Clermont-Ferrand (France) – Location, History, Facts

Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune in France’s Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department.

Clermont-Ferrand, France.

Country: France
Coordinates: 45.7797° N, 3.0869° E
Country and region: France; Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Administrative role: Prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department
Intermunicipal membership: Clermont Auvergne Métropole

Clermont-Ferrand overview

Clermont-Ferrand is a city and commune in France’s Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and the prefecture of the Puy-de-Dôme department. It belongs to Clermont Auvergne Métropole and serves as an administrative, educational, industrial, and cultural centre in the Massif Central. Its setting on the Limagne plain, beside the Chaîne des Puys volcanoes, connects the built city to a distinctive geological landscape. The present city also reflects the political union of the historic settlements of Clermont and Montferrand.

Official recorded sales

Residential property prices in Clermont-Ferrand

The median recorded residential sale price was €2,178 per m² across 11,448 qualifying transactions in 2021–2025. This is a historical transaction measure, not a live asking price or a valuation.

Apartment median: €2,130/m²
House median: €2,486/m²
Source updated: 2026-07-17

Open the full data analysis and methodology

Clermont-Ferrand coordinates

Clermont-Ferrand is commonly mapped at approximately 45.7797° N, 3.0869° E, or 45.7797, 3.0869 in decimal degrees.

Degrees: 45.7797° N, 3.0869° E

Decimal: 45.7797, 3.0869

Where Clermont-Ferrand is located

Clermont-Ferrand lies on the Limagne plain in central France, within the Massif Central and near the Chaîne des Puys volcanoes. The Puy de Dôme is approximately 10 kilometres from the city. The commune covers 42.67 square kilometres, with elevations ranging from 321 to 602 metres and an average elevation of 358 metres. Its wider metropolitan area had 510,669 inhabitants in 2022, while the commune’s population was recorded as 146,351. The surrounding volcanic and tectonic setting is associated with the Chaîne des Puys–Limagne UNESCO World Heritage listing, inscribed in July 2018.

A departmental prefecture within Clermont Auvergne Métropole

Clermont-Ferrand performs the civic role of prefecture for the Puy-de-Dôme department and forms part of Clermont Auvergne Métropole.

Its place in France’s administrative structure is defined at several levels. The commune is in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, serves as the prefecture of Puy-de-Dôme, and belongs to the intermunicipal body Clermont Auvergne Métropole. The official commune record identifies it by code 63113, with department code 63 and region code 84. This framework distinguishes the city’s municipal identity from the larger metropolitan area, which had 510,669 inhabitants in 2022, compared with 146,351 residents in the commune in 2023.

An urban centre between the Limagne plain and volcanic highlands

The city’s urban setting is defined by the Limagne plain, the nearby Chaîne des Puys, and landmarks built from local historical and architectural layers.

The surrounding geography gives the municipality a clear spatial relationship to central France: it occupies the Limagne plain while the Chaîne des Puys volcanoes surround it, with Puy de Dôme about 10 kilometres away. Within the built area, the black-volcanic-stone Gothic Cathedral of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption contrasts with the Romanesque Basilica of Notre-Dame du Port. Place de Jaude provides a major named urban space, while the Vercingetorix statue by Frédéric Bartholdi adds a civic monument to the city’s public landscape.

From Arverni settlement to a united city

The present municipality grew from distinct historical settlements: the Arverni settlement Nemessos, Roman Augustonemetum, medieval Clermont, and Montferrand.

The historical sequence explains why the city carries a compound name. The settlement was known as Nemessos among the Arverni and later became Augustonemetum under Roman rule. Clermont took its name from the castle Clarus Mons, while Montferrand developed separately. The two towns remained separate cities before their political union, after which Montferrand was incorporated into the name. Clermont also became a major setting in medieval religious history: Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade at the Second Council of Clermont in 1095.

Universities, industry, and metropolitan connections

The city’s public life is shaped by higher-education institutions, research and engineering sectors, Michelin’s headquarters, and transport links across France.

The University of Clermont Auvergne, formed in 2017, has more than 37,000 students; Clermont Auvergne INP and ESC Clermont Business School add engineering and business education. Food production and processing, engineering, software, pharmaceuticals, and research are identified as major sectors. Michelin maintains its global headquarters in the city, and its historic manufacturing presence influenced local industrial development. Rail services connect the city with Paris and regional destinations, while the A71, A75, and A89 motorways link it toward central, southern, and western France.

A civic identity linking volcanoes, public memory, and culture

Clermont-Ferrand represents a meeting point between volcanic geography, historical memory, industrial organization, and cultural production.

The city’s symbolic role is grounded in specific institutions and places rather than a single monument. The UNESCO-listed Chaîne des Puys–Limagne tectonic setting connects the municipality to a wider geological landscape. The Vercingetorix statue and the cathedral and basilica express different layers of public and religious memory. Modern cultural identity is reinforced by the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, founded in 1979 and described in the dossier as the world’s first international short-film festival. Michelin and the birthplace association with Blaise Pascal add industrial and intellectual dimensions.