Allier
Allier
| |
|---|---|
Prefecture building in Moulins | |
Location of Allier in France | |
| Coordinates: 46°20′N 3°10′E / 46.333°N 3.167°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes |
| Prefecture | Moulins |
| Subprefectures | Montluçon Vichy |
| Government | |
| • President of the Departmental Council | Claude Riboulet (UDI) |
| Area | |
• Total | 7,340 km2 (2,830 sq mi) |
| Population (2022) | |
• Total | 334,715 |
| • Rank | 69th |
| • Density | 46/km2 (120/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+1 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+2 (CEST) |
| Department number | 03 |
| Arrondissements | 3 |
| Cantons | 19 |
| Communes | 317 |
| ^1 French Land Register data, which excludes estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2 | |
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Allier (UK: /ˈælieɪ/ AL-ee-ay, US: /ælˈjeɪ, ɑːlˈjeɪ/ a(h)l-YAY, French: [alje] ⓘ; Occitan: Alèir) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region that borders Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire to the east, Puy-de-Dôme to the south, and Creuse to the south-west. Named after the river Allier, it had a population of 334,872 in 2021. Moulins is the prefecture; Montluçon and Vichy are the subprefectures. Its INSEE and post code is 03.
Before 2018, the inhabitants of the department did not have a demonym. The inhabitants of the department have officially been known in French as Bourbonnais since 2018, a reference to the historic province of Bourbonnais. Until then, the unofficial term Elavérins had been used.