Clermont-Ferrand (UK: /ˌklɛərmɒ̃ fɛˈrɒ̃/, US: /-moʊn -/, French: [klɛʁmɔ̃ fɛʁɑ̃] ⓘ; Auvergnat: Clarmont-Ferrand or simply Clarmont [çɒʁˈmu];[5][6] Latin: Augustonemetum) is a city and commune of France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region,[7] with a population of 147,284 (2020).

This includes the dormant volcano Puy de Dôme, 10 kilometres (6 miles) away, one of the highest in the surrounding area, which is topped by communications towers and visible from the city.

One of the oldest French cities, it was known by Greeks as the capital of the Arvernie tribe before developing in the Gallo-Roman era under the name of Augustonemetum in the 1st century BC.

During the decline of the Western Roman Empire it was subjected to repeated looting by the peoples who invaded Gaul, including Vandals, Alans, Visigoths and Franks.

Growing in importance under the Capetian dynasty, in 1095 it hosted the Council of Clermont, where Pope Urban II called the First Crusade.

It is also home to the corporate headquarters of Michelin, the global tyre company founded in the city more than 100 years ago.

Along with its highly distinctive black lava stone Gothic styled Cathedral, Clermont-Ferrand's other famous sites include the public square Place de Jaude, in which stands a grand statue of Vercingetorix astride a warhorse and brandishing a sword.

The inscription reads in French: J'ai pris les armes pour la liberté de tous, lit.

Clermont-Ferrand's first name was Augustonemetum, Latin for "sanctuary for Augustus", or Civitas Arvernorum (town of the Arverni people).

[8] It originated on the central knoll where the cathedral is situated today, overlooking the capital of Gaulish Arvernis [fr].

The first known mention was by the Greek geographer Strabo, who called it the "metropolis of the Arverni" (meaning their oppidum civitas or tribal capital).

The city was at that time called Nemessos – a Gaulish word for a sacred forest, and was situated on the mound where the cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand stands today.

Somewhere in the area around Nemossos, the Arverni chieftain Vercingetorix (later to head a unified Gallic resistance to the Roman invasion led by Julius Caesar) was born around 72 BC.

Clermont went through a dark period after the disappearance of the Roman Empire and during the High Middle Ages was pillaged by the peoples who invaded Gaul.

Clermont was not spared by the Vikings at the time of the weakening of the Carolingian Empire: it was ravaged by the Normans under Hastein in 862 and 864 and, while its bishop Sigon carried out reconstruction work, again in 898 (or 910, according to some sources).

The city is in the rain shadow of the Chaîne des Puys, giving it one of the driest climates in metropolitan France, except for a few places around the Mediterranean Sea.

Food production and processing as well as engineering are major employers in the area, as are the many research facilities of leading computer software and pharmaceutical companies.

The main railway station has connections to Paris and several regional destinations: Lyon, Moulins via Vichy, Le Puy-en-Velay, Aurillac, Nîmes, Issoire, Montluçon and Thiers.

Clermont-Ferrand was the home of mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal, who tested Evangelista Torricelli's hypothesis concerning the influence of gas pressure on liquid equilibrium.

This festival has revealed many young talented directors who are now well known in France and internationally, such as Mathieu Kassovitz, Cédric Klapisch and Éric Zonka.

With more than 800 artistic groups from dance to music, Clermont-Ferrand and the Auvergne region's cultural life is significant in France.

Additionally, the city was the subject of the acclaimed documentary The Sorrow and the Pity, which used Clermont-Ferrand as the basis of the film, telling the story of France under Nazi occupation and the Vichy regime of Marshal Pétain.