Its other principal towns are Saint-Flour (the episcopal see) and Mauriac; its residents are known as Cantalians (French: Cantaliens / Cantaliennes or Cantalous / Cantaloues).

Cantal borders the departments of Puy-de-Dôme, Haute-Loire, Aveyron, Lot, Lozère and Corrèze, in the Massif Central natural region.

Along with neighbouring Lozère and Creuse, Cantal is among the most sparsely populated and geographically isolated departments of France and Aurillac is the departmental capital farthest removed from a major motorway.

[citation needed] The Truyère valley skirts the Planèze on the south and divides it from the Monts d'Aubrac, whose foothills include the thermal springs of Chaudes-Aigues.

[4] Prevailing winds and mountain ranges divide Cantal into four climatic zones: Generally, the weather is mild and dry in the alluvial plain between Murat and Saint-Flour and around Aurillac, while summer storms and winters can be long and severe in the northern and central areas.

It was formally abolished in turn after the Napoleonic Concordat of 1801 (Thibault refusing to resign), in favor of the reinstated bishopric of Saint Poul, but actually retained the departemental borders.

The climate being generally too cool and damp for grain, much of Cantal is given over to pasture for Aubrac and Salers cattle, sheep, and, formerly, horses.

The region's mineral products include coal, copper, lead, iron, antimony, granite, slate[4] and lime,[5] but the department's isolation and poor infrastructure long precluded their exploitation.

[5] Traditionally, many Cantalians roamed France during the year plying humble trades[4][5] but now the area's relative lack of industry and development permits tourism.

Like many of the country's rural departments, Cantal experienced a marked decrease in population throughout the twentieth century as agricultural wages failed to keep pace with those available in the industrialising regions.

[citation needed] The area's Catholic cathedral—dependent on the archdiocese of Bourges—is the 15th-century St Pierre de St-Flour,[5] erected in the Gothic style.

Prominent museums in Cantal include: The traditional articles of Cantalian cuisine were rye, buckwheat, and chestnuts,[4] as well as ham, cheese, and vegetables.

Notable dishes include:[citation needed] In the 19th century, the hills and valleys abounded with game and the streams with fish, the countryside producing a "vast variety" of aromatic and medicinal plants.

[4] At present, the most visited places are Puy Mary, the Plomb du Cantal, the village of Salers, and the gorges of the Truyère (with the Garabit viaduct, the castle of Alleuze, and the towns of Boisset, Pierrefort).

Among the various activities offered in this department, the "Massif Cantalien" can be discovered through walking, horseback riding or mountain biking excursions (tracks are especially designed for this).

The landscape also allows the practice of free flight: base jumpers frequent the sector around the Puy Mary and the Brezon valley.

The station of Le Lioran, largest ski-resort of the Massif Central offers alpine skiing (with specific adaptations for snowboard) and ice-skating.