Cher (department)

For the American singer, see Cher.

Cher (/ʃɛər/ SHAIR; French: [ʃɛʁ] ^ⓘ; Berrichon: Char) is a department in central France, part of the Centre-Val de Loire region. Named after the river Cher, its prefecture is Bourges. In 2019, it had a population of 302,306.^[3]

Cher Char
Department
Prefecture building in Bourges
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Cher in France
Coordinates: 47°0′N 2°35′E
Country	France
Region	Centre-Val de Loire
Prefecture	Bourges
Subprefectures	Saint-Amand-Montrond Vierzon
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Jacques Fleury[1] (LR)
Area 1
• Total	7,235 km2 (2,793 sq mi)
Population  (2022)[2]
• Total	299,496
• Rank	76th
• Density	41/km2 (110/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	18
Arrondissements	3
Cantons	19
Communes	287
^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries and lakes, ponds and glaciers larger than 1 km2

History

Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. Most of it was created, along with the adjacent department of Indre from the former province of Berry. The southeastern corner of the department, however, was part of the Duchy of Bourbon.

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.

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Bourges, the prefecture. As of 2019, there are 8 communes with more than 5,000 inhabitants:^[3]

Commune	Population (2019)
Bourges	64,541
Vierzon	25,464
Saint-Doulchard	9,607
Saint-Amand-Montrond	9,488
Mehun-sur-Yèvre	6,555
Saint-Florent-sur-Cher	6,442
Aubigny-sur-Nère	5,502
Saint-Germain-du-Puy	5,041

Demographics

The inhabitants of the department are called Chériens or Berrichons after the former province of Berry.^[4]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1791 207,541 —     1801 217,785 +0.48% 1806 228,158 +0.93% 1821 239,561 +0.33% 1831 256,059 +0.67% 1841 273,645 +0.67% 1851 306,261 +1.13% 1861 323,393 +0.55% 1872 335,392 +0.33% 1881 351,405 +0.52% 1891 359,276 +0.22% 1901 345,543 −0.39% 1911 337,810 −0.23% 1921 304,800 −1.02%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1931 293,918 −0.36% 1936 288,695 −0.36% 1946 286,070 −0.09% 1954 284,376 −0.07% 1962 293,514 +0.40% 1968 304,601 +0.62% 1975 316,350 +0.54% 1982 320,174 +0.17% 1990 321,559 +0.05% 1999 314,428 −0.25% 2006 314,676 +0.01% 2011 311,694 −0.19% 2016 307,110 −0.30%
Sources:[5][6]

Politics

The President of the General Council is Jacques Fleury of The Republicans, elected in July 2021.^[7]

Party		seats
	Union for a Popular Movement	10
•	Socialist Party	9
•	French Communist Party	7
	Miscellaneous Right	5
•	Miscellaneous Left	4

Current National Assembly representatives

Constituency		Member[8]	Party
	1st	François Cormier-Bouligeon	Renaissance
	2nd	Nicolas Sansu	PCF
	3rd	Loïc Kervran	Horizons

Tourism

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

• 
  Bourges Cathedral
• 
  Bourges
• 
  Apremont-sur-Allier
• 
  Noirlac Abbey
• 
  Château de Meillant

Languages

The historical languages are Berrichon and the northern version of Bourbonnais. These are both dialects of French, or the Langues d'oïl. They are named respectively after the former Province of Berry and the former Duchy of Bourbon. Some 11 communes in the extreme South used to speak Occitan.

The old dialects were in widespread use until the middle decades of the twentieth century and incorporated major regional variations within the department, influenced by the dialects of adjacent regions near the departmental frontiers. During the twentieth century government educational policy promoted a more standardised version of the French language.

In the extreme south of the department influence from the southern Occitan language begins to appear, with "chambrat" being used in place of "grenier a foin" (hayloft), "betoulle" in place of "bouleau" (birch tree) and "aigue" in place of "eau" (water).

See also

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