Cher

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Cher
Coat of Arms of Cher
Location
Administration
Department number:	18
Region:	Centre
Prefecture:	Bourges
Subprefectures:	Saint-Amand-Montrond Vierzon
Arrondissements:	3
Cantons:	35
Communes:	290
President of the General Council:	Alain Rafesthain PS
Statistics
Population	Ranked 70th
-1999	314,428
Population density:	43/km2
Land area¹:	7235 km2
¹ French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, and lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2.

Cher (Occitan: Char) is an administrative department located in the centre of France. It is named after the Cher River.

History

Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Berry.

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

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.

Tourism

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

See also

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

External links

• (French) General Council of Cher
• (French) Prefecture of Cher
• (English) Cher at the Open Directory Project
• http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/arch/bourges.html
• http://www.sitesatlas.com/Europe/France/Bourges.htm
• http://berrichou.free.fr/

Coordinates: 47°00′N 02°35′E / 47°N 2.583°E / 47; 2.583