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Manche
Manche
Department
	From top down, left to right: Mont-Saint-Michel, Watchtowers in Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, Islands of Chausey and Château de Gratot
	Flag Coat of arms
	Location of Manche in France
	Coordinates: 49°03′N 01°15′E / 49.050°N 1.250°E
Country	France
Region	Normandy
Prefecture	Saint-Lô
Subprefectures	Avranches; Cherbourg; Coutances
Government
• President of the Departmental Council	Jean Morin (DVD)
Area 1
• Total	5,951 km2 (2,298 sq mi)
Population (2021)
• Total	495,508
• Rank	53rd
• Density	83/km2 (220/sq mi)
Demonyms	Manchois,; Manchots
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Department number	50
Arrondissements	4
Constituency	4
Cantons	27
Intercommunality	8
Communes	446
	^1 French Land Register data, which exclude estuaries, lakes, ponds, and glaciers larger than 1 km2

Manche (/mɒ̃ʃ/, French pronunciation: [mɑ̃ʃ] ^ⓘ; Norman: Maunche) is a coastal French département in Normandy on the English Channel, which is known as La Manche, literally "the sleeve", in French. Manche is bordered by Ille-et-Vilaine and Mayenne to the south, Orne and Calvados to the east, the English Channel to the west and north and by sharing maritime borders with the Crown Dependencies of Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey of the United Kingdom to the west. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.^[3]

History

Manche is one of the original 83 Departments of France, established during the French Revolution on 26 February 1790. It was created from part of the province of Normandy.

The capital was Coutances until 1796, and it resumed that role after World War II because of the almost complete destruction of Saint-Lô during the Battle of Normandy following D-Day. When Saint-Lô was rebuilt, it once again became the capital.

Geography

The department includes the Cotentin Peninsula down to the famous Mont St Michel. Of the Channel Islands, only the island of Chausey forms part of the territory of the department.

Manche borders the Normandy departments of Calvados to the east and Orne to the southeast. Mayenne, a department of the Pays de la Loire, is to the south-east, and Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany is to the south-west and it shares maritime borders with Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey of the United Kingdom to the west. The salient of this department is the longest in France. It is also the second longest salient in Europe, after Odesa Oblast in Ukraine.

The region is lush and green with sandy beaches and remains oriented towards farming. The peninsula was originally joined as a single land mass to Cornwall and Dorset in England, meaning that the underlying geological strata of both regions are very similar. However, there are substantial regional differences today in terms of flora and fauna, and farming practices have varied considerably between the United Kingdom and France. Flat marsh areas in the department attract many bird-watchers. The region in and around St Lô is also the equestrian capital of France, where the cooler climate compared to the south is ideal for breeding and training.

France's first EPR nuclear reactor is under construction at Flamanville near Cherbourg and is planned to start operations in late 2023.^[4]

Principal towns

The most populous commune is Cherbourg-en-Cotentin; and the prefecture Saint-Lô is the second-most populous. As of 2019, there are six communes with more than 10,000 inhabitants:^[3]

Commune	Population (2019)
Cherbourg-en-Cotentin	78,549
Saint-Lô	19,050
Granville	12,513
La Hague	11,173
Avranches	10,264
Carentan-les-Marais	10,052

Climate

The climate is oceanic with relatively mild winters in which temperatures go below zero only for a few days. Summer temperatures are usually around 20 °C, and can occasionally reach 35 °C in direct sunlight. Precipitation is heavy but varies greatly by region, from 700mm on the coast to 1300mm in the southern central area. Highly localised but not life-threatening flash flooding has been experienced during the last few springs.

The west coast benefits from the influence of the Gulf Stream and this has enabled the naturalization of Mediterranean and exotic plants such as mimosas, palms, and agaves.

There is often a sea breeze on the coast, which combined with tides, contributes to rapid temperature changes in the course of a single day. Sea temperatures can be very pleasant for swimming between June and October.

Demographics

Inhabitants of the department are called Manchots or Manchois.

Population development since 1801:

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1801	530,631	—
1806	581,429	+1.85%
1821	594,196	+0.14%
1831	591,284	−0.05%
1841	597,334	+0.10%
1851	600,882	+0.06%
1861	591,421	−0.16%
1872	544,776	−0.74%
1881	526,377	−0.38%
1891	513,815	−0.24%
1901	491,372	−0.45%
1911	476,119	−0.31%
1921	425,512	−1.12%

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1931	433,473	+0.19%
1936	438,539	+0.23%
1946	435,468	−0.07%
1954	446,860	+0.32%
1962	446,878	+0.00%
1968	451,939	+0.19%
1975	451,662	−0.01%
1982	465,948	+0.45%
1990	479,636	+0.36%
1999	481,471	+0.04%
2006	492,565	+0.33%
2011	499,531	+0.28%
2016	498,362	−0.05%

source:^[5]^[6]

Politics

The president of the Departmental Council is Jean Morin, elected in July 2021.

Presidential elections 2nd round

	Winning Candidate	Party	%	2nd Place Candidate	Party	%
2022	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	59.61	Marine Le Pen	FN	40.39
2017^[7]	Emmanuel Macron	LREM	67.23	Marine Le Pen	FN	32.77
2012	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	50.10	François Hollande	PS	49.90
2007	Nicolas Sarkozy	UMP	56.17	Ségolène Royal	PS	43.83
2002	Jacques Chirac	RPR	85.31	Jean-Marie Le Pen	FN	14.69

Current National Assembly Representatives

	Member^[8]	Party
Manche's 1st constituency	Philippe Gosselin	The Republicans
Manche's 2nd constituency	Bertrand Sorre	Renaissance
Manche's 3rd constituency	Stéphane Travert	Renaissance
Manche's 4th constituency	Anna Pic	Socialist Party

Sports

Football: main clubs: AS Cherbourg, US Avranches, FC Saint-Lô, US Granville, CS Villedieu, FC Équeurdreville-Hainneville...
Cycling: the Tour de France has visited the department 21 times with stages ending at Cherbourg (16), Avranches (2), Granville (1), Saint-Hilaire-du-Harcouët (1), and the Mont-Saint-Michel (1).
Sailing: the Solitaire du Figaro has come to Cherbourg several times.
Tennis: hosts the Challenger La Manche tournament.
Thai boxing: Villedieu-les-Poêles
Badminton: Two local clubs compete in the national championship (N3): St Hilaire du Harcouet and Hainneville.
Golf: course: Granville, Bréhal, Coutainville, Cherbourg, Centre Manche, Fontenay, Côte des Isles