About Clermont Ferrand

Clermont-Ferrand (French pronunciation: [klɛʀmɔ̃ fɛʀɑ̃], Auvergnat Occitan: Clarmont-Ferrand / Clarmont d'Auvèrnhe) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne region, with a population of 140,700 (2006). Its metropolitan area had 409,558 inhabitants at the 1999 census. It is the prefecture (capital) of the Puy-de-Dôme department. Serge Godard is the current Mayor of the city.

View of the city and the nearby Puy de Dome volcano

Clermont-Ferrand sits on the plain of Limagne in the Massif Central and is surrounded by a major industrial area. The city is famous for the chain of volcanoes, the Chaîne des Puys surrounding it. The famous dormant volcano Puy-de-Dôme (10 km from the city) is one of the highest of these and well known for the telecommunication antennas that sit on its top and are visible from far away.

Clermont-Ferrand is also famous for hosting one of the world's leading international festivals for short films, the Festival du Court Metrage de Clermont-Ferrand, as well as the corporate headquarters of Michelin, the global tyre company created more than 100 years ago in the city.

Clermont-Ferrand's most famous public square is place de Jaude, on which stands a grand statue of Vercingetorix sitting imperiously on a horse and holding a glaive. The inscription reads: J'ai pris les armes pour la liberté de tous (English: I took up arms for the liberty of all). This statue was sculpted by Frédéric Bartholdi, who also created the Statue of Liberty.

Recently, Clermont-Ferrand was France's first city to get a new guided light transit system, thereby linking the city's north and south neighbourhoods.

Read the full article at Wikipedia.