Auvergne

Auvergne is an administrative région of central France, consisting of the départements of Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal, Haute-Loire and Allier. It was also historically a province of France, deriving its name from Averni[?], a Gallic tribe who once occupied the area. In 1790, the historical province was divided into the modern-day départements, although Haute-Loire and Allier also include some land from the historical provinces of Bourbonnais[?], Lyonnais[?] and Languedoc.

The principal town of Auvergne is Clermont-Ferrand, along with the industrial towns of Saint Étienne[?] and Limoges. A large part of the Auvergne region is covered by the volcanic Massif Central[?] mountain range, which stretches over nearly one-sixth of France's total area. The region is famed for its cheeses, exports of mineral waters[?], and tires. It is also the site of a number of major hydroelectric projects, mainly located on the Tarn[?], Dordogne, Cère[?], Lot[?], and Truyère[?] rivers.

The composer Joseph Canteloube based his well known piece Songs of the Auvergne (1930; for voice and orchestra) on folk music and songs from Auvergne.