Geography of the Cantal
The Cantal belongs to the Région Auvergne. It is bordering in North, of the departments of the Corrèze, the Haute-Loire and the Puy-de-Dôme, with the East of Haute-Loire and Lozere, with the South of the Aveyron and Lot, with the West of the Lot and Corrèze. Located at the center of France, it is located in the basin of the the Garonne and a little in that of the the Loire.
The department of the Cantal draws its name from the Cantal, mountainous solid mass principal which covers it. Indeed, it is a department of medium mountains occupied primarily by the volcanic Solid mass of the Cantal and its buttresses. This solid mass is a vestige of an old volcano whose diameter is of almost 60 km (largest of Europe). Its current culminating point, the Lead of the Cantal reached 1858 meters. The solid mass forms an almost perfect circle whose slopes rise while converging towards the center. In this center an immense circus is which was to be the old crater.
In this solid mass many remarkable tops are: beside the Lead of the Cantal, one finds the Puy Mary (1787 meters), the Puy Chavaroche (1744 meters), the Puy Violate (1594 meters), the Puy Griou (1694 meters), the Puy of Peyroux (1686 meters), the Puy Large (1599 meters) and finally the Lioran or Puy de Mussabiau (1420 meters).
On the sides of the solid masses go down from the deep valleys, modelled formerly by the glacial erosion, which extend starting from the center in a radial way. Among them valleys of the Impradine, Santoire, Cère, Alagnon, Jordanne, Doire (river) and Rhue. Very broad in the volcanic grounds, they are tightened at their exit.
Between these valleys, one finds plates. In the East, the Planèze of Saint-Flour is rather dry while in the West the grounds are sprinkled side of Salers.
In the north of the Cantal, volcanicity is prolonged in the mounts of the Cézallier then in the Monts Gilds (department of Puy de Dôme), while in the east the chain of the Margeride is prolonged in direction of the the Cevennes (department of Lozere). The Cantal thus seems a geographical entity at the same time autonomous and open on the territories neighborhood.
The principal cities are Aurillac, but also Saint-Flour and Mauriac.