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Charente-Maritime

Coordinates: 45°57′N 0°58′W / 45.950°N 0.967°W / 45.950; -0.967
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Charente-Maritime
Department
Prefecture building of the Vienne department
Prefecture building of the Charente-Maritime department, in La Rochelle
Flag of Charente-Maritime
Flag
Coat of arms of Charente-Maritime
Coat of arms
Location of Charente-Maritime in France
Location of Charente-Maritime in France
Coordinates: 45°57′N 0°58′W / 45.950°N 0.967°W / 45.950; -0.967
CountryFrance
RegionNouvelle-Aquitaine
Département4 March 1790
PrefectureLa Rochelle
SubprefecturesJonzac, Rochefort, Saintes, Saint-Jean-d'Angély
Government
[1]
 • PresidentDominique Bussereau
Area
[2]
 • Total6,863.8 km2 (2,650.1 sq mi)
Population
 (2014)[3]
 • Total637,089
 • Density93/km2 (240/sq mi)
DemonymCharentais maritimes
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)
ISO 3166 codeFR-17
Arrondissements5
Cantons27
Communes469
WebsiteOfficial website

Charente-Maritime (Saintongeais: Chérente-Marine) is a department on the west coast of France in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It is named after the Charente river, the most important river in the department, and its position along the coast.

Its prefecture is the city of La Rochelle.

History

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Charente-Maritime and the old provinces of Saintonge, Poitou and Aunis.

The department, as Charente-Inférieure ("Lower Charente" because it was in the lower part of the Charente river), is one of the 83 French departments made during the French revolution, on 4 March 1790.

It was created from parts of the old provinces of Saintonge and Aunis and small parts of Poitou and Angoumois.

The new department had seven districts: La Rochelle, Rochefort, Saint-Jean-d'Angély, Saintes, Pons, Montlieu and Marennes. The capital (now prefecture) was Saintes alternating with La Rochelle and Saint-Jean-d'Angély but soon was changed and Saintes was kept as the only capital.[4]

In 1800, with the creation of the arrondissements in France, the seven districts were changed into six arrondissements: Saintes, Jonzac, Marennes, Rochefort, La Rochelle and Saint-Jean-d'Angély and in 1810 the capital was moved to La Rochelle.[4]

On 10 September 1926, the arrondissements of Marennes and Saint-Jean-d'Angély were eliminated. In 1943, Saint-Jean-d'Angély was made again an arrondissement.[4]

On 4 Septembre 1941, the name of the department was changed from Charente-Inférieure to the present name of Charente-Maritime.

Geography

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Charente-Maritime is part of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. It has an area of 6,863.8 km2 (2,650 sq mi).[2]

The highest point in the department is in the woods of Chantemerlière, near the commune of Contré in the northeast, and that is 173 m (568 ft) high.

The department is bordered by the departments: Vendée, Deux-Sèvres, Charente, Dordogne and Gironde.

The main rivers are the Charente and its tributaries, the Boutonne and the Seugne, along with the Sèvre Niortaise, the Seudre, and the Garonne in its downstream part, which is the estuary of the Gironde.

The department includes the islands of:

Climate

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The climate of La Rochelle is an oceanic climate with template summers, Cfb (Marine West Coast Climate) in the Köppen climate classification.[5]

The average amount of precipitation for the year in La Rochelle is 685.8 mm (27.0 in). The month with the most precipitation on average is October with 83.8 mm (3.3 in) of precipitation. The month with the least precipitation on average is July with an average of 40.6 mm (1.6 in).

The average temperature for the year in La Rochelle is 12.8 °C (55.0 °F). The warmest month, on average, is July with an average temperature of 20.0 °C (68.0 °F). The coolest month on average is January, with an average temperature of 6.1 °C (43.0 °F).

Administration

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The department is managed by the Departmental Council of the Charente-Maritime in La Rochelle. Charente-Maritime is part of the region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Administrative divisions

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There are 5 arrondissements (districts), 27 cantons and 469 communes (municipalities) in Charente-Maritime.[6]

Arrondissements of the Charente-Maritime
INSEE
code		 Arrondissement Capital Population[7]
(2014)		 Area[8]
(km²)		 Density
(Inh./km²)		 Communes
171 Jonzac Jonzac 56,973 1,529.9 37.2 129
172 Rochefort Rochefort 187,843 1,527.5 123.0 82
173 La Rochelle La Rochelle 210,151 817.7 257.0 58
174 Saintes Saintes 128,786 1,546.5 83.3 89
175 Saint-Jean-d'Angély Saint-Jean-d'Angély 53,336 1,442.2 37.0 111

The following is a list of the 27 cantons of the Charente-Maritime department (with their INSEE codes), following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015:[9]

  1. Aytré (1701)
  2. Chaniers (1702)
  3. Châtelaillon-Plage (1703)
  4. Île d'Oléron (1704)
  5. Île de Ré (1705)
  6. La Jarrie (1706)
  7. Jonzac (1707)
  8. Lagord (1708)
  9. Marans (1709)
  10. Marennes (1710)
  11. Matha (1711)
  12. Pons (1712)
  13. Rochefort (1713)
  14. La Rochelle-1 (1714)
  15. La Rochelle-2 (1715)
  16. La Rochelle-3 (1716)
  17. Royan (1717)
  18. Saint-Jean-d'Angély (1718)
  19. Saint-Porchaire (1719)
  20. Saintes (1720)
  21. Saintonge Estuaire (1721)
  22. Saujon (1722)
  23. Surgères (1723)
  24. Thénac (1724)
  25. Tonnay-Charente (1725)
  26. La Tremblade (1726)
  27. Les Trois Monts (1727)

Demographics

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The inhabitants of Charente-Maritime are known, in French, as Charentais maritimes (women: Charentaises maritimes).[10]

Charente-Maritime has a population, in 2014, of 637,089,[3] for a population density of 92.8 inhabitants/km2. The arrondissement of Rochelle, with 210,151 inhabitants, is by far the largest. The other four, Rochefort, Saintes, Jonzac and Saint-Jean-d'Angély, have respectively 187,843, 128,786, 56,973 and 53,336 inhabitants.[7]

Evolution of the population in Charente-Maritime

The 10 main cities in the department are:

City Population[7]
(2014) 		Arrondissement
La Rochelle 74,998 La Rochelle
Saintes 25,149 Saintes
Rochefort 24,300 Rochefort
Royan 18,388 Rochefort
Aytré 8,821 La Rochelle
Tonnay-Charente 7,926 Rochefort
Périgny 7,866 La Rochelle
Saujon 7,221 Saintes
Lagord 7,199 La Rochelle
Saint-Jean-d'Angély 7,123 Saint-Jean-d’Angély
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References

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  1. ↑ "Le Président du Département" (in French). Conseil départamental de la Charente-Maritime. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Département de la Charente-Maritime (17)". Comparateur de territoire (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Populations légales 2014: Recensement de la population - Régions, départements, arrondissements, cantons et communes" (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 "Historique de la Charente-Maritime". Le SPLAF (in French). Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "La Rochelle, France - Köppen Climate Classification". Weatherbase. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  6. ↑ "Département de la Charente-Maritime (17)". Géographie administrative et d'étude (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "Régions, départements, arrondissements, cantons et communes" (PDF). Populations légales 2014 (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  8. ↑ "Département de la Charente-Maritime (17)". Comparateur de territoire (in French). Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques - INSEE. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
  9. ↑ "Décret n° 2014-269 du 27 février 2014 portant délimitation des cantons dans le département de la Charente-Maritime" (in French). Légifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  10. ↑ "Charente-Maritime (17)" (in French). habitants.fr. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
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Other websites

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Charente-Maritime.
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