Chalon-sur-Saône

Chalon-sur-Saône is a city and a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of France. It is the largest city of the department; however, the department capital is the smaller city of Mâcon.

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Chalon-sur-Saône
Subprefecture and commune

Coat of arms
Location of Chalon-sur-Saône
Chalon-sur-Saône Show map of France Chalon-sur-Saône Show map of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Coordinates: 46°46′50″N 4°51′10″E
Country	France
Region	Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department	Saône-et-Loire
Arrondissement	Chalon-sur-Saône
Canton	Chalon-sur-Saône-1, 2 and 3
Intercommunality	Le Grand Chalon
Government
• Mayor (2014–2020)	Gilles Platret^[1]
Area ¹	15.22 km² (5.88 sq mi)
Population (2014)	44,985
• Density	3,000/km² (7,700/sq mi)
Demonym	Chalonnais
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	71076 /71100
Elevation	172–190 m (564–623 ft) (avg. 185 m or 607 ft)
Website	www.chalon.fr
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

History

Though the place where is Chalon-sur-Saône now was an important town of the Aedui (Celtic people that lived between the Saône and Loire rivers) and objects of La Tène culture have been found here, the first mention of the town, as Cavillonum or Cabillonum, is found in Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars (VII, chs. 42 and 90).^[2]

Geography

Chalon-sur-Saône is on the sides of the Saône river, in the south of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. The city is at 338 km (210 mi) to the southeast of Paris and at 132 km (82 mi) to the north of Lyon.

It has an area of 15.2 km² (5.9 sq mi),^[3] and its average altitude is 182 m (597 ft); at the city hall, the altitude is 178 m (584 ft).^[4]

The Saône river flows through the eastern part of the city and the small river Thalie flows through the western part of the commune.

Chalon-sur-Saône and its neighboring *communes*

Chalon-sur-Saône is surrounded by the communes Fragnes, Crissey, Châtenoy-en-Bresse, Saint-Marcel, Lux, Saint-Rémy, Châtenoy-le-Royal and Champforgeuil.

Climate

The climate of Chalon-sur-Saône, in the Köppen climate classification, is Cfb - Oceanic climate with template summers.

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Population

The inhabitants of Chalon-sur-Saône are known, in French, as Chalonnais (women: Chalonnaises).^[5]

With a population of 44,985,^[6] Chalon-sur-Saône has a population density of 2,956 inhabitants/km².

Evolution of the population in Chalon-sur-Saône

Chalon-sur-Saône forms, with other 9 communes, the urban area of Chalon-sur-Saône, with a population of 74.357 inhabitants (2013) and an area of 93.8 km² (36.2 sq mi).^[7] This urban area is the centre of the metropolitan area of Chalon-sur-Saône, formed by 90 communes with a population of 134,568 inhabitants (2013) and an area of 1,046.8 km² (404.2 sq mi).^[8]

Administration

Chalon-sur-Saône is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department since 1800. It is also the capital of the arrondissement of Chalon-sur-Saône and the administrative centre (French: chef-lieu) of three cantons:

Chalon-sur-Saône-1 formed by 5 communes and part of Chalon-sur-Saône, with 19,093 inhabitants (2014).
Chalon-sur-Saône-2 formed by part of Chalon-sur-Saône, with 20,983 inhabitants (2014).
Chalon-sur-Saône-3 formed by the commune Châtenoy-le-Royal and part of Chalon-sur-Saône, with 19,559 inhabitants (2014).

It is part of the intercommunality Le Grand Chalon (French: Communauté d'agglomération Le Grand Chalon).