Hall (17th century)